the family murders adelaide victims

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS. The following morning, however, is a different story. While Neil Muir had endured a similar fate, his remains were too badly mutilated to test for any drugs; however, the injuries suffered seemed to be identical. Add onto that abductions, drug-lacing, mutilations, victims held in captivity for weeks, and death by sado-masochism. When a warrant was eventually served on Dr. Millhouse's cottage in northern Adelaide, police found the same type of trash bags and rope that had been found with Neil Muir's remains. In particular, they were members of the Vice Squad, who typically crackdown on "moral" crimes such as gambling, narcotics, pornography, and illegal substances. The very next day - August 28th, 1979 - a couple of fishermen were heading out to the Port Adelaide River, on what was supposed to be a regular workday for them. That was believed to have been Neil's cause-of-death, same as Alan Barnes. His body had been severely mutilated and dumped in the South Para Reservoir, northeast of Adelaide. On the afternoon of Sunday, June 5th, 1983, Richard was kicking around a soccer ball with his father Rob and his friend Boris at a park near his home. Neil Muir's body had been so badly mutilated that he still barely resembled an entire being. He had seemingly disappeared, and a brief search of the area failed to come up with him. Only one suspect has been charged and convicted for the crimes: Bevan Spencer von Einem was sentenced in 1984 to a minimum of 24 years (later extended to a minimum 36-year term) for the murder of 15-year-old Richard Kelvin. Hours would begin to pass, and Alan would fail to return home at all that Sunday. So they tried to safely guard the parts of the investigation that they could. While police began to investigate who might be responsible for this heinous crime, medical examiners testing the body made a pretty shocking discovery: the presence of drugs in his blood. Because this murder seemed like the type of crime beset by emotional issues - or likely someone with an ax to grind against Alan, personally - police initially began investigating this as a personal crime. In the days immediately after Neil Muir's death, Dr. Millhouse had gone on a bit of a self-described "bender." It wasn't until the next day, Sunday (February 28th), that Mark's parents began to grow concerned. The body count had essentially doubled within a couple of months, and police were still unsure whether or not the cases were related. Meanwhile, the mutilation of Neil Muir's body seemed to be identical to that perpetrated upon Peter Stogneff's remains, whose limbs had been similarly severed with a saw-like device. But only one recalled seeing where Alan might have gone. The Butchered Boys: This episode revisits Adelaide's notorious Adelaide Family Murders case, where six young Adelaide men were murdered during the 1970s and '80s. This group was believed to be involved in the kidnapping and sexual abuse of approximately 150 teenage boys and young men, as well as the torture and murder of 5 young men aged between 14 and 25, in the city of Adelaide, South Australia, in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been reported that the exposed skin on his face and neck had begun to wither away, leading to the theory that he had been killed shortly after going missing. Bevan von Einems life revolved around sexual sadism. This website was built on publicly available information contributed by many people who have an interest in this case. Murdered victims were kept in captivity by the Family for up to five weeks. The Kelvins, though upset at the duration of time that had already passed, understood why the process was so delayed but were hopeful that their son would return home to them, safe and sound. Only one suspect has been charged and convicted for a crime. But at this point, police were already preoccupied with a separate lead from Neil Muir's social circle: a man named Dr. Peter Millhouse. In the days to come, police began asking around the area for any sign of Peter Stogneff and discovered that the teen had essentially vanished into thin air. The Family Murders is the name given to a series of five murders speculated to have been committed by a loosely connected group of individuals who came to be known as "The Family". Whatever it was, it looked like a human body but was somehow twisted and contorted in an inhuman nature. The smallness of Adelaide and the six degrees of separation theory became even more evident when it was revealed that one of the Family murder victims was Richard Kelvin, son of a popular Channel . Stogneff still skipped school but never made it home. He likely did this to hide it from his parents, in case they made it home before he did. Once in the car they would be offered a drink that was laced with a knockout drug. The victims were found in random locations throughout the state, their bodies neatly cut into pieces. Another anonymous caller claimed that they had seen Richard Kelvin in a snuff film, which had been filmed very recently. However, that was very circumstantial evidence at best, and anything but definitive. Bevan von Einem was no exception he also preferred youths between the 15 and 19 year old age group. Police thought that these gruesome and violent actions had been part of an effort to easily transport Neil's remains out to sea, and