Major Crimes was primarily responsible for serial killings, mass killings, and any other high-profile crimes that the local government wanted to be handled by a specialized task force. 2020 familymurders.com All Rights Reserved. Just two days after the body of Alan Barnes was discovered - when the investigation was still unfolding - an anonymous caller reached out to police. Darko's brother dropped them at a bus stop near the corner of on Grand Junction Rd and Addison. Five young men who were drugged, viciously raped and tortured, kept captive for up to five weeks, horrifically mutilated, and ultimately murdered. The body count had essentially doubled within a couple of months, and police were still unsure whether or not the cases were related. Investigators were unable to pinpoint Peter's exact cause-of-death, or even estimate when he had been killed. [14][15] Skin bearing tattoos had been removed and most of the body parts were placed in another garbage bag before being placed within the abdominal cavity. 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. The Family Murders is one of Australias most captivating true crime stories. He is 50 metres from his beautiful family home. Trevor Peters lived two doors away from one of the transgender suspects and mixed in the same circles as a number of suspects. 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. By the time they managed to look outside, whoever had been outside had already sped off. Witnesses would later recall having seen the two at some of the area's gay bars and clubs (which I referenced just a moment ago). In 2014 when Trevor passed away, his diaries were recovered. A day or two prior, at least. 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. Now twenty-five years old, Neil had spent the better part of the last few years struggling with addictions and vices that left him moving from place-to-place pretty regularly. Part One: The Murders Between 1979 and 1983, a series of heinous murders shocked Adelaide. 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. The other murders remain unsolved.
Once known as the "City of Churches," Adelaide began going through a stark progression in the 1960s. 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. Police spoke to Alan's friend, who had left him behind on Grand Junction Road. Noctec was found in his blood, suggesting he had been drugged. This notoriety brought with it a poor reputation, however, and by the late 1970s, Mandrax had become a regulated prescription drug throughout Australia. After taking the pills, George's memory began to blur. Neil Muir had been missing for less than 24 hours by the time his body was discovered, and because he was an adult that lived alone, police were already at a disadvantage when it came to trying to figure out what happened to him. by enjin | Feb 12, 2021 . The police came to this conclusion due to the status of his remains, which weren't nearly as decomposed as they should have been; by the time he was discovered at the end of July, he had been dead for no more than a week or two, despite having gone missing at the beginning of June. At the same time he was developing a network of people who made it possible for him to carry out his sexually sadistic fantasies. Although each attack and mutilation appeared different, police investigators soon began to link the horrific murders to one another.
Lock up your sons in the world's murder capital The "Family Murders" *Warning: graphic content and mentions of sexual abuse ahead. They phoned police that evening, hoping that their son's whereabouts could be chalked up to a simple miscommunication. This conflict has endured because Alan's bloodstream also showed signs of alcohol consumption, which Alan had participated in that same weekend. 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. Mark Langley was an 18-year-old with the entire world in front of him: an athletic and good-looking young man, who quickly endeared himself to others. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the case is how did von Einem find accomplices willing to be involved in such crimes? Show True Crime Conversations, Ep The Family Murders Of Adelaide - 10 Nov 2021. Most were later described as being worthless, but a few piqued the interest of Investigator O'Brien. Our locations section shows where all the events happened and where all the players lived. 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. Trace evidence, including hair and fibres from von Einem's home, was found on Kelvin's body and clothing. So, they believed that this crime might have been perpetrated by someone that Neil owed money to, who wanted to cover up their tracks afterward. Millhouse would have. Australia's most notorious unsolved serial killings. Richard Dallas Kelvin, (born 4 December 1967) aged 15,[23] murdered in July 1983. 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. The bags looked as if they had been dropped from the higher-up wharf, just like the body of Alan Barnes had been. 