00:00:13
Our episodes deal with serious
and often distressing incidents.
00:00:17
If you feel at any time you need support,
please contact your local crisis centre.
00:00:21
For suggested phone numbers for confidential
support, please see the show notes for this
00:00:25
episode on your app, or on our website. This
episode contains particularly distressing
00:00:32
incidents and violence against minors.
It may not be suitable for all listeners.
00:00:43
Considering herself a bit of a psychic, Judy
Barnes sensed something was wrong. Her teenage
00:00:50
son, Alan, had failed to return home on Sunday
June 17 1979, following a night out with friends.
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If he were running late or was otherwise caught
up, Alan would always contact his mother to let
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her know. This time, Judy hadn’t heard a thing.
Her mind was plagued with visions of Alan - his
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shoulder length blonde hair, deep brown eyes,
and handsome face - all covered in blood.
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The weekends of mid-1979 followed the same routine
for friends Alan Barnes and Darko Kastelan.
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Nearly every Saturday, Alan would
stay the night at Darko’s house,
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as his family lived closer to the Adelaide
CBD than he did. Just about to turn 17,
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Alan spent his weekends partying with
Darko and enjoying the Adelaide nightlife.
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On Sunday afternoons, Alan would head back to
his family's house in the suburb of Salisbury.
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The weekend commencing June 16 was no different.
Alan spent Saturday night with Darko and the next
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morning, the pair headed into the city. By the
afternoon, Alan was plotting his journey home.
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Darko planned to join Alan at his place, but
Salisbury was 25 kilometres northeast of the CBD,
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so the pair would need a ride. They stood outside
the Pennington Hotel on Grand Junction Road,
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a major thoroughfare in the northern
part of the city, and began hitchhiking.
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Cars passed, but no one stopped
to pick up the young men.
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Darko suggested that Alan go home alone, thinking
he might have better luck flagging down a car as
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a single passenger. Alan agreed and the two said
their goodbyes before going their separate ways.
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Fehim Hodzic knew Alan Barnes and was in the area
at the time the 16-year-old was hitchhiking home.
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As Fehim drove along Grand Junction Road,
he saw who he thought was Alan running up
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to a stationary white Holden HQ sedan. One of
its passenger doors opened as Alan approached.
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Fehim could make out another three
or four passengers in the Holden.
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As he drove away, Fehim glanced up at
his rearview mirror. Alan was gone.
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As that Sunday came to an
end with no sign of her son,
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Judy Barnes phoned the police to report
him missing. Four days later on June 21,
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Alan turned 17. It was a bleak day with no
reason to celebrate - he was still missing.
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Around an hour drive northeast of
Adelaide is the South Para Reservoir,
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the second largest reservoir in
South Australia. The artificial
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lake is surrounded by an expansive bushland
reserve, popular with outdoor enthusiasts.
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On the morning of Sunday June 24 1979, two
bushwalkers set out on one the many trails
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lining the reserve. They neared the South Para
Bridge, which spanned a section of the reservoir.
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The water underneath was extremely low at
the time, exposing the lake's muddy base.
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Down there, laying in the brown
muck, was the body of a young man.
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It was obvious to police that
the victim had either jumped,
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been pushed, or dumped from the top of the bridge.
His back was broken and twisted from the impact.
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As such, the Major Crime Squad were called
in to assist in a possible homicide.
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A search of the surrounding
area failed to yield any clues.
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Shortly after the discovery,
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Judy Barnes opened her front door to
find a police officer on her doorstep.
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The young man found dead at the South Para
Reservoir was her son, Alan. The reservoir was 50
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kilometres from where Alan was last seen hitching
a ride from a Holden HQ sedan. Grand Junction
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Road moved west to east, providing a direct
route via connecting roads to the reservoir.
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Alan had suffered tremendous physical injury prior
to his death. After enduring a severe beating,
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a tapered blunt object such as a bottle had
been forced into his rectum, tearing major
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blood vessels in the area. Rapid blood loss and
shock set in, killing Alan within 30 minutes.
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Despite this, there was no trace of blood on
Alan’s skin, as his body had been washed prior
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to being dumped. He was also wearing different
clothes to what he had last been seen in.
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His family confirmed that the clothes were
not his and they had never seen them before.
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Time of death was calculated to have been within
48 hours of the discovery of Alan’s body - meaning
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he was alive for the duration of the week he
was missing. Trichloroethanol was found in his
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system - a byproduct of the sedative hypnotic
drug chloral hydrate, used to treat insomnia.
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Furthermore, his blood alcohol content was 0.19%.
It was likely Alan was given a ‘Mickey Finn’,
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an alcoholic drink laced with a psychoactive
drug. In this case, chloral hydrate.
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The combination would have weakened the teenager,
limiting his ability to fight off his attacker.
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Whoever had dumped Alan’s body intended it to
land in the water under the South Para Bridge and
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sink into the mud. However, the low water level
ensured Alan’s body remained visible to passersby.
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A reward for information was offered to identify
Alan’s killer, but failed to generate any leads.
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Tuesday August 28 1979 was a
warm and pleasant day. Two men
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set out in a dinghy in Mutton Cove, 20
kilometres northwest of Adelaide city.
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The cove is situated near where the Port
Adelaide River empties out into the sea.
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The conditions were calm when the men took to
the water, perfect for a spot of casual fishing.
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As they passed a disused wharf near the Osborne
Gasworks, something in the water caught their eye.
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It was a partially submerged garbage bag,
snagged on some rocks and bobbing with the tide.
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They boated closer to get a
better look. When they approached,
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one of the men could make out the heel
of a human foot sticking out of the bag.
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When Pathologist Doctor Ross James emptied the
bag onto a concrete slab to commence an autopsy,
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he was struck by the horror it contained.
He had never come across a case like it.
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Inside was the body of a young male adult.
His abdominal and chest cavity had been
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emptied of all internal organs,
which were nowhere to be found.
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His arms had been cut off at the sockets and legs
at the pelvis, then stripped of skin and muscle.
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The limbs had then been placed into a plastic
bag and inserted into the cavity in the chest.
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Skin bearing identifying
tattoos had not been discarded
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but had instead been retained
and placed in the torso as well.
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Also inside the cavity was a small plastic
bag containing severed fingers and dissected
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genital organs. One testicle was missing.
Investigators theorised it might have been
00:10:04
eaten by the man’s killer or kept
as a trophy. The victim also had
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injuries consistent with anal intercourse
or an object being forced into the anus.
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He had been decapitated, with bite marks present
on the vertebra where the head had been cut away
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by a sharp instrument. Bite marks were also
apparent where the legs had been separated
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from the torso. The young male’s head was
affixed to the sternum by a yellow rope
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that went through his mouth and out the
neck and then wrapped around his chest.
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A time of death was difficult to ascertain. But
the body’s condition indicated that it hadn’t
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been immersed in the water for very long. 24
hours before discovery was a rough estimate.
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The mutilation was so involved it could have taken
anywhere from three to six hours to complete.
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The killer had at the very least,
a basic medical background.
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The dissection, particularly
of the hands and thigh bones,
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had been done by someone with a definite
knowledge of anatomy and surgical skill.
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Extracting prints from the severed fingers,
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the Major Crime Squad were
able to identify the victim.
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25-year-old Neil Muir lived a transient life.
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He spent his childhood in rural South Australia
before moving to Adelaide in his teens.
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Known as a country boy and a bit of a loner, the
friends he did make introduced him to drugs. By
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August 1978, Neil was unemployed and lived
alone in a boarding house in Adelaide.
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Neil was trying hard to beat his heroin addiction
and was enrolled in the methadone program at
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Hillcrest Hospital. Neil attended his scheduled
appointments on the weekend of August 25 and 26.
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At his last appointment, Neil was seen leaving
the clinic and getting into a car with an unknown
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male driver. He was wearing a bone coloured bulky
knit cardigan with black stripes, light coloured
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corduroy jeans, an ebony bangle, a sleeper earring
in one ear and a drop-style earring in the other.
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He was also carrying a flick-knife.
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Two days later, his mutilated remains were
found floating in the waters off Mutton Cove.
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Neil Muir’s murder bore a disturbing
similarity to the Alan Barnes case.
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Both young men had sustained extensive anal
injuries prior to their deaths. It was unclear
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if Neil had been drugged like Alan, as his stomach
was missing - so its contents couldn’t be tested.
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However, several recent injection sites were found
on skin believed to have come from his right arm.
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Neil also had a wound on his scalp, not a fatal
blow but enough to render him incapacitated.