dispose of them in a way that they'd degrade before being identified. And at least one witness - a security guard that lived just down the street from the Kelvins - recalled some more details succinctly. This was done in a different method to what had happened to Neil Muir's remains, but medical examiners were able to identify points in the bones just above the knees and the back where a saw had carved the body into pieces. Millhouse was charged and went to trial but was acquitted. He was the son of Channel 9 News host Rob Kelvin, who had just recently taken over the hosting gig after more than a decade of field reporting through the station and a radio affiliate. By the time they managed to look outside, whoever had been outside had already sped off. Only one suspect has been charged and convicted for the crimes: Bevan Spencer von Einem was sentenced in 1984 to a minimum of 24 years (later extended to a minimum 36-year term) for the murder of 15-year-old Richard Kelvin. [6] Von Einem was also one of the last people seen with a fourth victim, Muir, following his abduction. Their psychological profile indicated that Neil's body had been carved up due to either a psychotic killer that derived pleasure from inflicting pain on others or someone that wanted to hide his/her identity. They knew then that the description of the remains - should it become public knowledge - would alert a lot of media to the story and scare a lot of people. When using other people (sometimes transgenders, sometimes cross-dressers, and sometimes Mr B), a common ploy was to ask a lone youth if he want to go to a party where there was plenty of booze and women. Police first treated Richard as a runaway; an unfortunate symptom of the times. Mark had likely hitched a ride with someone, and his friends trusted that he would make it home. The medical examiners would also find a significant head wound on Neil, which wasn't significant enough to have killed him, but would have likely happened to incapacitate or subdue the man. The head was tied to the torso with rope passed through the mouth and out through the neck. This argument would carry on for a few minutes, while the trio was parked along War Memorial Drive, overlooking the Torrens River. Both witnesses - who were friends with Neil and drug users themselves - were prepared to testify should this man be tried for the murder. There was not much to connect them, other than the graphic sexual nature of the crimes, and months would continue to pass before this story would begin to surface again in the public eye. The final two - Mark Langley and Richard Kelvin - had disappeared just blocks away from one another. During the 1970s von Einem started developing strategies to lure victims into his car. While in rehab, Dr. Millhouse refused to speak to police about Neil Muir (or his alleged relationship with the man). But underneath the surface, a monster lingered [5] Others, who have examined the cases, however, argue that there were many more victims. Like the other victims, Richard Kelvin's blood and organs were tested for any sign of drugs, with investigators hoping to find a connection to any of the prior victims. It was there that they found his backpack hidden in the garage, which ultimately led to calls to all of his friends. The severing of Neil's limbs and the mutilation of his body was originally believed to have been part of an effort to dispose of his body. Rumours of high-society involvement and cover-ups. 2020 familymurders.com All Rights Reserved. The Family were not an official group, gang, or organisation. This story would become historic, in more ways than one. Many of these people were directly involved in the abductions and rape of victims who survived. George and the driver, a man roughly twice his age with artificially-dyed hair, traveled to a nearby house where a couple of young women welcomed them. Global Nav Open Menu . Hundreds of sordid and terrifying crimes and only one man found guilty in relation to only one victim. The news was heartbreaking for those that had known Alan. Make no mistake, Bevan Spencer von Einem is the architect behind all these crimes. The group was involved in kidnapping, sexually abusing, torturing and murdering 5 boys. It was broad daylight, and both were assured that Alan would easily be able to find a ride to take him the few miles home. When this young man woke up the next day, he was surprised to find himself both at home and in significant pain. Meanwhile, as police struggled to answer these basic questions, the trial against Dr. Peter Millhouse remained a thing of the past. Just like Neil Muir, whoever had taken him had killed him and dumped his body pretty quickly, within a day or two. [5][9] The cold case review was completed in November 2010 with no charges being laid against any of the three key suspects. The Family Murders (Part Two: The Family) Unresolved The Family Murders Part Two: The Family As the families of five young men mourned, investigators began to circle around their top suspect, Bevan Spencer von Einem. He had school the next day, dinner was waiting, and he wanted to call his girlfriend. [16][22] The sedative-hypnotic drug Mandrax, popular in the 1970s disco scene, was found in Langley's blood. I think we might get closer to understanding what happened but I think lack of physical evidence pretty much rules out any more charges being laid. Alan's friend made it