Ian and Paula, Mark's friends, drove away but would return just minutes later, cooler heads having prevailed. Australia's most notorious unsolved serial killings. 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. 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. Through these connections, police were able to link all of these crimes together. So the police began reaching out to people that worked or had otherwise been in the area. Because Neil's transient lifestyle led to him becoming known as a bit of a vagabond, his sexuality was not exactly common knowledge. Description. On this night, in particular, that included these three men. Police believe that up to 12 people, several of them high-profile Australians, were involved in the kidnappings. 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. 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. 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. Police had still not linked the two cases - Barnes and Neil Muir - but while being questioned about the first murder, von Einem inquired about the second without any provocation. At this point, the idea of a random killer hadn't even crossed investigators' minds. 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. Bevan von Einem was an apex predator. 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. March 3, 2023 - 7:08PM. Mark's remains had also clearly been thoroughly washed before being dumped, just like Alan Barnes. Hundreds of sordid and terrifying crimes and only one man found guilty in relation to only one victim. The next day was a Sunday, they both planned to hitchhike to Alan's home in Salisbury. Add onto that abductions, drug-lacing, mutilations, victims held in captivity for weeks, and death by sado-masochism. It shows the facts and most likely scenarios, but is fluid so when new information comes to light changes can easily be made. 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. 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. 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? But only one recalled seeing where Alan might have gone. Trevor Peters lived two doors away from one of the transgender suspects and mixed in the same circles as a number of suspects. 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. According to his family, this was right in-line with Richard's odd sense of humor. 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. This horrific sight was quickly reported to police, who arrived at the scene and immediately cordoned off the area around where the fisherman had reportedly discovered the floating trash bags. 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. His friend likely just assumed that Peter had bailed on their plan, and likely gone to school that day. Global Nav Open Menu . This meant doing away with large plots of dried-out farmland in a prescribed burn to prepare for the upcoming spring bloom. These people have no such bond, only an association that with time probably no longer exists". 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 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. Listen to "The Family Murders (Part One: The Murders)" on Spreaker. This witness recalled Alan getting into a vehicle, which appeared to be a white Holden sedan. And at least one witness - a security guard that lived just down the street from the Kelvins - recalled some more details succinctly. Stogneff's body had been cut into three pieces in a similar fashion to Muir. This story would become historic, in more ways than one. The closest thing to hard evidence that police found in this sweep was what appeared to be traces of blood on the bathroom floor, which had been cleaned multiple times over with a chemical agent; and, as such, could not be tested. This site is constantly being updated as more is learned. There was not much to connect them, other than the graphic sexual nature of the crimes, and months would continue to pass before this story would begin to surface again in the public eye. That Monday - August 27th, 1979 - Neil Muir was seen alive for the last time. 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. Show True Crime Conversations, Ep The Family Murders Of Adelaide - 10 Nov 2021. Enjoy reading. 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. Allegations would even surface that indicated Dr. Millhouse had been one of the people in the area that supplied Neil with prescription drugs, but that would remain an allegation for the foreseeable future. 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. 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. 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. And, with the recent discovery of the chemical cocktail found in Richard Kelvin's system, they had a pretty decent foundation for their investigation. Noctec was found in his blood, suggesting he had been drugged. He is 50 metres from his beautiful family home. 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. Peter Stogneff was a fourteen-year-old that lived with his family in a middle-class home, in a northeastern suburb of Adelaide. Despite there being an overwhelming lack of physical evidence, police decided to pursue charges against Dr. Millhouse anyways, using the rope and trash bags recovered from his home as their primary building block. 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 . Peter Stogneff, aged 14,[17] murdered in August 1981. In 2014 when Trevor passed away, his diaries were recovered. This triggered a recurrence of his on-again/off-again bout with alcoholism, and within a week, he had checked himself into the Osmond House rehabilitation center but not before consulting with his attorney for any potential legal ramifications. This was about 300 metres from his family home. Millhouse would have Peter intended to skip school and meet his uncle (similar age) in Rundle Mall. 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. Part One: The Murders Between 1979 and 1983, a series of heinous murders shocked Adelaide. Police were called out to the scene, and an extensive search of the area commenced. Neil had several drug debts throughout Adelaide, and that is where police started their investigation. The Family Murders is a well known and notorious series of crimes that occurred in Adelaide, Australia. It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. 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. For that reason, this crime remains technically unsolved to this day. [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. 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. There was a bridge above where his body had been discovered, with a clearing of about a meter; implying that whoever had tried to throw him into the water below had missed the mark, but had not rectified their mistake. On the final weekend of August 1979, Neil was spotted at both the Duke of York and Buckingham Arms ("The Buck"), two local gay bars that I referenced at the top of the episode. This was cancelled the night before. Veale Gardens had a thriving male prostitution scene, many of which were underage. [8] Little more could be determined as the remains had been accidentally burnt by the farmer while clearing his property of scrub.