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. These people have no such bond, only an association that with time probably no longer exists". Neil's numerous tattoos had also been cut away from his flesh, and those patches of inked skin had been placed into his chest cavity along with his severed limbs. Any person complicit in the abduction, rape and murders of the five victims, plus any person who visited the place of captivity when a victim was knowingly present, plus any person involved in the abduction, spiking and raping of teenage boys or young men with other members of The Family. Because of this prime location, Adelaide has become one of the country's most populated areas, and more than a million Australians live in the city itself; which is split in half by the Torrens River, which runs through the center of Adelaide. Stogneff's body had been cut into three pieces in a similar fashion to Muir. He had struggled to wean himself off of heroin, using methadone to do so, only to have methadone become his next addiction. The other two men thrown into the river with him managed to escape with their lives, but they did not escape unscathed. 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. Unfortunately, it did not. 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. Hundreds of sordid and terrifying crimes and only one man found guilty in relation to only one victim. The periphery of The Family is a grey area. It is confirmed that 5 of these victims were murdered, usually by having an object forced so far up their anus that it split the lining and they bled out. 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. Suspect 3, an Eastern Suburbs doctor. [15] A post-mortem examination revealed that Muir had died of massive blood loss from an anal injury, likely caused by the insertion of a large blunt object[16] and Noctec was found in his blood. Five murders and over 150 rapes. In a word, no. Gambier, a city roughly five hours south of Adelaide. He also happened to be a relative of Robin Millhouse, South Australia's former Attorney General who would become a Supreme Court Justice in 1982. 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. [20] His mutilated body was found in scrub in the Adelaide foothills nine days after his disappearance. This screening also revealed that the young man had been drugged with Mandrax ("Randy Mandys"), which had resulted in him losing consciousness. 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. The area around the scar had even been shaved away, implying that this a methodical decision by someone with surgical experience perhaps someone trying to rectify a mistake. Homosexuality itself would become decriminalized just a few years later, in 1975, with the passing of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, making South Australia the first Australian state or territory where members of the LGBTQ community no longer had to fear government persecution. A man who donned a balaclava and stormed a man's Adelaide CBD unit, stabbing him within nine seconds, will spend 20 years behind bars. The Family Murders is one of Australia's most captivating true crime stories. Bob O'Brien was an investigator for Major Crimes, who had just started working with the unit the year prior (1982). And, with the recent discovery of the chemical cocktail found in Richard Kelvin's system, they had a pretty decent foundation for their investigation. In May of 1972, three gay men - George Duncan, Roger James, and another man (whose identity has been withheld in the decades since) - were picked up by members of South Australia's police force.
Wife 'kills family in murder-suicide' - news.com.au It has been reported that the exposed skin on his face and neck had begun to wither away, leading to the theory that he had been killed shortly after going missing. Unfortunately, as the farmer's land burned, so did the remains of the missing teenager. In August of 1979, Neil was living alone in an apartment on Carrington Street, right in the middle of Adelaide itself. The Family Murders was a series of murders in the 1970s and 1980s that targeted young men in Adelaide, South Australia between the ages of 14 and 25. The ongoing investigation featured in an episode of Crime Stoppers which went to air on 2 March 2009. 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. Meanwhile, the mutilation of Neil Muir's body seemed to be identical to that perpetrated upon Peter Stogneff's remains, whose limbs had been similarly severed with a saw-like device. This included people that visited the same bars and clubs as Neil and perhaps knew him that way. But underneath the surface, a monster lingered He then moved away from Adelaide and the murders continued. 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. It wasn't until the following year, 1983, that police finally rediscovered George's story. 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. Peter Leslie Millhouse was a doctor from Mt. Bevan von Einem was no exception he also preferred youths between the 15 and 19 year old age group.
The Family Murders Unresolved The convicted killer and notorious head of "The Family" ring who picked up hitchhikers and schoolboys to drug and offer to South Australia's elite to sexually abuse has broken his 20-year silence, to blame his victim, and to claim innocence over other murders. A witness says she saw Stogneff at Tea Tree Plaza with someone matching Noel Brook's appearance. Mark Langley attended party in Windsor Gardens but left with a male and female. The Family Murders Of Adelaide.