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However, there were also numerous
differences between the two murders.
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Most notably, the condition in which the bodies
were found. Given Neil’s heroin addiction,
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detectives theorised that his
death was unrelated to Alan Barnes.
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The gruesome manner in which Neil
was treated seemed to be a warning.
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One drug scene contact for The Advertiser
newspaper said that Neil was, quote:
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“A small time nobody; someone who didn’t matter.
Perhaps that is why he was selected for this
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type of killing - to show the druggies
that no one gets away without paying.”
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This theory was reinforced by the fact
that Neil’s fingers and tattooed skin
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were intentionally stored with his body, as
though the killer wanted his identity known.
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Associates of Neil speculated that he had
to have either been dealing drugs himself
00:14:24
or turning to sex work to cover
the costs of his addiction.
00:14:30
Divers scoured the Port Adelaide River to find
Neil’s internal organs, but were unsuccessful.
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Police speculated that like Alan Barnes, Neil
had been killed elsewhere and driven to water.
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A policeman present at Neil’s
autopsy told The Advertiser:
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“Wherever he was killed and cut-up must have been
like a slaughterhouse by the time it was over.”
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Detective Lee Haddon was placed in charge of the
Neil Muir murder investigation. Haddon turned
00:15:06
to criminal profiling to understand the type of
person capable of committing such a sickening act.
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A police psychologist concluded that the offender
was either mentally ill or an extremely sadistic
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psychopath. They might not openly display
aggression, but instead portray themselves
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as polite, gentle, and neat - while secretly
harbouring strong and out of control sexual urges.
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Three days after Neil Muir’s body was found,
a doctor named Peter Millhouse checked himself
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into a rehabilitation clinic. When speaking with
the admitting nurse, Millhouse revealed that he
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was an alcoholic and had been on a downward spiral
since the beginning of the week when he’d gone
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on a bender. He also cited the fact that he was
gay, had increasing debt, and was currently being
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investigated for writing illegal prescriptions
as adding to his depression and drinking problem.
00:16:11
Two days later, while Doctor
Peter Millhouse was recuperating,
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he was paid a visit by Detective Lee
Haddon. Haddon had received anonymous
00:16:21
tip-offs about the 45-year-old GP, described as
a non-violent, quiet man who kept to himself.
00:16:31
Peter Millhouse spent his weekends in hotels in
central Adelaide, hoping to hook up for a night
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of casual sex. Sources revealed that Millhouse
was often seen in pubs and clubs with Neil Muir.
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Witness accounts indicated the pair
had known each other for four years.
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It was uncertain whether they were just friends or
if Neil was getting drugs or money from the doctor
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in return for sexual favours. Detectives suspected
this could be a possibility, as Peter Millhouse
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had previously been questioned by the drug squad
for writing false prescriptions in return for sex.
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When confronted by police, Millhouse denied
knowing Neil and produced a pre-written letter
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he had signed. It stated that he wouldn’t answer
any questions unless in the company of his lawyer.
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According to “Young Blood,” by Detective Bob
O’Brien, sources confirmed that Neil Muir and
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Dr Peter Millhouse would often drink together at
the Hope Inn Sports and Social Club in Ridleyton,
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north of Adelaide. Detective Lee Haddon paid
both establishments a visit. Neil’s associates
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at the Social Club said that they had last seen
the pair drinking there on Sunday August 26,
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the day Neil was thought to have disappeared.
They told Detective Haddon to also visit
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the Mediterranean Hotel on Hindley Street -
another city-based hangout spot for the two.
00:18:12
Detective Lee Haddon spoke to a bouncer
there who knew Neil well. He said that
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Neil had been at the Hotel on the Thursday
and Friday nights before he disappeared.
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On both occasions, he was in the
company of Dr Peter Millhouse.
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The pair had been drinking schooners at
their regular table next to the jukebox.
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Neil had also visited the bar by himself at
lunchtime the day before his body was discovered.
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He had been wearing brown corduroy jeans with a
long sleeved shirt and drank schooners of beer
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well into the evening. A waitress complained
to the bouncer that Neil had fallen asleep
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at the table and he was escorted out of the hotel.
Neil left without incident, telling the bouncer:
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“I’m going mate, I’m going.” Neil staggered
down Hindley Street - where Dr Peter Millhouse
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would stay when visiting the city.
He walked towards Morphett Street,
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disappearing into the night.
On November 20 1979, Detective Lee Haddon
00:19:28
and two others drove to the small waterfront town
of Whyalla, nearly 400 kilometres from Adelaide.
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Peter Millhouse was out of rehabilitation
and was working there as a locum GP. The
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detectives found him staying at a local hotel and
arrested him over the misuse of prescriptions.
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On the four hour drive back to Adelaide, Detective
Haddon tried to build rapport and get Millhouse to
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discuss Neil Muir. He exercised his right to
remain silent and was released pending trial.
00:20:06
By this stage, detectives had searched Millhouse’s
North Adelaide residence. He lived by himself and
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kept the place untidy. Initial testing came back
positive for blood on the bathroom floor. However,
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the area had been cleaned so thoroughly with
chemicals, that further analysis was not possible.
00:20:31
In the kitchen were the same type of garbage
bags used to dispose of Neil’s body. Outside,
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a clothesline - known for having a distinctive
yellow rope - had been replaced with metal twine.
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The plastic bag containing Neil Muir’s limbs
contained a bandaid with tiny fibres stuck to
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its adhesive glue. Matching fibres were
found on a rug in Dr Peter Millhouse’s
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house - though it couldn’t be proven the fibres
on the bandaid came from that particular rug.
00:21:12
The abundance of circumstantial evidence
was enough for detectives to arrest
00:21:16
Millhouse for the murder of
Neil Muir in Janurary 1979.
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The next day, he appeared in the Adelaide
Magistrates Court where he was refused bail.
00:21:28
The trial began the following year in September.
Millhouse gave three days of sworn evidence
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and agreed to be cross-examined by the
prosecution in an attempt to clear his name.
00:21:42
He told the court that on the day of Neil’s
murder, he had visited four separate hotels.
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Aside from that, he spent the week indoors.
He stated that he only heard of Neil’s death
00:21:56
when he read about it in the paper two
days after his body was discovered.
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Millhouse claimed that even though he had
degrees in medicine and surgery, he did not
00:22:08
have the necessary knowledge of dissection to have
carried out the mutilation of Neil Muir’s body.
00:22:15
An earlier committal hearing had established that
the dissection of Neil Muir’s body was likely
00:22:20
carried out by someone with surgical expertise.
Millhouse countered that he was a mediocre medical
00:22:28
student, had done very little surgery as an
intern at the Adelaide Children’s Hospital,
00:22:34
and that he had never performed a post mortem.
00:22:38
The prosecution gave two possible motives for
the murder of Neil Muir by Peter Millhouse.
00:22:45
It might have been a murder
committed out of contempt.
00:22:48
Or it was an accident and Millhouse
mutilated Neil’s body to dispose of it.
00:22:55
In summing up, the defence argued that the
prosecution had not proved its case and that it
00:23:02
was dangerous for a jury to accept circumstantial
evidence as fact. After 24 days of testimony
00:23:10
and 98 witnesses, the jury deliberated for 75
minutes. They found the defendant “not guilty.”
00:23:22
As he walked out of the courtroom,
Dr Peter Millhouse hugged his mother
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and said: “I am glad to
see justice has been done.”
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The arrest and subsequent trial had
lasting ramifications for Millhouse.
00:23:39
The media reported extensively on aspects of his
sex life, including the time he asked Neil to
00:23:46
urinate on him in exchange for methadone. Yet,
Millhouse had been cleared by a court of law
00:23:54
and by the end of 1980, detectives were
no closer to making any further arrests.
00:24:04
On the morning of Thursday August 27 1981,
14-year-old Peter Stogneff was excited.
00:24:13
After putting on his school uniform and
collecting his bag, he left home. But
00:24:19
instead of heading to school as expected,
he walked to a nearby shopping mall. When
00:24:25
the coast was clear he returned home, dumping his
school bag in the garage before getting changed.
00:24:33
He was due to meet his friend, Daniel Tzaeganoff,
by the silver balls sculpture in Rundle Mall,
00:24:39
Adelaide’s central hub for shopping. The pair had
planned to wag school together and Daniel said he
00:24:47
might even have two girls with him. Peter was
looking forward to spending the day with them.
00:24:54
However, Daniel never followed through with the
plan and didn't show up at Rundle Mall. Despite
00:25:00
this, Peter committed himself to ditching
school and continued his day out alone.