[11][19]. 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. There, George was plied with beers and other alcoholic beverages while the older women flirted with him. Boris left on a bus, and Richard started making his way back home a trip that was no more than four-hundred meters. 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 couple of black trash bags were floating on the low tide of the river's coast. Neil's remains were brought in and carefully examined by the area's medical examiners, who quickly discovered an alarming red flag, which harkened back to the discovery of Alan Barnes' corpse. Many of these people were directly involved in the abductions and rape of victims who survived. Trace evidence, including hair and fibres from von Einem's home, was found on Kelvin's body and clothing. The bodies were found from 24th June 1979 and the fifth and last body on 24th July 1983. 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. 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. Its always easier to visualise events when you have maps. Criminologist Alan Perry of the University of Adelaide, has argued that the murders were part of widespread series of kidnappings and sexual assaults of boys that might number several hundred victims in South Australia from about 1973 to 1983.[11]. [11], Last edited on 24 February 2023, at 04:35, List of serial killers by number of victims, Von Einem: Lawyers in new bid to re-open Kelvin case, "Doctor found not guilty of 'Family' murder of Neil Muir dies in NSW", "Australian police reopen notorious 1970s Family murders case", "Body in bag: jury acquits doctor in Adelaide", "Lost diary gives South Australia police new lead into Alan Barnes murder by The Family", "Many Theories, Few Clues in String of Adelaide Murders", "Record 24-year non-parole period for boy's killer", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Family_Murders&oldid=1141259172, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 04:35. The evidence is contained in a detailed diary kept by a man who was a close associate of several key players in the so-called Family murders. It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. 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. On July 24th, 1983, a family was out looking for moss rocks in the vast reaches of the Mount Crawford Forest, about 35 kilometers northeast of Adelaide. In June of 1983, Richard Kelvin was approaching sixteen years of age. For obvious reasons, he didn't tell his parents, setting out that morning with his backpack and heading off like any other day. He was able to exploit and manipulate enablers, helpers and participants over a long period of time. 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. Mark Andrew Langley, aged 18,[17] murdered in February 1982. 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 seemingly disappeared, and a brief search of the area failed to come up with him. The older man in the driver's seat reached into the backseat and pulled out a beer from a cooler, offering it to George. 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". He was also found to be wearing clothing that did not belong to him, and his original clothing was missing entirely. 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. Just like Neil Muir, whoever had taken him had killed him and dumped his body pretty quickly, within a day or two. 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. 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. 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. Another anonymous caller claimed that they had seen Richard Kelvin in a snuff film, which had been filmed very recently. [14] The hair around the area had been shaved as it would have been in an operation in a hospital. Police didn't believe that this voice was Richard, as he was a teenager with a deep voice that had already cracked. 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. 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. 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. Alan was supposed to find a ride back home and was taking his luck hitchhiking, hoping that someone willing to pick him up would be heading north towards his family's neighborhood of Salisbury. But underneath the surface, a monster lingered Like the other victims, Richard Kelvin's blood and organs were tested for any sign of drugs, with investigators hoping to find a connection to any of the prior victims. If your information is verified and its not breaking any laws, we may publish it. The Family Murders is one of Australias most captivating true crime stories. 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. 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. Neil Muir was someone that you could describe as a transient. The other two men thrown into the river with him managed to escape with their lives, but they did not escape unscathed. 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. POLICE are investigating new information linking convicted killer Bevan Spencer von Einem to the abduction and murder of teenager Alan Barnes. In the days after Neil Muir's body was discovered in separate black trash bags, police had received two separate phone calls alerting them to the victim's relationship with a local doctor. 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. Stogneff still skipped school but never made it home. Even though Dr. Peter Millhouse had supposedly known Neil Muir for several years, there was never any proof that the two had a sexual relationship. 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. Most were later described as being worthless, but a few piqued the interest of Investigator O'Brien. 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. [3], Von Einem was convicted in 1984 of the murder of Kelvin and sentenced to life imprisonment. Things then came full circle when he began using heroin again, and shortly thereafter, followed that up with a dependence on Rohypnol ("roofies", commonly known as the date-rape drug). On Saturday, February 27th, 1982, Mark attended a friend's 18th birthday party in Windsor Gardens, a neighborhood in northeastern Adelaide. Shockingly, police found an insane combination of sedatives in his system, which included the drugs Noctec, Mandrax, valium, Rohypnol, and amytal. For a week, his loved ones had been bracing themselves for the worst, but this was a confirmation of everything they had been fearing for the past several days: Alan had been violently murdered, and had spent his final hours in agony. Hence, the odd scar that seemed to serve no other purpose. The ongoing investigation featured in an episode of Crime Stoppers which went to air on 2 March 2009.