The "Family Murders" - Amateur Sleuth [7] Suspect 1, an Eastern Suburbs businessman, is believed to have been with von Einem when Kelvin was abducted. POLICE are investigating new information linking convicted killer Bevan Spencer von Einem to the abduction and murder of teenager Alan Barnes. While investigators had been keeping information closely guarded in this case, they decided to publicize this information to the media in the hopes that it would attract follow-up tips. However, unlike many of the others, it was believed that Richard had been held captive for an extended period of time, enduring torture and sexual abuse for weeks leading up to his death. 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. One such case is the Family Murders of Adelaide, Australia. The victims were found in random locations throughout the state, their bodies neatly cut into pieces. Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, is perhaps most well known for its beautiful, scenic landscape, which is wedged in-between the Adelaide Foothills to the east, the coastline that runs along the west and down into the southern cape, and expanse of vast Australia that lies to the north. And at least one witness - a security guard that lived just down the street from the Kelvins - recalled some more details succinctly. For that reason, many of these men and women had to keep their sexuality confined to specific locations. Like the other victims, investigators would learn a lot from the status of Mark's remains. Millhouse was charged and went to trial but was acquitted. Moments later, George lost consciousness, falling prey to the drugs that he had consumed. He was last seen stumbling down the street, supposedly wandering off to parts unknown. He failed to make any contact with his family, and police began to express concern that he had gone missing under duress. There, George was plied with beers and other alcoholic beverages while the older women flirted with him. He told officers what the two had been up to that weekend: hanging out on Saturday and into Sunday morning, before splitting up. The man that had driven George there offered him a couple of pills called "No-Doz," which - he promised - would help him stay awake to enjoy the party. However, what wasn't up for debate was the fact that Alan had been violently tortured for hours before his death, with his death ultimately coming from blood loss due to an anal injury. 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. Unlike other drugs, Mandrax was heavily-regulated, meaning that police could search through government records to find out who had a prescription, and whether or not they appeared on their suspect lists. He likely did this to hide it from his parents, in case they made it home before he did. Mark's remains had also clearly been thoroughly washed before being dumped, just like Alan Barnes. [5] Others, who have examined the cases, however, argue that there were many more victims. The Family Murders is the name given to the murders of five young men and boys between 1979 and 1983, with all abducted from the streets of Adelaide before being taken to another location,. It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. However, the medical examiners in Adelaide concluded definitively that Alan had died several hours before this happened. Police wouldn't get around to conducting a door-to-door canvas of the neighborhood until Tuesday, two days after Richard had gone missing. He had been sexually assaulted and went on to report this bizarre, terrifying incident to police. This was as good of a tip as police were going to get, and since the most recent victim of this strange killing spree had been found in the Foothills, police decided to follow through on the tip. The medical examiners would also find a significant head wound on Neil, which wasn't significant enough to have killed him, but would have likely happened to incapacitate or subdue the man. Writing, research, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan, Producers: Maggyjames, Ben Krokum, Roberta Janson, Quil Carter, Peggy Belarde, Laura Hannan, Damion Moore, Amy Hampton, Scott Meesey, Steven Wilson, Scott Patzold, Marie Vanglund, Lori Rodriguez, Jessica Yount, Aimee McGregor, Danny Williams, Sue Kirk, Victoria Reid, Sara Moscaritolo, Thomas Ahearn, Marion Welsh, Seth Morgan, Sydney Scotton, Alyssa Lawton, Kelly Jo Hapgood, Patrick Laakso, Meadow Landry, Rebecca Miller, and Tatum Bautista, Original music created by Micheal Whelan through Amper Music, Other music created and composed by Ailsa Traves, Young Bloods: The Story of the Family Murders by Bob OBrien, Crime Stoppers (South Australia) - Alan Arthur Barnes, Crime Stoppers (South Australia) - Neil