back to his house within minutes, but unfortunately, Alan was not so lucky. Even though he was nearly an adult at this point - and had a fair amount of independence in his life - this disappearance was deemed very out-of-the-ordinary. The victims ranged in age from 14 to 25, and most were found to have suffered brutal violence, sexual assaults, and/or body mutilation before their death Perhaps the most amazing thing about the case is how did von Einem find accomplices willing to be involved in such crimes? Police had still not linked the two cases - Barnes and Neil Muir - but while being questioned about the first murder, von Einem inquired about the second without any provocation. His remains had been dissected and neatly cut into many pieces, placed in a garbage bag and thrown into the Port River at Port Adelaide. But he decided to instead head to a local mall, named Tea Tree Plaza, where Peter and his friends often hung out on the weekends. [14] The hair around the area had been shaved as it would have been in an operation in a hospital. On July 24th, 1983, a family was out looking for moss rocks in the vast reaches of the Mount Crawford Forest, about 35 kilometers northeast of Adelaide. There, George was plied with beers and other alcoholic beverages while the older women flirted with him. In May of 1972, three gay men - George Duncan, Roger James, and another man (whose identity has been withheld in the decades since) - were picked up by members of South Australia's police force. The two had been dating for about a month now, and Richard had excitedly told his mother that he planned on proposing when his girlfriend and he were nineteen years old. If that was true, then could that have been happening to the other young male victims that had been viciously murdered in the preceding years? Unfortunately, Richard Kelvin would never make it home. So the police began reaching out to people that worked or had otherwise been in the area. He failed to make any contact with his family, and police began to express concern that he had gone missing under duress. Although each attack and mutilation appeared different, police investigators soon began to link the horrific murders to one another. Millhouse was charged and went to trial but was acquitted. One victim was killed and dumped within 24 hours, another was kept alive for five weeks, and the rest were in between. Shockingly, police found an insane combination of sedatives in his system, which included the drugs Noctec, Mandrax, valium, Rohypnol, and amytal. Unlike other drugs, Mandrax was heavily-regulated, meaning that police could search through government records to find out who had a prescription, and whether or not they appeared on their suspect lists. However, the medical examiners in Adelaide concluded definitively that Alan had died several hours before this happened. While working for Major Crimes, Investigator O'Brien received an anonymous tip that Richard Kelvin was being held against his will in a caravan in the Adelaide Foothills. Mark's remains had also clearly been thoroughly washed before being dumped, just like Alan Barnes. Like the other victims, investigators would learn a lot from the status of Mark's remains. Young Blood refers to the age of the victims who were brutally murdered. Richard and Boris remained at the park for a bit longer, kicking around the soccer ball and chatting, before eventually, Boris decided to make his way home. He had a network of over 30 people. He also happened to be a relative of Robin Millhouse, South Australia's former Attorney General who would become a Supreme Court Justice in 1982. POLICE are investigating new information linking convicted killer Bevan Spencer von Einem to the abduction and murder of teenager Alan Barnes. The older driver not only offered to give George a ride but offered to show him a good time with some ladies he knew. Description. This reported sighting led police to the notion that a group of people might have been acting in-tandem to abduct Richard, for reasons that appeared nefarious. Between 1979 and 1983, a series of heinous murders shocked Adelaide. When Boris had last seen Richard, walking away from the bus stop down the street from his home, he had still been wearing the collar, and it is has been theorized that the collar itself might have been a trigger for the deviant (or deviants) that ultimately decided to abduct Richard. I first heard of the murders in an episode of an Australian television program called . Richard walked him down the road to the nearby O'Connell Street bus stop, arriving without incident, and waited there for his friend's bus to arrive. His body also showed signs of beatings and torture. However, they were able to learn that - before his body was burned in the brush fire - his remains had been cut into multiple parts with a saw. "The Family murders" occurred in the period of time between the late 1970s and 1980s. In Adelaides gay community in the 1970s and 1980s, young men were coveted for sex. With these results, police were able to successfully link Richard's disappearance and death to at least two prior cases: Alan Barnes and Mark Langley, who had been similarly drugged and sexually assaulted before their deaths. They drove to War Memorial Drive (150m east of the Adelaide Rowing Club ) when Mark had a minor argument with the other male so got out and left. His mother, Judy, would later describe him as