By the time they managed to look outside, whoever had been outside had already sped off. The Family were not an official group, gang, or organisation. 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. I first heard of the murders in an episode of an Australian television program called . His friend likely just assumed that Peter had bailed on their plan, and likely gone to school that day. The other two men thrown into the river with him managed to escape with their lives, but they did not escape unscathed. 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. It was the body of Neil Muir or, rather, what remained of him. Four of the five murders remain unsolved. 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. 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 . That Monday - August 27th, 1979 - Neil Muir was seen alive for the last time. But his teachers recalled him being absent, and hours would pass that afternoon (heading into the evening) and Peter would fail to return home. 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. 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. 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. Gino Gambardella regularly scouted Rundle Mall and video game arcades for runaways, homeless teenagers, and youths who he was able to exploit. [8] The reward carried an offer of immunity to accomplices, dependent on their level of involvement. 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"). Now, with Mark Langley, police were able to confirm the presence of the drug Mandrax in his system. A thrash metal band singer and members of his family were killed in an apparent murder-suicide late last month, according to police. The 'Family murders' involved the killing and torture of five young men from the 1970s to the mid-1980s. Like the other victims, investigators would learn a lot from the status of Mark's remains. 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). 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. This is an analysis of the information provided by Wendy Roles and Greg McInerney in the book The Family Murders: Dissected The Timeline 25 Aug (Sat) Michael B sees band-aid on Neil's leg at the methadone clinic during the day. This section explores the people who at this stage are thought to have been on the periphery. Listen to "The Family Murders (Part One: The Murders)" on Spreaker. He was last seen stumbling down the street, supposedly wandering off to parts unknown. If you recall, M.E. 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. Bevan von Einems life revolved around sexual sadism. The bodies were found from 24th June 1979 and the fifth and last body on 24th July 1983. 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. 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. The night before he went missing he stayed at Darko Kastelan's house in Cheltenham. Richard's family disputed this, vigorously denying the notion that Richard would have run away of his own accord. However, that was very circumstantial evidence at best, and anything but definitive. '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. Australia's most notorious unsolved serial killings. That was believed to have been Neil's cause-of-death, same as Alan Barnes. Oh, that reminds me. The news was heartbreaking for those that had known Alan. One victim was killed and dumped within 24 hours, another was kept alive for five weeks, and the rest were in between. 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. 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 Family Murders is one of Australias most captivating true crime stories. When Boris had last seen Richard, walking away from the bus stop down the street from his home, he had still been wearing the collar, and it is has been theorized that the collar itself might have been a trigger for the deviant (or deviants) that ultimately decided to abduct Richard. Players - The Family Murders Players Five murdered young men, over 150 violent abduction drug-rapes, two people arrested, one person found guilty. In August of 1979, Neil was living alone in an apartment on Carrington Street, right in the middle of Adelaide itself. 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). Police got the number one offender. 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. At this point, the idea of a random killer hadn't even crossed investigators' minds. When this young man woke up the next day, he was surprised to find himself both at home and in significant pain. While searching, they ended up discovering the body of Richard Kelvin, who had been missing for just shy of two months. For that reason, many of these men and women had to keep their sexuality confined to specific locations. And, with the recent discovery of the chemical cocktail found in Richard Kelvin's system, they had a pretty decent foundation for their investigation. Whatever it was, it looked like a human body but was somehow twisted and contorted in an inhuman nature. The Family Murders is one of Australia's most captivating true crime stories. Other times he would just pick up a hitch hiker. 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. What the two got up to that evening is anyone's guess, but rumors and theories have propagated this story in the decades since. This story would become historic, in more ways than one. 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. [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. 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. Millhouse was charged and went to trial but was acquitted. The Family Murders Of Adelaide. 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. Police believe that up to 12 people, several of them high-profile Australians, were involved in the kidnappings. 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. 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. Mark Langley 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. It is estimated that over 150 youths and young men were abducted, drugged, and then raped. 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. 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. Peter Stogneff. While in rehab, Dr. Millhouse refused to speak to police about Neil Muir (or his alleged relationship with the man). . 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. Just a few months later, in June of 1982, the family of missing 14-year-old Peter Stogneff would finally get some resolution. There are also notorious unsolved disappearances in Adelaide, including the Beaumont children. Veale Gardens had a thriving male prostitution scene, many of which were underage. Unlike the other murder victims, however, Mark's body showed an odd sign of surgical precision. The periphery of The Family is a grey area. Do you think the Family Murders case will ever be solved? But only one recalled seeing where Alan might have gone. These details made it clear to police that this mutilation was not done simply for the killer's ease-of-mind, but indicated that they were a particularly savage killer that had likely committed similar crimes in the past. Hours would begin to pass, and Alan would fail to return home at all that Sunday. The Butchered Boys: This episode revisits Adelaide's notorious Adelaide Family Murders case, where six young Adelaide men were murdered during the 1970s and '80s. Police were called out to the scene, and an extensive search of the area commenced. So they tried to safely guard the parts of the investigation that they could. 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. 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. There, George was plied with beers and other alcoholic beverages while the older women flirted with him. 