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. 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 Peter Stogneff was a fourteen-year-old that lived with his family in a middle-class home, in a northeastern suburb of Adelaide. 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. Police were called out to the scene, and an extensive search of the area commenced. There, George was plied with beers and other alcoholic beverages while the older women flirted with him. 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.). Add onto that abductions, drug-lacing, mutilations, victims held in captivity for weeks, and death by sado-masochism. The Family Murders (Part Two: The Family) Unresolved The post-mortem revealed that Langley had died from a massive loss of blood from gross injuries to his anus, similar to Barnes. In addition to the driver, there appeared to be a couple of other occupants inside of the car that they, unfortunately, could not recall many details of. Police spoke to Alan's friend, who had left him behind on Grand Junction Road. 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. Five young men who were drugged, viciously raped and tortured, kept captive for up to five weeks, horrifically mutilated, and ultimately murdered. . While investigators had been keeping information closely guarded in this case, they decided to publicize this information to the media in the hopes that it would attract follow-up tips. However, unlike many of the others, it was believed that Richard had been held captive for an extended period of time, enduring torture and sexual abuse for weeks leading up to his death. 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 jury visits spot where Richard Kelvin's body was found, northeast of Adelaide. He likely did this to hide it from his parents, in case they made it home before he did. Australia - Australia -the Family, 1979-83, Adelaide, B S Von Einem 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. 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. He was last seen stumbling down the street, supposedly wandering off to parts unknown. 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. 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. March 3, 2023 - 7:08PM. After taking the pills, George's memory began to blur. However, instead of charging them with any known crimes, the officers proceeded to throw the three men into the nearby Torrens River. 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. '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. Many of these people were directly involved in the abductions and rape of victims who survived. Neil Muir was someone that you could describe as a transient. 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. Alan and his friend bid adieu to one another, with his friend assured that Alan would be okay; Grand Junction Road was always busy and teeming with life, and it wasn't like he was leaving Alan in the middle of the night. 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. Sadly, Neil's biggest vice was his ever-evolving drug addiction. 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. Lock up your sons in the world's murder capital 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. Five young men were mysteriously abducted in different . 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. The older man in the driver's seat reached into the backseat and pulled out a beer from a cooler, offering it to George. Like the other victims, investigators would learn a lot from the status of Mark's remains. 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. 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. He had a network of over 30 people. Victims - The Family Murders 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. Veale Gardens had a thriving male prostitution scene, many of which were underage. The news was heartbreaking for those that had known Alan. The Family Murders Unresolved 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 is a well known and notorious series of crimes that occurred in Adelaide, Australia. 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. His body had been severely mutilated and dumped in the South Para Reservoir, northeast of Adelaide. 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 . Some showed signs of prolonged captivity, while death came quick to others . That Monday - August 27th, 1979 - Neil Muir was seen alive for the last time. There are also notorious unsolved disappearances in Adelaide, including the Beaumont children. 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. Richard's family disputed this, vigorously denying the notion that Richard would have run away of his own accord. 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 . 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. The Family Murders - Wikipedia POLICE are investigating new information linking convicted killer Bevan Spencer von Einem to the abduction and murder of teenager Alan Barnes. 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. 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. Bevan Spencer von Einem is serving a life sentence for one of those murders. Some time after they went missing, their bodies would each be found, often horribly mutilated. Although each attack and mutilation appeared different, police investigators soon began to link the horrific murders to one another. The Butchered Boys of Adelaide. Interview with Homicide Detective Bob O Global Nav Open Menu . It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. He told officers what the two had been up to that weekend: hanging out on Saturday and into Sunday morning, before splitting up. by enjin | Feb 12, 2021 . 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. Suspect 2, a former male prostitute and close friend of von Einem known as Mr B. The following Sunday, June 24th - one week after Alan had last been seen alive - a couple of hikers were bushwalking up in the area known as the Adelaide Foothills. 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. Hence, the odd scar that seemed to serve no other purpose. 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. It wasn't until Monday morning that Alan's parents decided to contact the police, having not seen him for several days. The son of popular local Nine Network news presenter Rob Kelvin, he was abducted a short distance from his North Adelaide home on 5 June. The Family werent an official club or group, rather a loose collection of people with Bevan von Einem at the centre. Oh, that reminds me. That was believed to have been Neil's cause-of-death, same as Alan Barnes. Bevan von Einems life revolved around sexual sadism. 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. He then moved away from Adelaide and the murders continued. Subsequent efforts to reach Alan through his friends had failed, and none of them had seen him since the weekend. The Family Murders: 'Dissected' Kindle Edition - Amazon.com.au 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. 