This website was built on publicly available information contributed by many people who have an interest in this case. Some were involved in the abduction of victims who were murdered, some were involved in the rape of murdered victims, and some were involved in murder. 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. He then moved away from Adelaide and the murders continued. 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. [14] The hair around the area had been shaved as it would have been in an operation in a hospital. Players - The Family Murders For that reason, many of these men and women had to keep their sexuality confined to specific locations. He was last seen while hitchhiking being picked up by a white HQ Holden sedan carrying three or four people. The medical examiners conducting the autopsy and examinations also discovered that Alan's body had been washed extensively after his death; likely an effort to scrub away any evidence linking him to the killer. Meanwhile, as police struggled to answer these basic questions, the trial against Dr. Peter Millhouse remained a thing of the past. Wife 'kills family in murder-suicide' - news.com.au He failed to make any contact with his family, and police began to express concern that he had gone missing under duress. Case 166: The Family : r/Casefile - reddit Police believe that up to 12 people, several of them high-profile Australians, were involved in the kidnappings. For obvious reasons, he didn't tell his parents, setting out that morning with his backpack and heading off like any other day. His mother, Judy, would later describe him as being incredibly witty; "cheeky," as she describes in a 2006 documentary, going on to say that Alan was always quick on his feet, and would respond to any type of comment with something sarcastic and bitterly funny. If that was true, then could that have been happening to the other young male victims that had been viciously murdered in the preceding years? Another anonymous caller claimed that they had seen Richard Kelvin in a snuff film, which had been filmed very recently. The Family Murders (Part Two: The Family) Unresolved POLICE are investigating new information linking convicted killer Bevan Spencer von Einem to the abduction and murder of teenager Alan Barnes. 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. Of the five men that fell prey to this violent killer, at least two had been drugged with Mandrax, as had George. 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 bags looked as if they had been dropped from the higher-up wharf, just like the body of Alan Barnes had been. Young Blood refers to the age of the victims who were brutally murdered. Because of this lack of clarity, police were unable to press forward with any charges for the offenders, and George's story would become buried by more pressing police concerns in the coming weeks and months. The jury visits spot where Richard Kelvin's body was found, northeast of Adelaide. How did he manipulate large numbers of people to get involved to various degrees even if that involvement was merely remaining silent? '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. Just like Neil Muir, whoever had taken him had killed him and dumped his body pretty quickly, within a day or two. 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. 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. 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. Gay people (in particular, gay men) began to become more comfortable in their own skin, and no longer had to suppress their sexuality in public. 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. If you have information about the case then contact us through our contact page. 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. In the latter half of the 1970s, South Australia had started to regulate drugs like Mandrax, known throughout most of the world as "Quaaludes." . The Family Murders in South Australia : r/UnresolvedMysteries 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. [20] His mutilated body was found in scrub in the Adelaide foothills nine days after his disappearance. The 'Family murders' involved the killing and torture of five young men from the 1970s to the mid-1980s. The death of George Duncan would serve as a catalyst, eventually martyring Duncan himself and leading to repeals of South Australia's harsh anti-homosexuality laws. Victims - The Family Murders 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. Detective O'Brien was the unfortunate one tasked with notifying the Kelvins that Richard's body had been found; which he describes in his book as one of the most heartbreaking duties he's ever had to endure. The following morning, however, is a different story. Was Dr Millhouse involved in Neil Muirs murder. 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 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 medical examiners would also find a significant head wound on Neil, which wasn't significant enough to have killed him, but would have likely happened to incapacitate or subdue the man. The periphery of The Family is a grey area. [citation needed]. Hours would begin to pass, and Alan would fail to return home at all that Sunday. It was the body of Neil Muir or, rather, what remained of him. This section explores his social network. The son was fifteen when he was snatched from the street . Once it became clear that something had happened to Peter, his family launched a frantic search for him, starting in the family's home. 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). The Kelvins, though upset at the duration of time that had already passed, understood why the process was so delayed but were hopeful that their son would return home to them, safe and sound. 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. They had no idea that they were about to make one of the most gruesome discoveries in Australian history. He loved music - both playing it and listening to it - and had a good rapport with his friends, whom he hung around constantly. When they finally got around to doing this, after the discovery of Richard Kelvin's body, one name popped out at them. The Family Murders Of Adelaide. However, they were able to learn that - before his body was burned in the brush fire - his remains had been cut into multiple parts with a saw. This site is constantly being updated as more is learned. A farmer that lived nearby Middle Beach and Two Wells, roughly an hour north of Adelaide, had been cleansing his farmland during the advised winter months. "CIA: Crime Investigation Australia" The Butchered Boys (TV - IMDb Now, with Mark Langley, police were able to confirm the presence of the drug Mandrax in his system. 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. 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 . While in rehab, Dr. Millhouse refused to speak to police about Neil Muir (or his alleged relationship with the man). Later on, Ian would recall the argument cropping up around cigarettes, but that just proves the point of how nonessential it was. They kicked the footy around. 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. 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 Family Murders - Wikipedia Needing to get away from his friends and clear his head, Mark decided to get out and walk away. Five murders and over 150 rapes. It shows the facts and most likely scenarios, but is fluid so when new information comes to light changes can easily be made. On Saturday, February 27th, 1982, Mark attended a friend's 18th birthday party in Windsor Gardens, a neighborhood in northeastern Adelaide. Alan lived with his parents, both English immigrants, in Salisbury: a northern suburb of Adelaide. Due to changes in the Forensic Procedures Act, which later allowed DNA samples to be taken from suspects in major indictable offences, all the suspects voluntarily submitted to DNA testing. 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. 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. Five young men who were drugged, viciously raped and tortured, kept captive for up to five weeks, horrifically mutilated, and ultimately murdered. It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. Alan Arthur Barnes, aged 16, murdered in 1979. If you recall, M.E. 4 had horrific injuries with clear signs of torture, abuse and confinement lasting up to 5 weeks. [4][10], Some authorities do not recognise the term "The Family", stating that "[t]hey should not be given any title that infers legitimacy. George gave police a description of the older man that had picked him up and driven him to the house in question, but he could not remember his name, nor the name of the two women at the house they had traveled to. 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. Over a span of several years starting in 1979 and into the 80s five young men, aged from 14 to 25, went missing in different areas of Adelaide. He never made it home. [18] His skeletal remains were found in October 1982 later by a local farmer at Middle Beach, 50km north of Adelaide. 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. Unsolved - The Family Murders | Page 148 | BigFooty Forum 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. Stogneff's body had been cut into three pieces in a similar fashion to Muir. Bevan von Einems life revolved around sexual sadism. It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. It is estimated that over 150 youths and young men were abducted, drugged, and then raped. Dylan John Kovarskis murdered Nathan Russell in 2021 . The Family Murders - Strange Matters Podcast 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). 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. Peter Stogneff, aged 14,[17] murdered in August 1981. Only one suspect has been charged and convicted for a crime. 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. 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.

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