Alan Arthur Barnes, aged 16, murdered in 1979. It shows the facts and most likely scenarios, but is fluid so when new information comes to light changes can easily be made. Neil Muir was last seen in Hindley St, Adelaide in the company of Dr Peter Leslie Millhouse at 3pm on the day he was murdered. He had multiple channels to procuring young men. But he didn't commit these crimes on his own. On Saturday, June 16th, 1979, Alan spent the night at a friend's house. The fishermen probed the bags - a mystery just waiting to be unearthed - and quickly discovered that the bags held human remains. That Monday - August 27th, 1979 - Neil Muir was seen alive for the last time. This is made apparent when we look at a story from 1972, which ultimately led to drastic overhauls in Southern Australian law and cemented its place in the nation's history. They now had five bodies - five victims - and five families pushing for answers. He was last seen while hitchhiking being picked up by a white HQ Holden sedan carrying three or four people. 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.). Dylan John Kovarskis murdered Nathan Russell in 2021 . Five young men were mysteriously abducted in different . . When this young man woke up the next day, he was surprised to find himself both at home and in significant pain. But only one recalled seeing where Alan might have gone. 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. Only one suspect has been charged and convicted for a crime. 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. 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. 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. Boris left on a bus, and Richard started making his way back home a trip that was no more than four-hundred meters. Bevan von Einem was no exception he also preferred youths between the 15 and 19 year old age group. The "Family Murders" - Amateur Sleuth 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. 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? 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. These people have no such bond, only an association that with time probably no longer exists". The night before he went missing he stayed at Darko Kastelan's house in Cheltenham. 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. Unfortunately, it did not. The ongoing investigation featured in an episode of Crime Stoppers which went to air on 2 March 2009. Other times he would just pick up a hitch hiker. 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. Darko's brother dropped them at a bus stop near the corner of on Grand Junction Rd and Addison. Make no mistake, Bevan Spencer von Einem is the architect behind all these crimes. 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. 4 had horrific injuries with clear signs of torture, abuse and confinement lasting up to 5 weeks. True Crime Conversations: The Family Murders Of Adelaide on - Apple "CIA: Crime Investigation Australia" The Butchered Boys (TV - IMDb But now, they needed to find a suspect. His friend likely just assumed that Peter had bailed on their plan, and likely gone to school that day. Due to the state of the young man's remains, it was believed that Alan had been detained against his will for several days. [7] Suspect 1, an Eastern Suburbs businessman, is believed to have been with von Einem when Kelvin was abducted. He then moved away from Adelaide and the murders continued. 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. Like the other victims, investigators would learn a lot from the status of Mark's remains. George and the driver, a man roughly twice his age with artificially-dyed hair, traveled to a nearby house where a couple of young women welcomed them. [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. [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. A span of 4 years. The Family Murders: 'Dissected' - Amazon.com.au Ian and Paula, Mark's friends, drove away but would return just minutes later, cooler heads having prevailed. It is estimated that over 150 youths and young men were abducted, drugged, and then raped. 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. 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. See what they say here. 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. Millhouse was charged and went to trial but was acquitted. 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. Police believe that up to 12 people, several of them high-profile Australians, were involved in the kidnappings. [18] His skeletal remains were found in October 1982 later by a local farmer at Middle Beach, 50km north of Adelaide. 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. Hundreds of sordid and terrifying crimes and only one man found guilty in relation to only one victim. Interview with a monster: The City of Corpses murders - news The "Family Murders" *Warning: graphic content and mentions of sexual abuse ahead. '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. He never made it home. The information is easy to navigate and easy reference. Over the next year or so, the case would stagnate. Listen to "The Family Murders (Part One: The Murders)" on Spreaker. Following the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1975, Adelaide began to be known as one of the more progressive cities in all of Australia. The body count had essentially doubled within a couple of months, and police were still unsure whether or not the cases were related. Gino Gambardella regularly scouted Rundle Mall and video game arcades for runaways, homeless teenagers, and youths who he was able to exploit. He then moved away from Adelaide and the murders continued. 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 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. 