00:25:08
That same morning, Glenise Richardson was
sipping coffee at a cafe in the Tea Tree Plaza,
00:25:14
15 kilometres northeast of Rundle Mall. At
around midday, she noticed something “very odd”.
00:25:24
A teen fitting Peter Stogneff’s description was
walking with a broad framed, tanned skinned man
00:25:30
wearing a bomber jacket and trendy shoes.
He appeared to be around 26-years-old.
00:25:38
While the scene itself wasn’t out of the ordinary,
the vibe between the two suggested to Glenise that
00:25:45
something wasn’t quite right. Tea Tree Plaza
was near Peter’s family home in Hope Valley.
00:25:56
Peter didn’t return home that night.
00:26:00
Police appealed for anyone who had seen the blue
eyed teen with the freckled face to come forward.
00:26:07
Weeks passed with no sign of Peter, but
something strange emerged months later.
00:26:15
An off-duty police officer was scanning
the shelves of the Tea Tree Gully library,
00:26:20
when he picked up a book titled: “The Man Who
Killed Boys,” about serial killer John Wayne Gacy.
00:26:28
Thumbing through it, he noticed two blood
smeared pages towards the front of the book.
00:26:35
Given the library’s proximity to Peter Stogneff’s
house, he turned it into the local police - though
00:26:42
a connection was never established between
the blood-stained book and the missing teen.
00:26:49
Meanwhile, detectives continued to
follow up leads that streamed into a tip
00:26:54
line but were forced to concede that Peter
Stogneff had just vanished without a trace.
00:27:05
19-year-old Mark Langley was having a
fantastic time at his friend's birthday party.
00:27:12
Earlier that evening on Saturday February
27 1982, Mark dressed in jeans and a blue
00:27:20
satin shirt with a blue cardigan over the
top. He finished off his look with his
00:27:26
beloved silver chain with crab ingot
to represent his star sign - cancer.
00:27:33
The party at Windsor Gardens, a north eastern
suburb of Adelaide, had gone well into the night.
00:27:40
It offered a reprieve from Mark’s weekday work
as a plumber and he wasn’t prepared to call it
00:27:46
quits too early. At 1:15am, Mark and two friends
decided to move on and continue their night out
00:27:55
in the Adelaide CBD. They piled into a car and
made the journey into the warm and dry night.
00:28:05
Fifteen minutes later, they pulled over on War
Memorial Drive alongside the River Torrens. As
00:28:12
the trio sat enjoying each other’s company in
the quiet and serene area, a minor argument broke
00:28:18
out over cigarettes. Mark left the car in a huff,
deciding that he’d had enough and would walk home.
00:28:28
Mark’s friends drove off without him, but quickly
had a change of heart and decided to go back for
00:28:34
him. In order to return to where they left Mark,
they had to complete a circuit - continuing
00:28:42
down War Memorial Drive, crossing over the River
Torrens near the Adelaide Zoo, and driving along
00:28:48
Victoria Drive before crossing the River Torrens
again on King William Road Bridge. The round trip
00:28:56
took them four minutes. By the time they got
back to their original location, Mark was gone.
00:29:07
That night, Robert Windsor was driving
along Hackney Street when he spotted a
00:29:12
black-haired young man with a strong physique
hitchhiking by the road. It was Mark Langley,
00:29:20
though Robert didn’t know
the 19-year-old personally.
00:29:24
Robert drove past Mark, only to glance
back at him in his rear view mirror.
00:29:30
He saw another car pull up and Robert assumed
Mark climbed into it. The entire scenario was so
00:29:38
brief and unremarkable, Robert didn’t even take
note of what the other vehicle looked like.
00:29:47
The following morning, Mark’s parents slept in.
00:29:51
When they woke and realised their son hadn’t
returned home, they became worried. By midday
00:29:58
they had phoned the police, explaining that
this behaviour was extremely out of character.
00:30:09
Nine days passed. Then in Summertown,
16 kilometres east of Adelaide, a farmer
00:30:15
was poisoning blackberry bushes encroaching on
his Sprigg Road property. Within the invasive,
00:30:22
leafy bush, the farmer discovered the
body of Mark Langley. He was clean and
00:30:29
dressed in his jeans and blue woollen cardigan.
Missing was his silk shirt and silver chain.
00:30:38
Mark had likely died from major internal injuries
caused by being anally assaulted with a bottle.
00:30:46
A vertical incision ran down Mark’s lower abdomen,
00:30:49
from underneath his belly button to the top of
his pubic region - a length of 16.5 centimeters.
00:30:58
Like a surgical procedure, the area had been
shaved and the incision had been crudely but
00:31:04
surgically sutured closed with thread
and covered with surgical tape.
00:31:10
Sections of bowel had been
removed via the incision.
00:31:15
A pathologist reasoned that the bottle
had been inserted deep into the rectum,
00:31:20
to the point where it could only be
retrieved surgically. It was likely the
00:31:26
object contained evidence that could identify
the killer - so they removed it completely.
00:31:34
The presence of alcohol and prescription
medication were found in Mark’s bloodstream.
00:31:40
The chemicals - methaqualone and diphenhydramine
- were the active ingredients in the drug Mandrax,
00:31:47
a sedative and hypnotic medication
used to treat insomnia. A time of
00:31:53
death was difficult to ascertain
due to the level of decomposition.
00:31:59
It was estimated that Mark had been
murdered soon after his abduction.
00:32:06
It was now becoming clear that there was
a serial killer active in South Australia.
00:32:12
Although initially reluctant to draw a concrete
connection between the murders of Alan Barnes and
00:32:18
Neil Muir over two years earlier, the discovery
of Mark Langley’s body established a disturbing
00:32:24
pattern. An unknown assailant was abducting
young men off Adelaide’s streets, violently
00:32:32
sexually assaulting them, before murdering them
and in several cases, mutilating their remains.
00:32:39
The victim's body would then be dumped in
a secluded spot in the city's outskirts.
00:32:51
Smoke wafted into the skies above Two Wells on
June 23 1982. In the town, located 40 kilometres
00:33:01
north of Adelaide, a farmer was conducting a
burn off on his property on Middle Beach Road.
00:33:08
Afterwards, as he walked through the burnt
landscape, he came across a blackened human
00:33:14
skeleton in the ashes. The body had
likely been dumped from the dirt road,
00:33:20
as it came to rest along the barbed wire
fence line boundary of the farmers property.
00:33:27
The male skeleton’s spinal cord had been severed
with a saw. As had the legs above the knees.
00:33:35
The lower legs were missing. Although not much
more could be ascertained due to the accidental
00:33:42
burning of the body, the dissection of the bones
drew parallels to the mutilation of Neil Muir.
00:33:51
Using skull shape and size as well as dental
records, the skeleton was confirmed to be that
00:33:58
of missing 14-year-old Peter Stogneff, last seen
on the day he wagged school 10 months earlier.
00:34:09
Almost a year later on Sunday June 5 1983,
Richard Kelvin absent mindedly played with
00:34:16
his pet dog's chrome studded collar. In his
other hand was a telephone receiver. Speaking
00:34:23
down the line was his girlfriend, Brigitta,
who Richard spoke to on the phone everyday.
00:34:30
Although they had only been dating
a month, Richard loved Brigetta and
00:34:34
the pair talked about getting engaged
when they turned 19 in four years' time.
00:34:41
It was getting late in the afternoon when
Richard told Brigetta that he planned to
00:34:46
meet up with his friend Karl to kick the footy.
He said he would call her the moment he got back.
00:34:53
Richard and Karl visited the local park
in North Adelaide, two kilometers north of
00:34:58
the River Torrens. Athletic, fit, and
tall for his age at 180 centimeters,
00:35:06
Richard enjoyed getting out and
being active on the weekends.
00:35:11
He took his dog's collar with
him and put it around his neck.
00:35:15
It stood out against the rest of
his outfit consisting of blue jeans,
00:35:19
Adidas sneakers, and navy blue t-shirt featuring
the logo for television station - Channel Nine.
00:35:28
As 6PM drew near, Richard walked his friend Karl
to the nearest bus stop on O’Connell Street.
00:35:36
As mentioned in the book, “Young Blood,” by
Detective Bob O’Brien, Karl suggested that they
00:35:41
walk to the King William Road bus stop instead
- near the Women and Children’s Hospital. But
00:35:48
Richard dissuaded him, he felt it would be unsafe
to cross the darkened parkland to get there.
