Unfortunately, it would later be determined that he would suffer in anguish for weeks before meeting eventually dying more than a month after his initial disappearance. Was Dr Millhouse involved in Neil Muirs murder. 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. They began probing those that knew Alan and might have taken issue with something he did or said in the weeks before his death; in particular, those that drove a white sedan. 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 enjin | Feb 12, 2021 . Rumours of high-society involvement and cover-ups. A couple of black trash bags were floating on the low tide of the river's coast. Description. 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. Eventually, Peter's parents discovered the plot among Peter and his friend to skip school, and conveyed this information to the police - who were just as alarmed as they were. It shows the facts and most likely scenarios, but is fluid so when new information comes to light changes can easily be made. In Adelaides gay community in the 1970s and 1980s, young men were coveted for sex. On Saturday, June 16th, 1979, Alan spent the night at a friend's house. Australian police launch appeal to solve string of notorious killings stretching back to 1966, The Advertiser - Doctor found not guilty of Family murder of Neil Muir dies in NSW, Kimberly Riley & Jeremy Britt-Bayinthavong, Paul Skiba, Sarah Skiba, and Lorenzo Chivers, June & Jennifer Gibbons (The Silent Twins). He had been killed elsewhere and then transported to this location postmortem, implying that the killer had a base of operations for his or her dark deeds. He had multiple channels to procuring young men. The two were hiking through the area near the South Para Reservoir when they noticed something on the ground. Although each attack and mutilation appeared different, police investigators soon began to link the horrific murders to one another. Mark Langley von Einem is serving life imprisonment. Of the five men that fell prey to this violent killer, at least two had been drugged with Mandrax, as had George. Needing to get away from his friends and clear his head, Mark decided to get out and walk away. It was a group of homosexual men and transgender women who formed a network around convicted murderer and sexual sadist Bevan Spencer von Einem, based on the drugging, raping and sometimes murder of youths and young men. 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. Some time after they went missing, their bodies would each be found, often horribly mutilated. This group was believed to be involved in the kidnapping and sexual abuse of a number of teenage boys and young men, as well as the torture and murder of five young men aged between 14 and 25, in Adelaide, South Australia, in the 1970s and 1980s. Unfortunately, from there, the trail would go cold for over a year at which point, another victim had already become ensnared in this tragic saga. The Family were not an official group, gang, or organisation. Richard Dallas Kelvin, (born 4 December 1967) aged 15,[23] murdered in July 1983. He was found wearing most of the clothing he had last been seen in, minus an undershirt and without the chains he often wore around his neck (which contained his zodiac sign, Cancer). Through these connections, police were able to link all of these crimes together. 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".This group was believed to be involved in the kidnapping and sexual abuse of a number of teenage boys and young men, as well as the torture and murder of five young men aged between 14 and 25, in Adelaide, South . Mark had likely hitched a ride with someone, and his friends trusted that he would make it home. 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. 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. On this night, in particular, that included these three men. Sadly, Neil's biggest vice was his ever-evolving drug addiction. Hence, the odd scar that seemed to serve no other purpose. Several eyewitnesses remembered seeing Alan and his long, blond hair standing along Grand Junction Road that Sunday. 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. After a bit, Rob decided to walk home, leaving the two boys at the park; assured that it was just down the street from their house and it was still early in the day. 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. Some showed signs of prolonged captivity, while death came quick to others . He likely did this to hide it from his parents, in case they made it home before he did. 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. But now, they needed to find a suspect. Because Mark had been killed and his body been dumped in the Australian summer months, his remains had already suffered some serious decomposition by the time police were called to the scene. The name of the group stems from an interview a police detective gave on 60 Minutes,[1] claiming the police were taking action "to break up the happy family". 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. It was speculated that a foreign object had caused the internal perforations, leading to the belief that the killer had been a sexual sadist whose only intent was to cause physical pain. An examination of Richard's body discovered that his cause-of-death was virtually identical to the other young male victims: blood loss caused by extensive anal injuries. Some of the victims were brutally tortured, or horrifically mutilated or cut up. They now had five bodies - five victims - and five families pushing for answers. The bags looked as if they had been dropped from the higher-up wharf, just like the body of Alan Barnes had been. After all, three of the victims (Alan Barnes, Neil Muir, and Mark Langley) had all died of similar injuries, and at least three (Alan Barnes, Mark Langley, and now Richard Kelvin) had all gone missing on Sundays. 