Fredrick Muir, Crime Stoppers (South Australia) - Peter Stogneff, Crime Stoppers (South Australia) - Mark Andrew Langley, Crime Stoppers (South Australia) - Richard Kelvin, The Sydney Morning Herald - Adelaides Duncan case: letting some light shine in, The Sydney Morning Herald - Boys murderer refused High Court appeal, The Sydney Morning Herald - Macabre Adelaide (1), The Sydney Morning Herald - Macabre Adelaide (2), The Sydney Morning Herald - Murderer quizzed on death of youth, The Age - Men fled as Duncan died, court told, The Sydney Morning Herald - The Beaumonts, Kirste and Joanne: the mystery may be over, The Sydney Morning Herald - Witness feared threats to his life, The Age - Court told rape victim thought he would die, The Sydney Morning Herald - Family killings murder charge dropped, The Age - Lock up your sons in the worlds murder capital, The Weekend Australian - How Mother Goose ducked pedophile net, The Advertiser - Police seek von Einem associate, Perth Now - DNA tests for Family murder suspects, The Advertiser - $5M reward bid to solve Family murders, The Sydney Morning Herald - Reward doubled to solve Family murders, The Telegraph - Australian police reopen notorious 1970s Family murders case, The Sydney Morning Herald - Aussie pedophile deported from Indonesia, The Advertiser - Focus on three key suspects, The Advertiser - Revealed: The double life of a magistrate who sought young men, ABC News - Mother Goose sex trial starts in Adelaide, The Advertiser - Mother Goose claims he was set up by gay ex-prostitutes, The Advertiser - Doctor with alleged links to The Family identified as Stephen George Woodards, The Advertiser - Sex-case doctor Stephen George Woodards free to practise, ABC News - Mother Goose acquitted of sex charges, The Advertiser - Paedophile Peter Liddy fears prison attack, ABC News - Former TV entertainer sentenced for sex offences, The Advertiser - Lost diary gives South Australia police new lead into Alan Barnes murder by The Family, The Daily Mail - Will $13million reward solve the murders of 18 children? He remembered going to a back room of the house to have sex with one of the older women, only to discover - during the act itself - that she was transgender. Between 1979 and 1983, the city of Adelaide in South Australia was the stage for a horrific string of crimes against young men and teenagers.Five known victims of kidnapping, sexual abuse and murder showed up in those years, and police became convinced that the perpetrator was actually a group of several men . He is 50 metres from his beautiful family home. In Adelaides gay community in the 1970s and 1980s, young men were coveted for sex. How did he manipulate large numbers of people to get involved to various degrees even if that involvement was merely remaining silent? Although there were in excess of 150 youths and young men who were drugged and raped, often by multiple men, this section focuses on the five young men who didnt come home. 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. Because very little physical evidence had been left behind, it was hard to tell whether or not these crimes belonged to the same spree, or were simply copycats. On this night, in particular, that included these three men. SA convicted murderer Bevan Spencer Von Einem during the jury's tour of North Adelaide dumping spot of Richard Kelvin's body. With these results, police were able to successfully link Richard's disappearance and death to at least two prior cases: Alan Barnes and Mark Langley, who had been similarly drugged and sexually assaulted before their deaths. 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. 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. Police didn't believe that this voice was Richard, as he was a teenager with a deep voice that had already cracked. 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. 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. Unfortunately, that Thursday, Peter never arrived at the mall to meet his friend. A few more anonymous calls would be received in the coming weeks. There were signs that he had been tortured and beaten by a sexual sadist, who had likely kept Alan drugged with a chemical compound named chloral hydrate. 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. The son of popular local Nine Network news presenter Rob Kelvin, he was abducted a short distance from his North Adelaide home on 5 June. 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). Young Blood refers to the age of the victims who were brutally murdered. Also, like the other victims, Mark's cause-of-death seemed to be nearly identical: blood loss from an anal injury, caused by the forced insertion of an unknown item. Later on, Ian would recall the argument cropping up around cigarettes, but that just proves the point of how nonessential it was. However, they quickly began to narrow in on the one avenue of the investigation that seemed most enticing to them at the time: Neil's dependency on drugs and alcohol. 