being incredibly witty; "cheeky," as she describes in a 2006 documentary, going on to say that Alan was always quick on his feet, and would respond to any type of comment with something sarcastic and bitterly funny. Five murders and over 150 rapes. Sadly, this dark and tragic saga was just beginning. The Family Murders is a well known and notorious series of crimes that occurred in Adelaide, Australia. Eventually, Peter returned home with his backpack, stowing it in his family's garage while his parents were at work. The victims were all young men, who had gone missing in or near the northern section of town. Five murders and over 150 rapes. The following Sunday, June 24th - one week after Alan had last been seen alive - a couple of hikers were bushwalking up in the area known as the Adelaide Foothills. It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. It wasn't until the following year, 1983, that police finally rediscovered George's story. Alan was supposed to find a ride back home and was taking his luck hitchhiking, hoping that someone willing to pick him up would be heading north towards his family's neighborhood of Salisbury. Of the young men whose stories I'll cover in this episode, he was by far the youngest, and his face showed it: he still had the youthful appearance of a child, and by all accounts, seemed to be your typical teenage boy. Referred to as a "Randy Mandy" among the era's deviants, Mandrax was a sedative that had just become popular worldwide with the branding "Quaalude." This is made apparent when we look at a story from 1972, which ultimately led to drastic overhauls in Southern Australian law and cemented its place in the nation's history. Peter Stogneff was a fourteen-year-old that lived with his family in a middle-class home, in a northeastern suburb of Adelaide. Over time Trevor kept diary records of his conversations with that suspect as well as another suspect. The next day was a Sunday, they both planned to hitchhike to Alan's home in Salisbury. [11], Last edited on 24 February 2023, at 04:35, List of serial killers by number of victims, Von Einem: Lawyers in new bid to re-open Kelvin case, "Doctor found not guilty of 'Family' murder of Neil Muir dies in NSW", "Australian police reopen notorious 1970s Family murders case", "Body in bag: jury acquits doctor in Adelaide", "Lost diary gives South Australia police new lead into Alan Barnes murder by The Family", "Many Theories, Few Clues in String of Adelaide Murders", "Record 24-year non-parole period for boy's killer", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Family_Murders&oldid=1141259172, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 04:35. The Clermont County Sheriff's Office . Allegations would even surface that indicated Dr. Millhouse had been one of the people in the area that supplied Neil with prescription drugs, but that would remain an allegation for the foreseeable future. That was when similar stories of young men being drugged and sexually assaulted began to make waves throughout Australia; young men that had been drugged with similar substances. In addition to the driver, there appeared to be a couple of other occupants inside of the car that they, unfortunately, could not recall many details of. Peter Stogneff, aged 14,[17] murdered in August 1981. Through these connections, police were able to link all of these crimes together. Following the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1975, Adelaide began to be known as one of the more progressive cities in all of Australia. How, why, or where they had seen this tape escaped the caller, but it was enough to send detectives through the paces of investigating every lead related to this: known deviants, underground porn shops, etc. Bevan von Einem was an apex predator. The Family murders are the name of the murders of five young men and teenagers who happened in Adelaide, South Australia between 1979 and 1983. If you recall, M.E. They organized a helicopter search of the area, which O'Brien was present for, but unfortunately, the police were unable to find anything definitive. Add onto that abductions, drug-lacing, mutilations, victims held in captivity for weeks, and death by sado-masochism. SA convicted murderer Bevan Spencer Von Einem during the jury's tour of North Adelaide dumping spot of Richard Kelvin's body. Listen to "The Family Murders (Part One: The Murders)" on Spreaker. He had been sexually assaulted and went on to report this bizarre, terrifying incident to police. Gambier, a city roughly five hours south of Adelaide. 1979: The Family (1 year) 1999: Snowtown murders discovered (20 years) As of 2021, this is the longest Adelaide has gone without a crime that has made national or international headlines as either a weird case (Somerton Man), child kidnapping or brutal serial killings since WWII. It's important to note that, even though members of the LGBTQ community felt more comfortable to express themselves socially, that did not mean that everyone in the area was necessarily welcoming. Mark had driven there with his family, as they were attending the party alongside him, but he would leave with a couple of friends afterward to hang out and cruise around the city with the young adults trying to squeeze out every bit of the Adelaide summer that they could. Sadly, almost all of the evidence that may have been left behind was now gone, burned away to ash along with