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 [7] Suspect 1, an Eastern Suburbs businessman, is believed to have been with von Einem when Kelvin was abducted. Just east of Adelaide, this area is well-known to Southern Australians, as it serves as a primary destination for the area's outdoorsmen and women. But the rumors that he engaged in sex work were mainly perpetrated by those that knew him from his regular haunts: members of Adelaide's gay community, who regularly saw Neil at the gay-friendly bars they frequented. And at least one witness - a security guard that lived just down the street from the Kelvins - recalled some more details succinctly. However, the medical examiners in Adelaide concluded definitively that Alan had died several hours before this happened. Analysis of Kelvin's bloodstream revealed traces of four hypnotic drugs,[11][26] including Mandrax and Noctec. Our locations section shows where all the events happened and where all the players lived. Police believe this murder is associated with other high profile murders commonly referred to in the media as the 'Family Murders'. He was last seen stumbling down the street, supposedly wandering off to parts unknown. It was at around this time - the end of August - that Investigator Rod Hunter finally got around to interviewing Bevan Spencer von Einem, the man implicated by an anonymous caller in the murder of Alan Barnes. No additional leads would surface in that time-span, and police would continue to refrain from stating that the two victims so far - Alan Barnes and Neil Muir - were connected in any way (at least, they wouldn't say so publicly). 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. The Family Murders Of Adelaide. These people have no such bond, only an association that with time probably no longer exists". For that reason, this crime remains technically unsolved to this day. [5] Others, who have examined the cases, however, argue that there were many more victims. He vividly remembered hearing a young voice shout out (which we can assume was Richard) and a group of voices screaming in protest, almost in unison. 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). [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. There are also notorious unsolved disappearances in Adelaide, including the Beaumont children. Suspect 3, an Eastern Suburbs doctor. He was in G Block of Yatala Prison for decades but was transferred to Port Augusta Prison in the north of the state in 2007. Unfortunately, information gathered by police that fateful Tuesday began to cast doubt on the idea that Richard had willingly chosen to run away from home. An ear witness said they heard some shouting, 2020 familymurders.com All Rights Reserved. And Marshall is no novice at delving into the minds of evil men. 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 . He was seen in the presence of individuals who would become relevant later on, but - at the time - were simply believed to have been his friends. 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. Many of these people were directly involved in the abductions and rape of victims who survived. While in rehab, Dr. Millhouse refused to speak to police about Neil Muir (or his alleged relationship with the man). Four of the five murders remain unsolved. Mr B made contact with police two days after Alan Barnes was found. The Adelaide Festival of Arts (also known as just Adelaide Festival) started in 1960 and led to something of a "cultural revival" in the area. [3], Von Einem was convicted in 1984 of the murder of Kelvin and sentenced to life imprisonment. This notoriety brought with it a poor reputation, however, and by the late 1970s, Mandrax had become a regulated prescription drug throughout Australia. 's had discovered the chemical compound chloral hydrate in the system of Alan Barnes, who also had an above-average level of alcohol in his system: roughly four times the legal limit, which was unusually high for a teenager. Only one suspect has been charged and convicted for a crime. The periphery of The Family is a grey area. A few more anonymous calls would be received in the coming weeks. One victim was killed and dumped within 24 hours, another was kept alive for five weeks, and the rest were in between. After taking the pills, George's memory began to blur. [16][22] The sedative-hypnotic drug Mandrax, popular in the 1970s disco scene, was found in Langley's blood. For many, that meant gay-specific bars and clubs, where these individuals were allowed to socially express themselves honestly for the first time in their lives. The father of boat crash victim Mallory Beach refused to shake hands with Alex Murdaugh 's family in court after the legal scion was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife and son . George Duncan, one of the three men thrown into the Torrens, would drown that evening. Police believe that up to 12 people, several of them high-profile Australians, were involved in the kidnappings. 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. 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. Like most of the victims targeted by this unknown subject, Richard Kelvin was a young and athletic young man, who seemed destined to have a long and rewarding life. 17-year-old Alan Barnes, 25-year-old Neil Muir, 14-year-old Peter Stogneff, 18-year-old Mark Langley and 15-year-old Richard Kelvin were later found dumped in the Adelaide Hills and surrounds. This has come to be disputed over the years, with some speculating that Alan might have willingly consumed the drug the weekend before his death; or, perhaps, he might have been slipped it by someone at the bars he was rumored to visit with his friends that Saturday. Unfortunately, this lead ultimately led nowhere, so police began investigating people more tentatively linked to Neil through his social circle. 