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. 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. Following the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1975, Adelaide began to be known as one of the more progressive cities in all of Australia. [18] His skeletal remains were found in October 1982 later by a local farmer at Middle Beach, 50km north of Adelaide. 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. March 3, 2023 - 7:08PM. 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. 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. He has spent that Sunday, June the 5th, playing footy, until the afternoon when his best friend Karl came over. 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. Over the next year or so, the case would stagnate. Due to the state of the young man's remains, it was believed that Alan had been detained against his will for several days. 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. Analysis of Kelvin's bloodstream revealed traces of four hypnotic drugs,[11][26] including Mandrax and Noctec. They tried to hitch a ride on Grand Junction Road, a busy thoroughfare in Adelaide, before realizing that they were going to have no luck hitchhiking together. But underneath the surface, a monster lingered His body had been severely mutilated and dumped in the South Para Reservoir, northeast of Adelaide. An accountant by profession, he was convicted in 1984 for the murder of 15-year-old Adelaide teenager Richard Kelvin, the son of local television and radio personality Rob Kelvin. Both witnesses - who were friends with Neil and drug users themselves - were prepared to testify should this man be tried for the murder. 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. The post-mortem revealed that Langley had died from a massive loss of blood from gross injuries to his anus, similar to Barnes. 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. He would literally go on to write the book about this terrifying saga, called "Young Bloods," which - if you're interested - is one of the best resources for this case. Bevan von Einem had a network of around 25-30 people. 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. An ear witness said they heard some shouting, 2020 familymurders.com All Rights Reserved. George Duncan, one of the three men thrown into the Torrens, would drown that evening. [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. But now, they needed to find a suspect. 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. Although each attack and mutilation appeared different, police investigators soon began to link the horrific murders to one another. 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. Five murders and over 150 rapes. 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. But he then set off again, likely headed towards the distant Rundle Mall, where he was due to meet up with his friend, Daniel, that day. 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. 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". 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. 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. He had become so messed up on drugs and alcohol that a bouncer had to physically drag him outside of a bar, where he stumbled onto the pavement and struggled to get up. 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. It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. In particular, they were members of the Vice Squad, who typically crackdown on "moral" crimes such as gambling, narcotics, pornography, and illegal substances. Mark Andrew Langley, aged 18,[17] murdered in February 1982. 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. Regardless, this information was incredibly helpful to police, who began to expand their interests to finding people in the area that drove similar vehicles. Peter Stogneff, aged 14,[17] murdered in August 1981. 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). They now had five bodies - five victims - and five families pushing for answers. 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. 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 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. [7] Suspect 1, an Eastern Suburbs businessman, is believed to have been with von Einem when Kelvin was abducted. 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. Another anonymous caller claimed that they had seen Richard Kelvin in a snuff film, which had been filmed very recently. He likely did this to hide it from his parents, in case they made it home before he did. 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" *Warning: graphic content and mentions of sexual abuse ahead. 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. [4][10], Some authorities do not recognise the term "The Family", stating that "[t]hey should not be given any title that infers legitimacy. Police were now back, right where they had started. It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. 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. 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. Show True Crime Conversations, Ep The Family Murders Of Adelaide - 10 Nov 2021. 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. This notoriety brought with it a poor reputation, however, and by the late 1970s, Mandrax had become a regulated prescription drug throughout Australia. On this night, in particular, that included these three men. Bevan Spencer von Einem was jailed for life for the murder of 15-year-old Richard Kelvin. Peter Stogneff was a fourteen-year-old that lived with his family in a middle-class home, in a northeastern suburb of Adelaide. 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. A few more anonymous calls would be received in the coming weeks. 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]. 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. Five murders and over 150 rapes. 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. Once in the car they would be offered a drink that was laced with a knockout drug. A couple of black trash bags were floating on the low tide of the river's coast. In a word, no. 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). Some showed signs of prolonged captivity, while death came quick to others . Richard walked him down the road to the nearby O'Connell Street bus stop, arriving without incident, and waited there for his friend's bus to arrive. He was able to exploit and manipulate enablers, helpers and participants over a long period of time. The victims were all young men, who had gone missing in or near the northern section of town. However, instead of charging them with any known crimes, the officers proceeded to throw the three men into the nearby Torrens River. This screening also revealed that the young man had been drugged with Mandrax ("Randy Mandys"), which had resulted in him losing consciousness. 2020 familymurders.com All Rights Reserved. Eventually, Peter returned home with his backpack, stowing it in his family's garage while his parents were at work. He was last seen while hitchhiking being picked up by a white HQ Holden sedan carrying three or four people. Because Neil's transient lifestyle led to him becoming known as a bit of a vagabond, his sexuality was not exactly common knowledge. 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. 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. 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 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. 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. 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. This section explores his social network. This was cancelled the night before.