This reported sighting led police to the notion that a group of people might have been acting in-tandem to abduct Richard, for reasons that appeared nefarious. Neil had several drug debts throughout Adelaide, and that is where police started their investigation. His body also showed signs of beatings and torture. Part One: The Murders Between 1979 and 1983, a series of heinous murders shocked Adelaide. Global Nav Open Menu . Later on, Ian would recall the argument cropping up around cigarettes, but that just proves the point of how nonessential it was. Millhouse was charged and went to trial but was acquitted. This caller told detectives that a man named Bevan Spencer von Einem was responsible for Alan's death, and his name was added to the list of potential suspects to explore. Bevan von Einem was no exception he also preferred youths between the 15 and 19 year old age group. 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 site is constantly being updated as more is learned. While police began to investigate who might be responsible for this heinous crime, medical examiners testing the body made a pretty shocking discovery: the presence of drugs in his blood. 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. If your information is verified and its not breaking any laws, we may publish it. 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. Alan Barnes was a teenager growing up in this environment, who seemed to live on the bubble between childhood and adulthood in the winter of 1979. 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. 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. 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. Most were later described as being worthless, but a few piqued the interest of Investigator O'Brien. Ian and Paula, Mark's friends, drove away but would return just minutes later, cooler heads having prevailed. Nine days after Mark Langley went missing, his body was discovered in the Adelaide Foothills, close to Mount Lofty in the area known as Summertown. 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. In a word, no. He had multiple channels to procuring young men. 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. What the two got up to that evening is anyone's guess, but rumors and theories have propagated this story in the decades since. Only one suspect has been charged and convicted for a crime. Both witnesses - who were friends with Neil and drug users themselves - were prepared to testify should this man be tried for the murder. Sadly, this dark and tragic saga was just beginning. 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. The older driver not only offered to give George a ride but offered to show him a good time with some ladies he knew. "The Family murders" occurred in the period of time between the late 1970s and 1980s. 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. 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. Do you think the Family Murders case will ever be solved? Police believe that up to 12 people, several of them high-profile Australians, were involved in the kidnappings. When this young man woke up the next day, he was surprised to find himself both at home and in significant pain. 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. Only one suspect has been charged and convicted for the crimes: Bevan Spencer von Einem was sentenced in 1984 to a minimum of 24 years (later extended to a minimum 36-year term) for the murder of 15-year-old Richard Kelvin. Peter Leslie Millhouse was a doctor from Mt. Mark had likely hitched a ride with someone, and his friends trusted that he would make it home. '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. 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. While the men in the river struggled to make it back to the shore, the group that had thrown them into the water made their escape before camera crews or onlookers could begin to gather. But other than that, this friend had nothing new to offer police: he hadn't seen or heard from Alan since the two went their separate ways. Like the other victims, investigators would learn a lot from the status of Mark's remains. But at this point, police were already preoccupied with a separate lead from Neil Muir's social circle: a man named Dr. Peter Millhouse. 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. Some showed signs of prolonged captivity, while death came quick to others . Its always easier to visualise events when you have maps. However, the medical examiners in Adelaide concluded definitively that Alan had died several hours before this happened. Bob O'Brien was an investigator for Major Crimes, who had just started working with the unit the year prior (1982). Moments later, George lost consciousness, falling prey to the drugs that he had consumed. This meant doing away with large plots of dried-out farmland in a prescribed burn to prepare for the upcoming spring bloom. 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. They organized a helicopter search of the area, which O'Brien was present for, but unfortunately, the police were unable to find anything definitive. The post-mortem revealed that Langley had died from a massive loss of blood from gross injuries to his anus, similar to Barnes. See what they say here. Neil's penis had been cut, and he was missing a testicle at the time of discovery. . He is 50 metres from his beautiful family home. Stogneff still skipped school but never made it home. A couple of black trash bags were floating on the low tide of the river's coast. Needless to say, over the past few months, this investigation had become a new beast entirely. 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. by enjin | Feb 12, 2021 . In the latter half of the 1970s, South Australia had started to regulate drugs like Mandrax, known throughout most of the world as "Quaaludes." Even though he was nearly an adult at this point - and had a fair amount of independence in his life - this disappearance was deemed very out-of-the-ordinary. This conflict has endured because Alan's bloodstream also showed signs of alcohol consumption, which Alan had participated in that same weekend. Show True Crime Conversations, Ep The Family Murders Of Adelaide - 10 Nov 2021. 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,. He had seemingly disappeared, and a brief search of the area failed to come up with him. 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. Because Neil's transient lifestyle led to him becoming known as a bit of a vagabond, his sexuality was not exactly common knowledge. In the days immediately after Neil Muir's death, Dr. Millhouse had gone on a bit of a self-described "bender." Police spoke to Alan's friend, who had left him behind on Grand Junction Road. 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 jury visits spot where Richard Kelvin's body was found, northeast of Adelaide. The Family Murders is one of Australias most captivating true crime stories. This bore signs of premeditation, implying that this wasn't an impulsive decision, but a conscious one by a killer afraid of being identified through forensic testing. In May of 1972, three gay men - George Duncan, Roger James, and another man (whose identity has been withheld in the decades since) - were picked up by members of South Australia's police force. The older man in the driver's seat reached into the backseat and pulled out a beer from a cooler, offering it to George. This notoriety brought with it a poor reputation, however, and by the late 1970s, Mandrax had become a regulated prescription drug throughout Australia. It was this rapport that caused Peter to skip school on Thursday, August 27th, 1981. The group was involved in kidnapping, sexually abusing, torturing and murdering 5 boys. Veale Gardens had a thriving male prostitution scene, many of which were underage. Alan lived with his parents, both English immigrants, in Salisbury: a northern suburb of Adelaide. Dylan John Kovarskis murdered Nathan Russell in 2021 . Investigators were unable to pinpoint Peter's exact cause-of-death, or even estimate when he had been killed. 