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. The "Family Murders" *Warning: graphic content and mentions of sexual abuse ahead. Unfortunately, by the time they returned, Mark was nowhere to be found. A cold case review was opened in March 2008 with a $1,000,000 reward available for anyone who provided information leading to a conviction. Make no mistake, Bevan Spencer von Einem is the architect behind all these crimes. For obvious reasons, he didn't tell his parents, setting out that morning with his backpack and heading off like any other day. [20] His mutilated body was found in scrub in the Adelaide foothills nine days after his disappearance. But his teachers recalled him being absent, and hours would pass that afternoon (heading into the evening) and Peter would fail to return home. The following morning, however, is a different story. Like the other victims, investigators would learn a lot from the status of Mark's remains. Richard's family disputed this, vigorously denying the notion that Richard would have run away of his own accord. It was there that they found his backpack hidden in the garage, which ultimately led to calls to all of his friends. South Australia's overdue for another The night before he went missing he stayed at Darko Kastelan's house in Cheltenham. So prosecutors and the police began to build their case around Millhouse without his cooperation, including witness statements that alleged the two had been together the weekend before Neil's violent death. [5][9] The cold case review was completed in November 2010 with no charges being laid against any of the three key suspects. Medical examiners and investigators began to theorize about the rationale for the surgical scar, and the most plausible one to-date is perhaps one of the worst to imagine. The head was tied to the torso with rope passed through the mouth and out through the neck. Neil Fredrick Muir, aged 25,[12][13] murdered two months after Barnes in August 1979. Bevan von Einem was no exception he also preferred youths between the 15 and 19 year old age group. A short time later, police were contacted and later arrived at the scene to document the grisly find. Suspect 2, a former male prostitute and close friend of von Einem known as Mr B. It was the body of Neil Muir or, rather, what remained of him. He then moved away from Adelaide and the murders continued. His friend likely just assumed that Peter had bailed on their plan, and likely gone to school that day. 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. Young Blood refers to the age of the victims who were brutally murdered. Ian and Paula, Mark's friends, drove away but would return just minutes later, cooler heads having prevailed. 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. According to some witnesses in the area, screams had been heard at around the time that Richard had disappeared, some time between 5:30 and 6:30 PM that Sunday. This witness recalled Alan getting into a vehicle, which appeared to be a white Holden sedan. But underneath the surface, a monster lingered The Family Murders revolved around von Einem. He had good grades at school, was well-liked by just about everyone, had a stable of trusted friends, and played soccer for a local Lockley club on the weekends. In the days immediately after Neil Muir's death, Dr. Millhouse had gone on a bit of a self-described "bender." So they tried to safely guard the parts of the investigation that they could. 2020 familymurders.com All Rights Reserved. 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. Rather than have to read the whole site, or miss updates in the case because you dont know they exist, this section will show time-stamped updates so you can keep up to date with developments. 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. They kicked the footy around. 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. However, police would reach out to all of Mark's known friends, and learned that the night prior - February 27th - he had simply wandered off into the night and had not been seen since. We know that on the morning of Sunday, June 17th, Alan and his friend woke up, and tried their luck hitchhiking back to Alan's family's house (a practice that wasn't that uncommon in the late 1970s). Show True Crime Conversations, Ep The Family Murders Of Adelaide - 10 Nov 2021. 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. Regardless, this information was incredibly helpful to police, who began to expand their interests to finding people in the area that drove similar vehicles. He is 50 metres from his beautiful family home. He has spent that Sunday, June the 5th, playing footy, until the afternoon when his best friend Karl came over. 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. 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. It wasn't until Monday morning that Alan's parents decided to contact the police, having not seen him for several days. Neil Muir was someone that you could describe as a transient. Because Neil's transient lifestyle led to him becoming known as a bit of a vagabond, his sexuality was not exactly common knowledge. His body had been severely mutilated and dumped in the South Para Reservoir, northeast of Adelaide. See what they say here. The name of the group stems from an interview a police detective gave on 60 Minutes, claiming the police were taking action to break up the happy family. Millhouse was charged and went to trial but was acquitted. The emergence of this drug would prove to be very interesting in the years to come, but at this point in the investigation, police were still struggling to connect all of the dots. The son was fifteen when he was snatched from the street . For that reason, many of these men and women had to keep their sexuality confined to specific locations. The other two men thrown into the river with him managed to escape with their lives, but they did not escape unscathed. While changes in Southern Australia's draconian laws had decriminalized homosexuality, there were still people eager to prey on or harass gay men and women - behavior that lingers to this day. Millhouse would have Peter intended to skip school and meet his uncle (similar age) in Rundle Mall. 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. His head had also been removed from the rest of his body, but was placed in its own separate black trash bag and connected with a rope tie to the rest of the remains. Murdered victims were kept in captivity by the Family for up to five weeks. 