00:35:56
While they waited for the bus, Richard asked Karl
what he thought of his dog collar accessory. Karl
00:36:03
told him it looked stupid and in response Richard
took it off and tied it around his wrist instead.
00:36:11
Karl boarded the next bus and Richard set off
along the busy street to his family townhouse,
00:36:18
approximately 300 metres away.
00:36:22
50 metres from Richard’s
home lived a man who worked
00:36:26
as a security guard. Suffering from a
bout of the flu, he went to bed early
00:36:31
that evening - only to be woken up at around
6:15. Someone outside was crying for help.
00:36:40
He then heard the sound of car doors banging,
followed by a loud exhaust as a car accelerated
00:36:46
away. The security guard didn’t think anything
of it at the time and drifted back to sleep.
00:36:54
Days later, detectives showed up at his house.
They were doorknocking the area in search of
00:37:00
15-year-old Richard Kelvin, who failed to
return home two days earlier after visiting
00:37:06
the local park with a friend. The security
guard told the detectives of the cries for help
00:37:13
and the accelerating car he heard that night.
Being a car enthusiast, he was able to identify
00:37:20
the vehicle's exhaust as sounding like it
belonged to a Holden with a faulty muffler.
00:37:29
Richard’s father's celebrity status ensured the
teens unexplained disappearance drew a large
00:37:35
amount of police and media focus. Rob Kelvin was a
news reader for Channel Nine. A professional with
00:37:43
a strong temperament, Rob continued to present
the news each night, despite the overwhelming
00:37:49
distress he faced off-camera. He stopped short of
reading out any reports regarding his missing son.
00:37:57
By the time Richard Kelvin vanished, South
Australia’s Major Crimes Unit was overwhelmed
00:38:03
and their resources were stretched. They were
still investigating the murders of Alan Barnes,
00:38:09
Neil Muir, Mark Langley, and Peter Stogneff.
Other urgent investigations were also
00:38:15
underway - including the search for 10-year-old
Louise Bell, who was abducted from her home in
00:38:21
Hackham West four months earlier. Louise’s
story is covered in episode 105 of Casefile.
00:38:30
In Richards case, they immediately
suspected he had met with foul play.
00:38:36
They even collected one of his school books to
compare handwriting samples against any ransom
00:38:41
letters they might receive from a kidnapper
targeting Richard’s high-profile father.
00:38:49
Trevor Ford hosted a nightly talkback
segment on Adelaide radio station - 5DN.
00:38:56
In the aftermath of Richard Kelvin’s
disappearance, Trevor was live on
00:39:01
air when a call came through from an unidentified
male. He said that Richard was being held in a
00:39:08
caravan in the Mount Crawford area of the
Adelaide Hills before promptly hanging up.
00:39:14
Given Mount Crawford’s proximity to the
locations of where Alan Barnes and Mark
00:39:19
Langley’s bodies were found, detectives thought
this a worthwhile lead. An aerial search did
00:39:25
locate a few run down and abandoned caravans
amongst the bushland, but all were empty.
00:39:33
Soon after, the Major Crime Squad
received a telephone tip-off of their own.
00:39:39
The male caller named two men - Mark and Doug
- as being responsible for Richard’s abduction.
00:39:46
He said that they drove a light coloured 1963 EJ
Holden sedan. The vehicle was in good condition,
00:39:54
fitted with a tow bar and two
mirrors on the front guards.
00:39:59
This make and model of car used to be
very popular. However, over the years,
00:40:05
the numbers on the road had dwindled,
making it somewhat of a rarer vehicle.
00:40:11
According to the book, “Young Blood,”,
a full page image of the car in question
00:40:15
alongside a photo of Richard Kelvin was
published in The Advertiser newspaper.
00:40:21
It failed to generate any worthwhile response,
leading investigators to believe the entire
00:40:27
story was a hoax. Seven weeks passed and
police were no closer to finding Richard.
00:40:38
Situated 36 kilometres southeast of Adelaide
city lies the small town of Kersbrook.
00:40:46
In the heart of the sprawling Adelaide Hills
region, Kersbrook is home to only a couple of
00:40:51
hundred people. On Sunday July 24 1983, Kersbrook
resident Trevor Holmes and his family took to the
00:41:00
bush around their home in search of moss covered
stones to put in their garden. Wandering away from
00:41:07
his wife and children, Trevor came across some
distinctive pale fragments on the ground. He
00:41:15
thought they were kangaroo bones and inched closer
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It was a young male with sandy blonde hair.
00:48:03
He was lying in the nearby scrub, on his
left side and in the foetal position.
00:48:09
Thinking that the man was injured, Trevor
called out to him - but was met with silence.
00:48:16
Trevor approached and saw the
Channel 9 logo on the man’s shirt.
00:48:21
A dog collar was fastened around his neck.
Trevor bent down, cleared the scrub away
00:48:28
from the man’s face and realised he
had found the body of Richard Kelvin.
00:48:36
An autopsy showed a subdural haemorrhage
from a head injury that had occurred early
00:48:41
on in Richard’s abduction. This blow
would have been enough to kill him,
00:48:46
but the partial resolution of the haemorrhage
indicated that he had survived the attack.
00:48:52
Bruising down Richard’s back and
buttocks were estimated to have been
00:48:56
inflicted two weeks before his death.
He also showed signs of anal trauma.
00:49:04
Richard’s body had been washed prior to
being redressed and his captor had also
00:49:09
given him a haircut. Unique fibres were found
on Richard’s clothing, including his underwear.
00:49:17
They came in a variety of colours - blue,
turquoise, purple, orange, yellow, black, brown,
00:49:25
red, and green. Seven foreign human hairs were
also found on the inside legs of Richard’s jeans.
00:49:35
Richard had been kept alive for up to five
weeks before succumbing to blood loss.
00:49:41
Traces of various sedatives including Valium,
Amytal, and Rohypnol, were found in his system.
00:49:48
As was Mandrax, the drug also
used to weaken Mark Langley.
00:49:55
Richard had also been given alcohol laced
with chloral hydrate like Alan Barnes.
00:50:03
Kersbook was accessible via South Para Road,
which also led to the South Para Reservoir,
00:50:10
where Alan Barnes was found.
00:50:13
The strength required to throw Alan Barnes’s
body over a metre-high bridge railing,
00:50:18
the extensive mutilation of Neil Muir’s body,
the surgical procedure performed on Mark Langley,
00:50:25
and the difficulties in keeping Richard Kelvin
captive for five weeks all pointed to more than
00:50:31
one individual being responsible for the
crimes. Detectives were certain that the
00:50:37
young men were imprisoned and killed somewhere
where large volumes of blood could be cleaned
00:50:42
up easily such as a factory, butcher’s shop, or
somewhere with commercial cleaning facilities.
00:50:51
Richard Kelvin was the killer’s fifth known
victim. And with the discovery of his body,
00:50:57
a wave of hysteria swept over Adelaide.
Vigilanties patrolled the River Torrens
00:51:04
keeping their eyes out for suspicious
activity and to protect passersby. The
00:51:10
media did little to quell the overwhelming fear,
with Criminologist Doctor Allan Perry warning
00:51:16
that the publicity surrounding the case would
be giving the perpetrator immense satisfaction.
00:51:23
In an attempt to reassure the public, a detective
appeared on current affairs program 60 Minutes. He
00:51:31
vowed that the police were taking every action
to break up the “happy family” of murderers.
00:51:38
The remark led to the creation of
the title the homicides would come
00:51:42
to be known as - The Family Murders.
Mandrax, also known as Quaaludes,
00:51:52
was a sedative and hypnotic medication
commonly used to treat insomnia in the 70s.
00:51:59
Taking the drug, particularly in doses
above the recommended therapeutic range,
00:52:04
caused the user to feel a rush of euphoria,
relaxed mood, and heightened sexual arousal.
00:52:12
As such, the drug was known
colloquially as “Randy Mandy.”
00:52:17
Because of the potential for Mandrax to
become abused and dependency to occur,
00:52:23
in 1978, the drug came under stricter laws
governing its prescription. As a result,
00:52:30
the medication was prescribed much less
frequently. Those that took Mandrax were not
00:52:37
allowed to continue on it for more than two months
without approval from the Central Board of Health.
00:52:44
As Mark Langley and Richard Kelvin had been
tranquilised with Mandrax, detectives Trevor
00:52:50
Kipling and Bob O’Brien visited the Adelaide
offices of the State Health Commission.