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. 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. Just a few months later, in June of 1982, the family of missing 14-year-old Peter Stogneff would finally get some resolution. Ten years von Einem's junior, Mr B helped von Einem pick up, drug, and rape several young men. Neil Fredrick Muir, aged 25,[12][13] murdered two months after Barnes in August 1979. Sadly, Neil's biggest vice was his ever-evolving drug addiction. Within hours, Alan's father and grandfather found themselves tagged to identify the remains, which were undoubtedly the remains of their missing 17-year-old. It had been reported that Richard was wearing the collar as a joke on the afternoon he went missing, while he was kicking around the soccer ball in the park with his dad and his friend, Boris. His body had been dissected into parts, with his internal organs carved out and missing, replaced by his lower legs and arms, which had been sawed off and placed inside of his hollowed-out chest cavity. The Family Murders is a well known and notorious series of crimes that occurred in Adelaide, Australia.
The Family Murders of Adelaide Australia : r/UnresolvedMysteries - reddit On the afternoon of Sunday, June 5th, 1983, Richard was kicking around a soccer ball with his father Rob and his friend Boris at a park near his home. 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. 4 had horrific injuries with clear signs of torture, abuse and confinement lasting up to 5 weeks.
victim - The Family Murders They drove to War Memorial Drive (150m east of the Adelaide Rowing Club ) when Mark had a minor argument with the other male so got out and left. Four of the five murders remain unsolved. The Family Murders is a well known and notorious series of crimes that occurred in Adelaide, Australia. Mark Langley 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. Over the next year or so, the case would stagnate. The next day was a Sunday, they both planned to hitchhike to Alan's home in Salisbury. While Neil Muir had endured a similar fate, his remains were too badly mutilated to test for any drugs; however, the injuries suffered seemed to be identical. The victims were all young men, who had gone missing in or near the northern section of town. Richard and Boris remained at the park for a bit longer, kicking around the soccer ball and chatting, before eventually, Boris decided to make his way home. 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. Description. The Family Murders (Part Two: The Family) Unresolved The Family Murders Part Two: The Family As the families of five young men mourned, investigators began to circle around their top suspect, Bevan Spencer von Einem. He was able to exploit and manipulate enablers, helpers and participants over a long period of time. As the 1970s entered their homestretch, Alan was beginning to enter the phase of his life where he experimented with drug and alcohol usage. For that reason, this crime remains technically unsolved to this day. Police were called out to the scene, and an extensive search of the area commenced. Some of the victims were brutally tortured, or horrifically mutilated or cut up. The victims were all young men, who had gone missing in or near the northern section of town. 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. [16][22] The sedative-hypnotic drug Mandrax, popular in the 1970s disco scene, was found in Langley's blood. 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"). Another anonymous caller claimed that they had seen Richard Kelvin in a snuff film, which had been filmed very recently.
The fishermen probed the bags - a mystery just waiting to be unearthed - and quickly discovered that the bags held human remains. That was believed to have been Neil's cause-of-death, same as Alan Barnes. 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.
Australia - Australia -the Family, 1979-83, Adelaide, B S Von Einem They organized a helicopter search of the area, which O'Brien was present for, but unfortunately, the police were unable to find anything definitive. They knew then that the description of the remains - should it become public knowledge - would alert a lot of media to the story and scare a lot of people. Police first treated Richard as a runaway; an unfortunate symptom of the times. What the two got up to that evening is anyone's guess, but rumors and theories have propagated this story in the decades since.