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. 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. 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. The information is easy to navigate and easy reference. Mark Andrew Langley, aged 18,[17] murdered in February 1982. 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. But, just like the failure to properly drop Alan's body into the water, these bags had failed to make it to their intended location; still resting against the coast, instead of floating out to sea, where they'd have been lost forever. It wasn't until the next day, Sunday (February 28th), that Mark's parents began to grow concerned. The fishermen probed the bags - a mystery just waiting to be unearthed - and quickly discovered that the bags held human remains. There's a conviction in the last murder in the series, but I will include it due to the similarity and due to the man convicted being suspected in the other murders as well. He found like minded people who shared a similar sexual bent, and he found people he could mutually exploit to lure victims into his car. While searching, they ended up discovering the body of Richard Kelvin, who had been missing for just shy of two months. Noctec was found in his blood, suggesting he had been drugged. This theory is that whatever item had been used to sexually assault Mark with - which ultimately led to his death - had gotten caught up in his intestines, and required surgery to retrieve. Hundreds of sordid and terrifying crimes and only one man found guilty in relation to only one victim. Richard was found wearing the same clothing that he had been wearing on the day of his disappearance, but in an unusual twist, was found to be wearing his family dog's collar. [4][5] In 1989, von Einem was charged with the murders of two other victims, Barnes and Langley, but the prosecution entered a nolle prosequi (voluntarily discontinue criminal charges) during the trial when crucial similar fact evidence was deemed inadmissible by the presiding judge. Most were later described as being worthless, but a few piqued the interest of Investigator O'Brien. He immediately contacted the police, and when they arrived at the scene, they were able to quickly identify the remains as Peter. This period saw the creation of gay clubs in Adelaide (such as a location known as the Mars Bar) and other clubs where all sexualities were welcome (such as the Duke of York or Buckingham Arms, known in the area as "The Buck"). The Family Murders is the name given to a series of five sadistic murders committed by a loosely connected group of individuals who came to be known as The Family. Trevor Peters lived two doors away from one of the transgender suspects and mixed in the same circles as a number of suspects. At this point, the idea of a random killer hadn't even crossed investigators' minds. Just like Neil Muir, whoever had taken him had killed him and dumped his body pretty quickly, within a day or two. However, when Neil Muir's body was discovered, his internal organs had been removed and were gone entirely, leading to police being unable to test his blood levels. Gino Gambardella regularly scouted Rundle Mall and video game arcades for runaways, homeless teenagers, and youths who he was able to exploit. Sadly, this dark and tragic saga was just beginning. 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. Police were called out to the scene, and an extensive search of the area commenced. Investigators were unable to pinpoint Peter's exact cause-of-death, or even estimate when he had been killed. Peter Stogneff. Bevan von Einems life revolved around sexual sadism. Listen to "The Family Murders (Part One: The Murders)" on Spreaker. 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. And, with the recent discovery of the chemical cocktail found in Richard Kelvin's system, they had a pretty decent foundation for their investigation. Investigator Hunter made note of this, finding it odd that one man would have connections to two separate murder investigations - especially two gruesome murders that shared such grisly traits. Once in the car they would be offered a drink that was laced with a knockout drug. He told officers what the two had been up to that weekend: hanging out on Saturday and into Sunday morning, before splitting up. Mark Andrew Langley RICHARD KELVIN Richard Kelvin, aged 15 years, was abducted at about 6.15 p.m. on Sunday 5 June 1983 from a laneway off Ward Street, North Adelaide. 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. A post-mortem examination revealed that Barnes had died of massive blood loss from an anal injury, likely caused by the insertion of a large blunt object. He never made it home. This witness would also recall hearing this supposed argument on the street come to a sudden end, punctuated with the sound of a loud exhaust system as a car sped down the street. Examiners discovered that just a few inches above his groin - just below his navel - Mark had a small surgical scar that had been sealed shut with staples and a specific type of Johnson & Johnson surgical tape. However, they were able to learn from a witness that a young man matching Peter's description had been spotted at Tea Tree Plaza the morning of his disappearance, and had been in the company of an adult male. But a discovery by the medical examiner seemed to undermine that: in addition to all of this, Neil's genitals had been mutilated by his killer. We know, from the 2014-2017 Royal Commission, that Debi Marshall's count of 150 disappeared boys in Adelaide is miniscule compared to the number tens of thousands of victims who stepped forward once they were invited by the RC. The Clermont County Sheriff's Office . March 3, 2023 - 7:08PM. With tattoos, long hair, and a gruff demeanor, Neil looked like your average rock musician, and his transient lifestyle seems to support that. Bevan von Einem was an apex predator. 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.
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