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]. How did he manipulate large numbers of people to get involved to various degrees even if that involvement was merely remaining silent? It wasn't until the following year, 1983, that police finally rediscovered George's story. 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. 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. 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. Peter Stogneff. Was Dr Millhouse involved in Neil Muirs murder. Trevor Peters lived two doors away from one of the transgender suspects and mixed in the same circles as a number of suspects. However, that was very circumstantial evidence at best, and anything but definitive. And at least one witness - a security guard that lived just down the street from the Kelvins - recalled some more details succinctly. Just east of Adelaide, this area is well-known to Southern Australians, as it serves as a primary destination for the area's outdoorsmen and women. Young Blood refers to the age of the victims who were brutally murdered. 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. Meanwhile, as police struggled to answer these basic questions, the trial against Dr. Peter Millhouse remained a thing of the past. Banquet: A Marvelous Book about "The Family Murders" in Adelaide It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. Players - The Family Murders Players Five murdered young men, over 150 violent abduction drug-rapes, two people arrested, one person found guilty. 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. Stogneff's body had been cut into three pieces in a similar fashion to Muir. [8] The reward carried an offer of immunity to accomplices, dependent on their level of involvement. A span of 4 years. This was about 300 metres from his family home. Neil had several drug debts throughout Adelaide, and that is where police started their investigation. View description Share. 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. Once in the car they would be offered a drink that was laced with a knockout drug. But only one recalled seeing where Alan might have gone. Gambier, a city roughly five hours south of Adelaide. Only one suspect has been charged and convicted for a crime. Millhouse was charged and went to trial but was acquitted. Eventually, Peter's parents discovered the plot among Peter and his friend to skip school, and conveyed this information to the police - who were just as alarmed as they were. [5][9] The cold case review was completed in November 2010 with no charges being laid against any of the three key suspects. The final two - Mark Langley and Richard Kelvin - had disappeared just blocks away from one another. One such case is the Family Murders of Adelaide, Australia. With tattoos, long hair, and a gruff demeanor, Neil looked like your average rock musician, and his transient lifestyle seems to support that. 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. Trace evidence, including hair and fibres from von Einem's home, was found on Kelvin's body and clothing. Neil's penis had been cut, and he was missing a testicle at the time of discovery. 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,. On Saturday, June 16th, 1979, Alan spent the night at a friend's house. Alan Arthur Barnes, aged 16, murdered in 1979. Part One: The Murders Between 1979 and 1983, a series of heinous murders shocked Adelaide. 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. The older driver not only offered to give George a ride but offered to show him a good time with some ladies he knew. These people have no such bond, only an association that with time probably no longer exists". 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. Millhouse would have Peter intended to skip school and meet his uncle (similar age) in Rundle Mall. Police were now back, right where they had started. [7] Suspect 1, an Eastern Suburbs businessman, is believed to have been with von Einem when Kelvin was abducted. Because Neil's transient lifestyle led to him becoming known as a bit of a vagabond, his sexuality was not exactly common knowledge. According to his family, this was right in-line with Richard's odd sense of humor. Darko's brother dropped them at a bus stop near the corner of on Grand Junction Rd and Addison. 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. The Family Murders is a well known and notorious series of crimes that occurred in Adelaide, Australia. The Family Murders - 5 Teen Boys Raped, Tortured, And Killed 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. Bob O'Brien was an investigator for Major Crimes, who had just started working with the unit the year prior (1982). The group was involved in kidnapping, sexually abusing, torturing and murdering 5 boys. 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. [2] The suspects and their associates were linked mainly by their shared habits of "actively [having] sought out young males for sex," sometimes drugging and raping their victims. 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. [citation needed]. He had been sexually assaulted and went on to report this bizarre, terrifying incident to police. He was last seen while hitchhiking being picked up by a white HQ Holden sedan carrying three or four people. [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. 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 (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. 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. Police believe this murder is associated with other high profile murders commonly referred to in the media as the 'Family Murders'. Kelvin was held captive for approximately five weeks[24] and a post-mortem examination revealed that he had died of massive blood loss from an anal injury,[25] likely caused by the insertion of a large blunt object. Unfortunately, it would later be determined that he would suffer in anguish for weeks before meeting eventually dying more than a month after his initial disappearance. 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. 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. 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. But at this point, police were already preoccupied with a separate lead from Neil Muir's social circle: a man named Dr. Peter Millhouse. This meant that his remains had likely been sitting out in the wilderness for about a week. 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. 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. 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. 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. Once known as the "City of Churches," Adelaide began going through a stark progression in the 1960s. The victims were all young men, who had gone missing in or near the northern section of town. von Einem is serving life imprisonment. His body also showed signs of beatings and torture. Some of the victims were brutally tortured, or horrifically mutilated or cut up. 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.