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. Dylan John Kovarskis sentenced to 20 years' jail for murder of Adelaide When Dr. Millhouse's trial eventually commenced in the latter half of 1980 - more than a year after Neil Muir's murder - the prosecution continued to rely heavily upon their circumstantial evidence and witness statements, failing to establish any motive for the crime or provide any definitive evidence. 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. Gambier, a city roughly five hours south of Adelaide. Meanwhile, as police struggled to answer these basic questions, the trial against Dr. Peter Millhouse remained a thing of the past. Richard's family disputed this, vigorously denying the notion that Richard would have run away of his own accord. 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. Mr B - The Family Murders An ear witness said they heard some shouting, 2020 familymurders.com All Rights Reserved. At the same time he was developing a network of people who made it possible for him to carry out his sexually sadistic fantasies. It wasn't until the following year, 1983, that police finally rediscovered George's story. 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. Bevan von Einem was an apex predator. His body had been severely mutilated and dumped in the South Para Reservoir, northeast of Adelaide. Stogneff's body had been cut into three pieces in a similar fashion to Muir. Whatever it was, it looked like a human body but was somehow twisted and contorted in an inhuman nature. 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. Police first treated Richard as a runaway; an unfortunate symptom of the times. Bevan Spencer von Einem was jailed for life for the murder of 15-year-old Richard Kelvin. 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. 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). The Family Murders Of Adelaide - True Crime Conversations However, instead of charging them with any known crimes, the officers proceeded to throw the three men into the nearby Torrens River. 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. Bevan von Einem had a network of around 25-30 people. 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. 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. It was there that they found his backpack hidden in the garage, which ultimately led to calls to all of his friends. Sadly, Neil's biggest vice was his ever-evolving drug addiction. 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 . Australia - Australia -the Family, 1979-83, Adelaide, B S Von Einem 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 . The other two men thrown into the river with him managed to escape with their lives, but they did not escape unscathed. After taking the pills, George's memory began to blur. 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. Young Blood refers to the age of the victims who were brutally murdered. 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. When a warrant was eventually served on Dr. Millhouse's cottage in northern Adelaide, police found the same type of trash bags and rope that had been found with Neil Muir's remains. Ten years von Einem's junior, Mr B helped von Einem pick up, drug, and rape several young men. Oh, that reminds me. At this point, the idea of a random killer hadn't even crossed investigators' minds. Police believe this murder is associated with other high profile murders commonly referred to in the media as the 'Family Murders'. The Family were not an official group, gang, or organisation. 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. Of the five men that fell prey to this violent killer, at least two had been drugged with Mandrax, as had George. So they tried to safely guard the parts of the investigation that they could. Another anonymous caller claimed that they had seen Richard Kelvin in a snuff film, which had been filmed very recently. The periphery of The Family is a grey area. 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. Of only one victim. A couple of black trash bags were floating on the low tide of the river's coast. 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. Just two days after the body of Alan Barnes was discovered - when the investigation was still unfolding - an anonymous caller reached out to police. The next day was a Sunday, they both planned to hitchhike to Alan's home in Salisbury. The older driver not only offered to give George a ride but offered to show him a good time with some ladies he knew. 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. While searching, they ended up discovering the body of Richard Kelvin, who had been missing for just shy of two months. This conflict has endured because Alan's bloodstream also showed signs of alcohol consumption, which Alan had participated in that same weekend. There's a conviction in the last murder in the series, but I will include it due to the similarity and due to the man convicted being suspected in the other murders as well. Bob O'Brien was an investigator for Major Crimes, who had just started working with the unit the year prior (1982). He failed to make any contact with his family, and police began to express concern that he had gone missing under duress. 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. He had a network of over 30 people. The Family Murders Of Adelaide. Alan's body had fallen to the dirt below, twisting and contorting in such a way that - should he have been alive - would have surely resulted in death or serious injury. For that reason, this crime remains technically unsolved to this day. There are also notorious unsolved disappearances in Adelaide, including the Beaumont children. 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. 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. 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. 