00:52:56
The eight storey building held copies
of all prescriptions for restricted
00:53:00
drugs in South Australia. Working on a
long shot, they began leafing through
00:53:06
the thousands of scripts for Mandrax
that were housed in large drawers.
00:53:12
About an hour later, Trevor Kipling motioned
to his partner to stop looking. He had a
00:53:18
prescription in his hand. While the name didn’t
ring any bells to Bob O’Brien, Trevor remembered
00:53:27
being told of an incident that had occurred 10
months prior - on Saturday September 11 1982.
00:53:37
Three months after Peter Stogneff’s
charred remains were found,
00:53:42
a 36-year-old man was filling up an esky with ice
at an ice works on Lower Portrush Road, near to
00:53:49
where it crossed the River Torrens. A 16-year-old
boy known as George suddenly caught his attention.
00:53:58
The teen was hitchhiking along the road and
approaching where the man was waiting near
00:54:02
his car. He offered George a ride and the pair
then got into the man's bronze Ford Falcon.
00:54:11
As mentioned in the book, “Young Blood,”, as the
pair drove along, the man told George about a
00:54:17
party. He said there would be alcohol and girls
there, adding that they would have a great time.
00:54:25
The man then drove George to a house.
00:54:29
There was no wild party as he had promised, just
a few women drinking. George was offered a drink,
00:54:36
which made him feel groggy. He was led into a
bedroom by one of the women who took advantage
00:54:43
of his vulnerable state, while the man who
picked him up watched. George then passed out.
00:54:52
Two days later, George entered the Holden
Hill Police Station in northeast Adelaide.
00:54:58
His memory was hazy, though
he was clearly distressed.
00:55:03
George recalled hitchhiking home on Saturday
night, the bronze Ford Falcon, the male driver,
00:55:10
and the gathering at the house. 24
hours after arriving at the house,
00:55:16
George was returned home in a taxi. A check up by
a doctor showed that he had suffered anal trauma.
00:55:29
Sam Bass from the Holden Hill
Crime Investigation Bureau
00:55:32
spoke to the taxi driver who had driven George
home on the night of the 11th. He then visited
00:55:39
the pick up address in the metropolitan suburb
of Alberton - a 20 minute drive from the city.
00:55:46
The occupants of the slightly shabby but
ordinary low set home were questioned.
00:55:52
Three people lived at the address -
a gay man and two transgender women,
00:55:58
one of whom for this episode we will refer to as
Miss P. She was later arrested for the rape of
00:56:05
George. However, the case against her was
ultimately dismissed in the Port Adelaide Court
00:56:11
when no evidence was brought forward.
However, Miss P and her housemates did
00:56:16
name the man who had brought George to
their doorstep - Bevan Spencer von Einem.
00:56:25
Officer Bass drove to Von Einem’s workplace,
00:56:28
Pipeline Supplies of Australia, to discuss the
allegations leveled against him. He did not
00:56:34
want to be spoken to at work but agreed to be
interviewed at the Holden Hill Police Station.
00:56:41
Von Einem remembered the night in question,
though maintained that George was more than
00:56:46
willing to go to the party. He alleged that
after they arrived at approximately 1AM,
00:56:53
they listened to music. George drank beer and
brandy while chatting to the house guests. Von
00:57:00
Einem denied spiking any of George’s drinks and
stated that George willingly slept with Miss P.
00:57:08
He also denied being in the
bedroom with them at any time.
00:57:14
Von Einem said that after the sexual encounter,
Miss P came out of her bedroom and fell asleep
00:57:20
on the lounge, while George slept in her
bed. Von Einem went into the room and lay
00:57:26
on top of the covers next to George. The
pair slept late into the next afternoon.
00:57:34
When they awoke, Von Einem claimed George had been
too tired to shower from the night spent drinking.
00:57:42
Von Einem then undressed the teen and washed him,
before sending him home in a taxi - handing the
00:57:48
driver 15 dollars and George’s home
address written on a scrap of paper.
00:57:57
Detective Trevor Kipling was later told of this
incident later by a Holden Hill police officer.
00:58:03
Even though George ultimately declined to press
charges, Kipling had remembered the unusual name
00:58:10
of his alleged assailant. Kipling looked down at
the name on the Mandrax prescription in his hands.
00:58:18
Bevan Spencer von Einem.
00:58:23
Described as softly spoken, charming, and
intelligent, Bevan Spencer von Einem was the
00:58:29
apple of his mother’s eye. He accompanied her to
tupperware parties, took her shopping, and tended
00:58:36
to her every need. He would even drive her to her
cousin’s place every second week, where she would
00:58:43
spend the weekend. His mothers friends remarked
that they wished they had a son like Bevan.
00:58:52
Von Einem was musically gifted. A member of the
harp society, Von Einem played regularly when he
00:58:58
wasn’t working at Pipeline Supplies of Australia.
Employed there for 16 years, Von Einem had started
00:59:06
as a bookkeeper before working his way up to the
role of accountant. A valued and trusted employee,
00:59:14
Von Einem had keys so he could gain access
to the industrial building after hours.
00:59:23
Von Einem was openly gay at a time when
Australian society was intolerant towards
00:59:28
same-sex attracted people. He experienced
the discrimination first hand in 1972.
00:59:37
At the time, the public toilets along the
banks of the River Torrens were referred to
00:59:42
as the “Number One Beat,” a place where
gay men could meet and pick up other men.
00:59:48
The stigma attached to gay relationships at
the time meant that those looking to meet
00:59:53
there were subjected to not only attacks
from the public but also police officers.
01:00:00
One such incident occurred in 1972. Roger James
was standing by a bench that overlooked the river
01:00:08
when he was set upon by police officers patrolling
the Number One Beat. They pushed Roger into the
01:00:15
water, causing his leg to break on impact. He
was soon joined by another man, Dr George Duncan,
01:00:23
who the officers also shoved into the river.
Roger surfaced and saw George struggling,
01:00:30
but his injury prevented him from being
able to help the university lecturer.
01:00:36
Roger watched George slowly
sink underwater and drown.
01:00:41
The police jeered at Roger telling him to “save
his mate.” When they tired of their fun and left
01:00:48
the scene, Roger crawled up the river bank
and onto a nearby road. He was rescued at
01:00:55
11PM by a passing motorist who took him to
a hospital. It was Bevan Spencer von Einem.
01:01:05
On July 28 1983, Detectives Trevor Kipling and
Bob O’Brien drove to Von Einem’s home in Paradise,
01:01:14
a suburb 11 kilometers northeast of Adelaide
that he shared with his mother. The ordinary
01:01:21
beige brick lowset was tidy with a freshly mowed
lawn and sparse shrubs dotting the front yard.
01:01:29
Von Einem - a tall man with dark brown hair,
dark eyes, and a large bulbous nose - answered
01:01:36
the door. The detectives asked him to accompany
them to the police station so they could question
01:01:42
him about his use of Mandrax. Von Einem said he
wouldn’t talk unless he had his solicitor present.
01:01:52
Later that day, he arrived at the Angas
Street police building with his solicitor.
01:01:58
He admitted to taking a number of medications
to help with his nervous condition and insomnia,
01:02:04
listing Serepax, Sinequan, and
Rohypnol. When asked about Mandrax,
01:02:09
Von Einem replied that he had started taking
it about 5 years prior. He said the last
01:02:15
time he would have filled a prescription
for Mandrax would have been a year ago.
01:02:20
He still had a few tablets left, but he
now took Rohypnol to get to sleep instead.
01:02:27
Von Einem denied any knowledge
of what happened to Alan Barnes,
01:02:31
Neil Muir, Mark Langley, Peter
Stogneff, or Richard Kelvin.
01:02:37
As detailed in the book “Young Blood” by Detective
Bob O’Brien -- when asked if it was conceivable
01:02:44
that he could abduct a youth, drug him, abuse
him, and then kill him, Von Einem replied: “No,
01:02:53
I think it would be unethical of me; I shy
away from violence of any description.”
01:03:00
Detective O’Brien thought to himself that
these were not words a normal person would use.
01:03:12
Bevan von Einem consented to supplying blood and
hair samples, as well as providing fingernail
01:03:18
scrapings. He also let detectives search his
silver Toyota Corona hatchback and his home. At
01:03:28
4:15PM, Detectives Kipling and O’Brien, along with
a crime examiner, photographer and fingerprint
01:03:35
analyst, entered Von Einem’s house while he waited
outside. The interior of the house was nothing
01:03:43
remarkable at first glance, with plain furniture
decorating the lounge. The group moved across the
01:03:51
vibrant blue and purple swirled carpet and into
Von Einem’s bedroom near the front of the house.