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. 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. This meant that his remains had likely been sitting out in the wilderness for about a week. He consented to any available tests or analysis, and during a medical screening, it was discovered that the young man did have tears in his anus, proving that he had been raped. 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 victims were all young men, who had gone missing in or near the northern section of town. 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. Five young men who were drugged, viciously raped and tortured, kept captive for up to five weeks, horrifically mutilated, and ultimately murdered. Analysis of Kelvin's bloodstream revealed traces of four hypnotic drugs,[11][26] including Mandrax and Noctec. On Saturday, June 16th, 1979, Alan spent the night at a friend's house. 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. 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 . Unfortunately, that Thursday, Peter never arrived at the mall to meet his friend. Of only one victim. 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. Some of his strategies were to unscrew his car muffler or pull out his choke and ask an unsuspecting youth to help him with car trouble. Five young men were mysteriously abducted in different . In October of 1982 - in the very midst of this crime spree - a teenage hitchhiker named George had been picked up by a passing car. These individuals have come to be known as the "The Family" and are believed to have kidnapped and sexually abused over 150 boys and are believed to have tortured and murdered at least five teenage boys during a crime spree in Adelaide, South Australia. It was there that they found his backpack hidden in the garage, which ultimately led to calls to all of his friends. It wasn't until the next day, Sunday (February 28th), that Mark's parents began to grow concerned. He then moved away from Adelaide and the murders continued. 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 last victim was the son of our local television newsreader. 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. 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. Progressive ideas began to spread out from Adelaide, but even then, progress itself was rather slow to catch on throughout large chunks of South Australia. 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. However, instead of charging them with any known crimes, the officers proceeded to throw the three men into the nearby Torrens River. They had no idea that they were about to make one of the most gruesome discoveries in Australian history. 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. They hoped to use character witnesses to build up the relationship between the two, and then use other eyewitnesses to fill in the rest (the drugs, the sexual relationship, etc.). Hence, the odd scar that seemed to serve no other purpose. 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. These were connections that were hard to overlook, as police began to theorize that a single offender (or, rather, a group of offenders) had been behind all of these crimes. And, with the recent discovery of the chemical cocktail found in Richard Kelvin's system, they had a pretty decent foundation for their investigation. This was commonly found in the drug Noctec, which was an over-the-counter pharmaceutical used to aid people with sleep problems, which had been given to Alan sometime before his death. A span of 4 years. 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. 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". Mr B - The Family Murders Mr B Mr B was named by South Australian police in 2008 as one of the three main suspects who were involved in the murders alongside Bevan von Einem. From the outside looking in, von Einem was incredibly average. 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. How did he manipulate large numbers of people to get involved to various degrees even if that involvement was merely remaining silent? A thrash metal band singer and members of his family were killed in an apparent murder-suicide late last month, according to police. 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. 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. 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). 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. Only one suspect has been charged and convicted for the crimes: Bevan Spencer von Einem was sentenced in 1984 to a minimum of 24 years (later extended to a minimum 36-year term) for the murder of 15-year-old Richard Kelvin. I first heard of the murders in an episode of an Australian television program called . The 'Family murders' involved the killing and torture of five young men from the 1970s to the mid-1980s. Bevan Spencer von Einem was jailed for life for the murder of 15-year-old Richard Kelvin. Among friends, Alan had begun to smoke weed and experiment with new things, pushing himself to the limits of his comfort zone to discover who he was and what he enjoyed. At the time of the murder, Dr. Millhouse - a gay man in his mid-forties - lived alone in northern Adelaide, and drove a ten-year-old Holden sedan. In particular, they were members of the Vice Squad, who typically crackdown on "moral" crimes such as gambling, narcotics, pornography, and illegal substances. These people have no such bond, only an association that with time probably no longer exists". 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. Of the five men that fell prey to this violent killer, at least two had been drugged with Mandrax, as had George. [6] Von Einem was also one of the last people seen with a fourth victim, Muir, following his abduction. 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. [18] His skeletal remains were found in October 1982 later by a local farmer at Middle Beach, 50km north of Adelaide. Their psychological profile indicated that Neil's body had been carved up due to either a psychotic killer that derived pleasure from inflicting pain on others or someone that wanted to hide his/her identity. 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). The Family Murders is a well known and notorious series of crimes that occurred in Adelaide, Australia. This section explores his social network. Stogneff's body had been cut into three pieces in a similar fashion to Muir. At the same time he was developing a network of people who made it possible for him to carry out his sexually sadistic fantasies. Mark Andrew Langley, aged 18,[17] murdered in February 1982. Alan Arthur Barnes, aged 16, murdered in 1979. While police pounded the pavement to find out what had happened to Richard Kelvin, the young man's life was slowly coming to an end. 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). This argument would carry on for a few minutes, while the trio was parked along War Memorial Drive, overlooking the Torrens River.