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 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. This section explores the people who at this stage are thought to have been on the periphery. POLICE are investigating new information linking convicted killer Bevan Spencer von Einem to the abduction and murder of teenager Alan Barnes. 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. 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. 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. He was also found to be wearing clothing that did not belong to him, and his original clothing was missing entirely. Mark Langley Eventually, Peter returned home with his backpack, stowing it in his family's garage while his parents were at work. This story would become historic, in more ways than one. Following the supposed abduction of Richard Kelvin, the police unit known as Major Crimes was tasked with overseeing the investigation. Among those voices, he described, was a higher-pitched voice, which sounded almost feminine. The Family Murders - Wikipedia Trace evidence, including hair and fibres from von Einem's home, was found on Kelvin's body and clothing. 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. So the police began reaching out to people that worked or had otherwise been in the area. It was this rapport that caused Peter to skip school on Thursday, August 27th, 1981. In the latter half of the 1970s, South Australia had started to regulate drugs like Mandrax, known throughout most of the world as "Quaaludes." 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. Lock up your sons in the world's murder capital 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. He was seventeen years old, with a youthful, handsome appearance, and a carefree, fun-loving attitude. How did he manipulate large numbers of people to get involved to various degrees even if that involvement was merely remaining silent? Lost diary gives South Australia police new lead into Alan Barnes They kicked the footy around. Likely, he was one of the people seen hanging out with Neil at the bars and clubs just days that weekend. Our locations section shows where all the events happened and where all the players lived. 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 were called out to the scene, and an extensive search of the area commenced. Now, with Mark Langley, police were able to confirm the presence of the drug Mandrax in his system. 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. 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. 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. The jury visits spot where Richard Kelvin's body was found, northeast of Adelaide. That was believed to have been Neil's cause-of-death, same as Alan Barnes. So prosecutors and the police began to build their case around Millhouse without his cooperation, including witness statements that alleged the two had been together the weekend before Neil's violent death. Hundreds of sordid and terrifying crimes and only one man found guilty in relation to only one victim. The Family Murders is one of Australia's most captivating true crime stories. What the two got up to that evening is anyone's guess, but rumors and theories have propagated this story in the decades since. Peter Leslie Millhouse was a doctor from Mt. Police got the number one offender. 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). Needless to say, over the past few months, this investigation had become a new beast entirely. They wanted to continue eliminating suspects that personally knew Alan ahead of time, but promised to check out von Einem in the future. In 1979, residents of Adelaide were gripped by fear when several young men began to go missing under mysterious circumstances. The Clermont County Sheriff's Office . 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. His remains had been dissected and neatly cut into many pieces, placed in a garbage bag and thrown into the Port River at Port Adelaide. 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 still skipped school but never made it home. The victims were all young men, who had gone missing in or near the northern section of town. George Duncan, one of the three men thrown into the Torrens, would drown that evening. In Adelaides gay community in the 1970s and 1980s, young men were coveted for sex. [16][22] The sedative-hypnotic drug Mandrax, popular in the 1970s disco scene, was found in Langley's blood. This meant that his remains had likely been sitting out in the wilderness for about a week. 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. (What a lovely country, Australia!) This young man, Bevan Spencer von Einem - an acquaintance of James' - had helped James make it to shore and then drove him to the nearby Royal Adelaide Hospital. Shockingly, police found an insane combination of sedatives in his system, which included the drugs Noctec, Mandrax, valium, Rohypnol, and amytal. He was able to exploit and manipulate enablers, helpers and participants over a long period of time. 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. His family knew this but accepted that there was little they could do to curtail this behavior; letting Alan grow and develop at his own pace as his adolescence came to an end. The next day was a Sunday, they both planned to hitchhike to Alan's home in Salisbury. 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. The Family Murders | Adelaide's most notorious unsolved serial killings 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. 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. Just like Neil Muir, whoever had taken him had killed him and dumped his body pretty quickly, within a day or two. 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).
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