01:03:59
At the foot of Von Einem’s bed sat a harp,
visible over his bright orange and yellow
01:04:04
checkered bedspread. Next to the bed was a carry
bag. It contained a bottle of Sinequan, Serepax,
01:04:13
Rohypnol, and Valium tablets. A
note inside read - “Uncle Bevan.”
01:04:23
Detective O’Brien asked Von Einem
where his Mandrax could be found.
01:04:28
He directed them to a cupboard in his bedroom and
pulled out two bottles concealed behind a mirror.
01:04:36
Von Einem said that there would be
about 40 tablets in the bottles.
01:04:41
When asked if there was anything else
hidden in his bedroom, Von Einem said no.
01:04:47
Checking the ledge behind the mirror,
Detective O’Brien withdrew another
01:04:52
bottle. It was labelled as Noctec - its
active ingredient being chloral hydrate.
01:05:01
After fingerprinting, photographs, and tape lifts
of von Einem’s car and house had been completed,
01:05:08
the detectives returned to the police
station to complete their paperwork.
01:05:13
They finished up around 10PM. As detailed in
the book “Young Blood '' Detective O’Brien,
01:05:21
too wired from the day's events to sleep,
decided to do a driveby of Von Einem’s house.
01:05:29
He saw an unfamiliar car parked in the
driveway and the lounge room light was on.
01:05:36
O’Brien parked a distance away and
waited. By 1:30 the next morning,
01:05:43
the owner of the vehicle had still not left the
premises. The weary detective called it a night.
01:05:53
Later that morning, a plate check of the
vehicle parked in Von Einem’s driveway
01:05:58
came back as a match for an affluent
businessman who worked in the Adelaide CBD.
01:06:07
With not enough evidence to arrest
Bevan von Einem, on September 19,
01:06:12
detectives organised a raid on the man who
had visited him on the night his house was
01:06:16
searched - the affluent businessman. His
name is still under a suppression order.
01:06:23
For the sake of clarity, Casefile
will refer to him as Mr R.
01:06:30
His name had been mentioned amongst the hundreds
called into the Major Crime Squad tipline
01:06:36
during The Family Murders investigation.
But he hadn’t raised serious red flags
01:06:42
until he was linked as an associate
of Bevan Spencer von Einem.
01:06:48
Mr R was at his home in one of Adelaide’s most
affluent suburbs when officers arrived to carry
01:06:54
out their raid. Mr R admitted to knowing von
Einem for years, considering him a friend.
01:07:02
He denied any knowledge of The Family
Murders and refused to comment any further.
01:07:07
His home was searched but
nothing incriminating was found.
01:07:13
Following this, the detectives also searched
Mr R’s business - a two storey building located
01:07:19
in a busy shopping district of Adelaide.
Upstairs, towards the rear of the building,
01:07:26
Detectives O’Brien and Kipling came
across a room devoid of any furniture or
01:07:31
decoration except for a bare mattress on
the ground. The mattress was seized but
01:07:38
there was no evidence to show that any of the
murdered young men had been anywhere near it.
01:07:45
Despite this, authorities remained suspicious of
Mr R and placed him under lengthy surveillance.
01:07:52
While he never did anything illegal, he did
have a specific routine. As detailed in the book
01:07:59
“Young Blood”, every weekday Mr R would
close his business at precisely 12 o’clock
01:08:05
for one hour. He would then drive to the
Number One Beat to see what was happening there
01:08:11
before checking out other beats. At the end
of his lunch break, he would return to work.
01:08:17
Although he lived very close to his business
premises, the trip would be repeated at the
01:08:23
end of the day after he closed. Each time,
he was looking for young men to pick up.
01:08:32
In November, a call was placed
to the Major Crime Squads office.
01:08:37
The caller, who remained anonymous, would come to
be known as Mr B. He had phoned the police during
01:08:44
the early investigations into the murders of Alan
Barnes and Neil Muir as he had a friend who knew
01:08:50
them both. However, because detectives were eyeing
Dr Peter Millhouse as the likely perpetrator,
01:08:57
they focused all their attention on him.
Now Mr B had more to share than just a name,
01:09:05
he was ready to discuss in
detail Bevan Spencer von Einem.
01:09:12
In a six hour interview, Mr B detailed how he met
and befriended Von Einem at the Number One Beat,
01:09:18
weeks before the death of Alan Barnes. Mr
B detailed how he and Von Einem would pick
01:09:25
up hitchhikers and supply them with alcohol
that Von Einem kept in an esky in his car.
01:09:32
Once the men were inebriated,
the pair would offer them pills,
01:09:36
saying they would help sober them up. In
reality, the pills were sedatives. From the
01:09:44
book “Young Blood,” Mr B detailed
the aftermath of one such setup:
01:09:51
“Bevan took the kid by the arms and I had
the legs and we carried him into the bedroom,
01:09:56
which was Bevan’s, and we put him straight
onto the bed with his head on the pillow.
01:10:02
We brought the second one in the same way and
dropped him on the lounge room floor. Bevan
01:10:08
then went into his bedroom and closed the door.
I did not touch the one in the lounge room. I
01:10:15
would have but he was not good looking and he was
rolling around as though he was going to be sick.”
01:10:23
Mr B then walked into Von Einem’s room and saw
him performing horrific acts on the young man.
01:10:30
Mr B asked Von Eimen to take him home and
the two of them dropped the drugged boys
01:10:35
to the Alberton house of Miss P and her friends
where they slept off the effects and went home.
01:10:45
On November 3, Bevan Spencer von Einem
went out to get groceries with his mother.
01:10:51
Afterwards, as he pulled into the driveway of his
home, he was arrested by Detective Trevor Kipling
01:10:57
for the murder of Richard Kelvin. Analysis of
the brightly coloured fibres recovered on the
01:11:04
clothing worn by RIchard Kelvin had come back
as a perfect match to those on the carpet and
01:11:10
bedspread in the Von Einem home. 110 fibres
were a match to von Einem’s brown cardigan.
01:11:19
This evidence, combined with a signed statement
by Mr B and Mandrax and chloral hydrate found
01:11:26
in Von Einem’s bedroom was enough to
warrant an arrest. Von Einem’s mother
01:11:32
was shocked and couldn’t believe what was
happening. Her son showed no emotion at all.
01:11:41
Von Einem adamantly denied knowing
what had happened to Richard Kelvin.
01:11:46
He was held on remand and at his committal
hearing in February the following year, Von
01:11:51
Einem’s attorney halted proceedings to read out a
statement on behalf of his client. It claimed that
01:11:59
Von Einem did meet Richard Kelvin on the night he
was abducted, however he was not involved with his
01:12:05
disappearance or murder. The hearing was postponed
while detectives investigated these new claims.
01:12:16
On March 1, Von Einem was reinterviewed.
01:12:20
This time, he claimed that on the afternoon
of Richard’s disappearance he was driving
01:12:25
to get fish and chips for dinner when he almost
struck Richard with his car. He spoke briefly to
01:12:32
Richard who noticed that Von Einem was drinking
a beer and asked if he could have one as well.
01:12:39
Not wanting Richard to get in trouble
for underage drinking, Von Einem said
01:12:43
that Richard got into his car and the two had a
drink while driving back to his home in Paradise.
01:12:51
Richard told Von Einem of his troubles at school
with bullying, a fact that had been printed in
01:12:57
the papers following his disappearance. To help
calm him, Von Einem said Richard sat on his bed
01:13:05
while he played the harp for him and put
his arm around him in a comforting gesture.
01:13:11
After two hours of Von Einem consoling the
distraught teen, he said that he drove Richard
01:13:17
back into town opposite the Royal Adelaide
Hospital. Instead of dropping him at his home,
01:13:24
Von Einem said that he gave him 20 dollars to
catch a taxi parked outside of the hospital.
01:13:31
Despite these assertions, Von Einem was ordered
to stand trial for the murder of Richard Kelvin.
01:13:43
Media descended on the South Australian Supreme
Court as Bevan Spencer von Einem was brought in
01:13:49
for the first day of his trial on October 15 1984.
A 7 woman and 5 male jury listened as prosecutors
01:13:59
pointed to all the evidence linking von Einem
to the abduction and murder of Richard Kelvin.
01:14:05
Aside from the fibre evidence and
medications found in Richard’s system
01:14:10
there was other incriminating evidence.