all of Peter's remaining soft tissue. He is 50 metres from his beautiful family home. Police believe that up to 12 people, several of them high-profile Australians, were involved in the kidnappings. The information is easy to navigate and easy reference. [8] The reward carried an offer of immunity to accomplices, dependent on their level of involvement. [14][24] His body was found on 24 July by a geologist who was searching for moss-covered rocks near a dirt airstrip at Kersbrook. Due to the state of the young man's remains, it was believed that Alan had been detained against his will for several days. Neil Muir had suffered the same type of anal injuries as Alan, implying that a large, bottle-shaped object had been used to intentionally injure him, which caused a large amount of blood loss. This case includes mysterious attacks, brutal murders, and a dark conspiracy surrounding a secret group of elites that preyed on the young in the city. Some of the employees that worked at the area's bars recalled seeing the two together multiple times that weekend, and other character witnesses described Dr. Millhouse and Neil as being very close friends (intimate, even). Witnesses would later recall having seen the two at some of the area's gay bars and clubs (which I referenced just a moment ago). Mandrax was quickly gaining notoriety as a drug used in the commission of date-rape crimes, and the local government decided that the best way to combat their usage was to keep them regulated so that they had a record of everyone that was prescribed them. When police had arrived at the crime scene, they assumed that whoever had tried to dump the body of Alan Barnes had failed, in some way. The "Family Murders" *Warning: graphic content and mentions of sexual abuse ahead. He loved music - both playing it and listening to it - and had a good rapport with his friends, whom he hung around constantly. In June of 1983, Richard Kelvin was approaching sixteen years of age. While charges would later be filed against several police officers, they were ultimately acquitted; and it has been widely accepted in the decades since that local law enforcement engaged in a systematic cover-up. A farmer that lived nearby Middle Beach and Two Wells, roughly an hour north of Adelaide, had been cleansing his farmland during the advised winter months. Mr B - The Family Murders Mr B Mr B was named by South Australian police in 2008 as one of the three main suspects who were involved in the murders alongside Bevan von Einem. Millhouse would have Peter intended to skip school and meet his uncle (similar age) in Rundle Mall. He had struggled to wean himself off of heroin, using methadone to do so, only to have methadone become his next addiction. What the two got up to that evening is anyone's guess, but rumors and theories have propagated this story in the decades since. The Family Murders are a series of violent and depraved sex crimes committed against five young men and boys in South Australia throughout the 1970's and 1980's. In 1988 Detective Trevor Kipling described a group of people whom he suspected as being responsible as "one big happy family" and vowed to do all that he could to bring them to justice. They admitted that he'd faced some issues with other kids at his school, but he was otherwise happy and had just gotten a serious girlfriend. He has spent that Sunday, June the 5th, playing footy, until the afternoon when his best friend Karl came over. Criminologist Alan Perry of the University of Adelaide, has argued that the murders were part of widespread series of kidnappings and sexual assaults of boys that might number several hundred victims in South Australia from about 1973 to 1983.[11]. Investigators were unable to pinpoint Peter's exact cause-of-death, or even estimate when he had been killed. Because homosexuality was still outlawed in Australia at this point, Vice officers would often detain individuals that they believed were loitering nearby known gay hotspots. Neil's remains were brought in and carefully examined by the area's medical examiners, who quickly discovered an alarming red flag, which harkened back to the discovery of Alan Barnes' corpse. Following the supposed abduction of Richard Kelvin, the police unit known as Major Crimes was tasked with overseeing the investigation. Unfortunately, this lead ultimately led nowhere, so police began investigating people more tentatively linked to Neil through his social circle. He then moved away from Adelaide and the murders continued. The closest thing to hard evidence that police found in this sweep was what appeared to be traces of blood on the bathroom floor, which had been cleaned multiple times over with a chemical agent; and, as such, could not be tested. The night before he went missing he stayed at Darko Kastelan's house in Cheltenham. Bevan Spencer von Einem was jailed for life for the murder of 15-year-old Richard Kelvin. [2] The suspects and their associates were linked mainly by their shared habits of "actively [having] sought out young males for sex," sometimes drugging and raping their victims. This young man, Bevan Spencer von Einem - an acquaintance of James' - had helped James make it to shore and then drove him to the nearby Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Effective Communication Definition By Different Authors, Gangster Disciples Massachusetts, Will My Smiley Piercing Close, Articles T