01:14:14
The day after Richard Kelvin disappeared,
01:14:17
Von Einem had his hair coloured
by a hairdressing friend of his.
01:14:22
From the age of 16, he had gone prematurely grey
and had his hair dyed dark brown every month.
01:14:30
Von Einem did not dispute this claim, telling
the jury that although he was sick with the flu,
01:14:36
Monday June 6 1983 was the only day that his
hairdresser was free to do his hair. The alibi
01:14:45
worked against Von Einem when the 7 hairs found
on the inside of Richard’s jeans exactly matched
01:14:52
the hair dye used to colour his hair. They
also had a small amount of grey regrowth.
01:15:01
In the week after Richard was abducted, Von Einem
took the week off work, telling his employer that
01:15:07
he had the flu. Six days after Richard’s body
was dumped, Von Einem sold his car, but not
01:15:15
before giving the interior of the boot a new paint
job. Von Einem claimed he did this to remove rust
01:15:23
caused by a leaking esky, detectives were certain
he covered up blood staining or other evidence.
01:15:33
In a 12 page unsworn statement in his defence,
Von Einem asked the jury to accept the version
01:15:40
of events regarding his meeting with Richard
Kelvin and to find him not guilty. On November 5,
01:15:47
the jury retired to consider a verdict.
7.5 hours later they returned to announce
01:15:55
Bevan Spencer von Einem guilty. The public
gallery erupted into cheers and applause,
01:16:03
an act almost unheard of in the 1980s and
visibly surprising Justice Michael White.
01:16:10
Bevan von Einem sat passively,
showing no emotion at the outcome..
01:16:17
Before sentencing, Justice
White said the following:
01:16:22
“The horrendous nature of this
crime, involving, as it did,
01:16:26
a long period of imprisonment and ill
treatment prior to murder, has added a
01:16:31
new dimension to the kinds of murder committed in
the State, with which the community has to live…
01:16:38
You do not show remorse. You do not admit guilt.
You showed yourself to be cool and violent at
01:16:45
the time of abduction, inventive, and resourceful
during imprisonment of the youth, ready to resort
01:16:52
to lies and false alibis after the discovery of
the body, and you are unrepentant at the moment.”
01:17:01
Bevan Spencer von Einem was sentenced to life
imprisonment with a non parole period of 24 years.
01:17:08
His sentence was immediately appealed
by the South Australian Attorney General
01:17:13
and in March 1985, Von Einem’s
non parole period was increased
01:17:18
to 36 years - the highest sentence ever
imposed on a person in South Australia.
01:17:26
In explaining his decision, Chief Justice
Michael King said: “The present crime…
01:17:34
indicates such a depravity of character
on the part of the perpetrator
01:17:38
that his absence of previous convictions
loses its significance. The abduction,
01:17:45
captivity, sedation, abuse, and murder
of the boy did not occur on impulse
01:17:50
and could only have been perpetrated by a person
or persons of grossly depraved character.”
01:18:02
In early 1988, an inquest was opened
into the deaths of Alan Barnes,
01:18:08
Neil Muir, Peter Stogneff, and Mark Langley after
earlier individual inquests determined that there
01:18:14
was enough evidence linking these murders
together. It was believed now more than ever,
01:18:21
that Bevan Spencer von Einem was involved in
these crimes and he did not carry them out alone.
01:18:28
Yet, there was only enough evidence to
charge and convict him of the one murder.
01:18:33
Even from a prison cell, Von Einem
refused to name any of his associates.
01:18:40
Alan’s mother Judy Barnes, was grateful for
the inquest, telling paper The News that:
01:18:47
“South Australia would be rocked to its little
grass roots if the names of the murderers were
01:18:52
released. The killers are not hoons, not down the
street deviants. They are professional people.”
01:19:02
At the inquest, Detective Trevor Kipling spoke of
a special unit set up by the Major Crime Squad to
01:19:09
investigate incidences where young men had been
lured into passing cars and then drugged and
01:19:15
anally assaulted. Like George, other victims came
forward to say they had been picked up and given
01:19:22
drinks that were laced with drugs. They spoke of
passing out and waking up at a strangers house,
01:19:29
where there lived trangender women before being
allowed to be let go. Members of the gay community
01:19:37
cooperated fully with the detectives as they
patrolled known beats, appalled by the killings.
01:19:45
In presenting the findings, the coroner stated:
01:19:49
“I have perused a number of statements
from victims who survived the ordeal.
01:19:55
Statements by these people have been
checked and rechecked and there is no
01:19:59
doubt that their account of what happened are
substantially true and certainly not fanciful.”
01:20:07
In early September 1988, spurred by public
interest in naming other members of The Family,
01:20:14
the South Australian Government offered half a
million dollars and immunity from prosecution
01:20:20
for any information leading to the conviction
of anyone involved in the murders. They
01:20:26
hoped an increase in the reward, which had
previously been set at one hundred thousand
01:20:31
and then a quarter of a million dollars, would
be what was needed to convict the other killers.
01:20:40
In September 1989, Mr B told detectives
that he had more information to give about
01:20:47
Von Einem. In order to get the information,
Mr B was offered immunity from prosecution if
01:20:54
it was established that he was responsible for
any sexual abuse towards the victims involved.
01:21:01
Mr B detailed meeting up with Von Einem
the night Alan Barnes went missing.
01:21:08
He recalled how they had picked up the
hitchhiker, who asked if he could get a lift
01:21:12
to his family home in Salisbury. Von Einem
offered Alan a drink. As they drove along,
01:21:21
Mr B said he asked Alan if he wanted to go
to a party and Alan replied that he did.
01:21:29
Some time later, Von Einem exited
the vehicle to make a phone call.
01:21:35
He told Mr B that he had arranged to meet an
associate of his at a toilet block on the River
01:21:40
Torrens near Jolly’s Boathouse. They drove to
the location and Mr B sat in the car while Von
01:21:48
Einem went to speak to his friend. Alan Barnes
was unconscious on the rear seat of the vehicle.
01:21:57
A short while later, Von Einem returned
and asked Mr B: “Do you want to come with
01:22:04
us and do some surgery on this guy?”
indicating in Alan Barnes’ direction.
01:22:11
According to Mr B, Von Einem said that
it would be worth his while to come along
01:22:16
because they were planning to sexually assault
him with various instruments and video it before
01:22:22
killing him and dumping his body in the Adelaide
Hills. Mr B said he declined and walked off.
01:22:32
A few days later, Mr B met Von Einem in the
city. Von Einem told Mr B that Alan had died
01:22:41
and that if he said anything, he
would be implicated in the murder.
01:22:49
With this new evidence, on September 15, Von
Einem was charged with the murder of Alan Barnes.
01:22:57
Given the similarities in the manner of death
between Alan and Mark Langley on November 10,
01:23:04
he was charged for his murder as well.
01:23:07
At the committal hearing, a friend of Alan’s named
Garry gave evidence that he had been introduced
01:23:13
to Von Einem and some of his friends the week
before he disappeared. Von Einem told them both
01:23:21
that if he and Alan provided sexual favours they
could get drugs, women or anything they wanted.
01:23:28
This offer also stood if they provided Von Einem
with young boys. Garry had failed to come forward
01:23:37
with this information prior because of the
200 threatening phone calls he had received,
01:23:42
starting on the night Alan’s body was found
and continuing until the committal hearing.
01:23:49
The most recent one was a
phone call made to his work.
01:23:53
The muffled voice said: “Keep your mouth
shut or you and your wife will get it.”
01:24:02
In an explosive day of allegations, Mr B gave
evidence that Von Einem had confessed to him
01:24:09
murdering the Beaumont children in 1966 as well
as Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon in 1973.
01:24:18
These crimes are covered in episodes
100 and 163 of Casefile respectively.
01:24:25
Von Eimen couldn’t be directly
linked to either crime.
01:24:31
Mr B told the court: “I have given
consideration to the relatives of these kids.
01:24:38
They deserve to know what really happened.” When
asked during cross examination whether the reward
01:24:46
money for these disappearances played any part
in him coming forward with these allegations,
01:24:52
Mr B said it did but only because he felt he
needed to flee the country, fearing for his life.
01:25:00
Adding to his fear he said, was that one of
the people he thought may have been involved
01:25:06
in the killing of Alan Barnes was sitting in
the public gallery while he gave evidence.
01:25:15
Bevan von Einem was ordered to stand trial for
the murders of Alan Barnes and Mark Langley.
01:25:22
In December 1990, the trial judge decided to allow
the evidence of Mr B in the committal hearing
01:25:29
regarding Alan Barnes for the upcoming trial. For
the Mark Langley case, the prosecution was relying
01:25:37
on using “similar fact evidence”. They were going
to argue that the abduction and murder of Mark
01:25:44
Langley was so similar to that of Richard Kelvin
that it meant Von Einem should be found guilty.
01:25:52
However, Von Einem’s council successfully
argued that comparing Mark’s death against
01:25:58
Richard Kelvin would suggest criminal
liability. Just before Christmas Day
01:26:04
1990,the prosecution received instructions
from the South Australian Attorney General
01:26:10
not to proceed with the case of Mark Langley
and the charges against Von Einem were dropped.
01:26:19
In February 1991, Von Einem appeared in the
Supreme Court for a total of 30 seconds.
01:26:27
The prosecution said that they had been instructed
by the South Australian Attorney General
01:26:32
to not pursue charges against Von Einem
regarding the murder of Alan Barnes either.
01:26:39
The Attorney General had received legal
advice that there was no reasonable
01:26:44
prospect of a conviction on the
available, admissible evidence.
01:26:51
Over the course of Bevan Spencer von Einem’s
incarceration, snippets regarding the life
01:26:56
of privilege he led came to light. In 2006, a
former prison officer known as Mary detailed
01:27:05
to The Sunday Mail the close friendship she
had formed with Von Einem over the years.
01:27:11
Describing the convicted killer as
polite, friendly, and gentle, Mary
01:27:17
did not see him as the monster that others did.
She supplied Von Einem with home cooked meals,
01:27:24
including bacon and eggs on Sunday morning
and his favourite - pea and ham soup. She also
01:27:32
purchased art supplies for him when Von Einem
mentioned that he wanted to do some painting.
01:27:38
Other prison officers paid for
painted Von Einem greeting cards,
01:27:42
either with cash or tobacco. He also used
an officer’s mobile phone from time to time.
01:27:51
Mary admitted to letting Von Einem sit
in the officers station, which contained
01:27:56
confidential prisoner information, while they
enjoyed cake and a cup of coffee together.
01:28:03
Other officers turned a blind eye to it.
Mary said that Von Einem spent most of his
01:28:10
prison time drawing, painting, reading,
and watching soap operas and reality TV.
01:28:18
According to The Advertiser, in 2005, Bevan
Spencer von Einem was prescribed the drug Cialis
01:28:25
by a prison doctor. Similar to viagra, Cialis
is used to treat erectile dysfunction however is
01:28:33
longer lasting. In mid 2005, under the influence
of the medication, Von Einem raped and assaulted
01:28:42
a fellow prisoner to the point where he needed
extensive surgery to repair internal injuries.
01:28:49
In early May 2007, a subsequent rape
charge against von Einem was dropped
01:28:55
after the Director of Public Prosecutions
decided there was insufficient evidence to secure
01:29:01
a successful condition. Bitterly disappointed, the
victim’s mother stated that her son’s silence was
01:29:08
interpreted to have been consent when in fact
Von Einem had repeatedly coerced, drugged, and
01:29:14
threatened him. Following this, the drug Cialis
and similar medications were banned from prisons.
01:29:25
In February 2014, Trevor Peters’ brother was
cleaning out his deceased siblings terrace house
01:29:32
in Kensington Park. As reported in The Advertiser,
he came across a diary belonging to Trevor and
01:29:40
thumbed through it. He reached an entry in late
June of 1979 just after Alan Barnes went missing.
01:29:49
It described how Trevor was getting his
hair coloured at his friend's salon.
01:29:55
The same Salon that Bevan Spencer Von Einem
visited to get his hair coloured the day
01:30:00
after Richard Kelvin disappeared. While Trevor
was waiting for the bleach to dye his hair,
01:30:08
he said that Bevan Spencer von Einem walked in.
01:30:13
The diary entry read: "He was in a very happy
mood and looking knowingly at the hairdresser,
01:30:21
smiling broadly and excited about
something they both seemed to share.
01:30:27
I could hear Bevan and the hairdresser giggling
and laughing and both saying 'oooh how evil,
01:30:34
oooh it's evil. I found them huddled over a
waist-high table directly behind the curtain (of
01:30:41
the salon). There was a group of photographs,
polaroids, laid out on the table, maybe 4, 5,
01:30:49
or 6 of them, with Bevan holding more photographs
in his hand. They both began to collect the photos
01:30:57
quickly but not before I saw them. The photographs
were of a young attractive blond-haired man
01:31:04
lying on his side on the front seat of a car
with his legs bent towards the steering wheel.
01:31:11
I was shocked at seeing the photos and
they both hurriedly gathered them up,
01:31:16
with Bevan putting them all into
his back pocket of his trousers.
01:31:21
When I asked who the young man was,
Bevan said 'oh, just some hitchhiker.’”
01:31:30
The collection of photos as described by Trevor
Peters were so graphic that their description has
01:31:36
not been publicly released.
…
01:31:41
According to The Advertiser - in the 1990s,
Trevor Peters wrote in his diary that he
01:31:47
visited the hairdrsser at Calvary Hospital to
confront him about the photographs he had seen
01:31:53
at his salon that day, over a decade earlier.
They sat together in the hospital garden
01:32:00
and the hairdresser told Trevor of the many
photographs he had been shown by Von Einem.
01:32:07
There were dozens of naked young men,
more often than not with objects,
01:32:12
including bottles, inserted deep into
their anuses. Trevor wrote in his diary:
01:32:21
“However, he said, smiling at me, he didn't
remember there being any photos at the salon ever
01:32:29
and 'if you know what's good for you, neither
should you!' ...He died four days later.''
01:32:40
Despite numerous appeals throughout the years,
Bevan Spencer von Einem is currently housed
01:32:46
in the Port Augusta high security prison in the
geriatric section. A sudden change in legislation
01:32:54
was passed in 2007, months before von Einem was
eligible for parole, allowing the South Australian
01:33:02
government to have non-parole periods revoked
for prisoners classified as dangerous offenders.
01:33:09
As such, Von Einem, now 74-years-old, white
haired, and suffering from type 2 diabetes,
01:33:17
will die in prison.
01:33:21
In 2008, there was a change to DNA legislation
in South Australia that gave police the power
01:33:27
to test the DNA of people that were
suspects in major indictable offences.
01:33:34
A cold case review of The Family Murders
was established and in March 2008,
01:33:40
detectives from the Major Crime and Cold Case
Units set about obtaining DNA samples from
01:33:46
three major suspects, and nine
others associated with the crimes.
01:33:52
The samples were compared to forensic
evidence obtained in four of the five
01:33:57
murder crime scenes and the profiles stored
on a database for future reference. Detectives
01:34:04
were confident that as a result of the testing,
other arrests would be made. In December 2010, it
01:34:13
was revealed that the cold case review failed to
uncover any new evidence and no charges were laid.
01:34:23
A reward of up to 200,000 dollars is still on
offer for information leading to the conviction
01:34:29
of the person or persons responsible for
the murders of Neil Muir and Mark Langley.
01:34:36
A reward of up to one million dollars is on
offer for information leading to the conviction
01:34:42
of the person or persons responsible for the
murders of Alan Barnes and Peter Stogneff.
01:34:49
Despite Bevan Spencer von Einem having been
found guilty of the murder of Richard Kelvin,
01:34:55
police are convinced multiple perpetrators were
involved in his death. Therefore, a one million
01:35:02
dollar reward is also on offer for information
leading to further convictions in his case.
01:35:10
Detectives think that over the years, 100 or more
young men were picked up, drugged, assaulted,
01:35:17
and then let go by members of The
Family. If you have any information,
01:35:23
please call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000, or
make a report online at crimestopperssa.com.au.
01:35:35
You can remain anonymous. Or if you’d prefer,
contact Casefile directly via our website.
01:35:46
Speaking to The Advertiser, Detective
Superintendent Grant Moyle appealed
01:35:51
to those with knowledge of The Family
murders: “It is never too late for them
01:35:57
to come forward and I don't think anyone
involved in this should ever sleep easy.
01:36:04
No one should think these cases are forgotten.
They are not. It is never too late for
01:36:10
someone to come forward with information
regarding them. We will follow it up.”
01:36:17
It was a sentiment echoed by Alan Barnes’
brother Charlie, who said of those responsible:
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“I would like them to shed the guilt and remorse
they must be carrying around and come forward and
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bring this to a conclusion. I know the police
are like bulldogs and will not let go of this.
01:36:40
They may well tap you on the shoulder one day.”