The Family Murders
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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 In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...
and
sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...
of a number of teenage boys and young men, as well as the
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...
and murder of five young men aged between 14 and 25, in
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, in the 1970s and 1980s. The name of the group stems from an interview a police detective gave on ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
'', claiming the police were taking action "to break up the happy family". Only one suspect has been charged and convicted for the crimes:
Bevan Spencer von Einem Bevan Spencer von Einem (born 29 May 1946) is a convicted child murderer and suspected serial killer from Adelaide, South Australia. An accountant by profession, he was convicted in 1984 for the murder of 15-year-old Adelaide teenager Richard ...
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. The other murders remain unsolved.


Case

Police believe that up to 12 people, several of them high-profile Australians, were involved in the kidnappings. The suspects and their associates were linked mainly by their shared habits of "actively avingsought out young males for sex," sometimes drugging and raping their victims. Von Einem was convicted in 1984 of the murder of Kelvin and sentenced to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
. In 1989, von Einem was charged with the murders of two other victims, Barnes and Langley, but the prosecution entered a ''
nolle prosequi , abbreviated or , is legal Latin meaning "to be unwilling to pursue".Nolle prosequi
. refe ...
'' (voluntarily discontinue criminal charges) during the trial when crucial
similar fact evidence In the law of evidence, similar fact evidence (or the similar fact principle) establishes the conditions under which factual evidence of past misconduct of the accused can be admitted at trial for the purpose of inferring that the accused committ ...
was deemed inadmissible by the presiding judge. Von Einem was also one of the last people seen with a fourth victim, Muir, following his abduction. Apart from von Einem, three other core members are thought to be directly involved in the murders; while DNA testing re-commenced in 2008, no further charges have been laid. Suspect 1, an Eastern Suburbs businessman, is believed to have been with von Einem when Kelvin was abducted. Suspect 2, a former male prostitute and close friend of von Einem known as Mr B. Suspect 3, an Eastern Suburbs doctor. 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. The reward carried an offer of immunity to accomplices, dependent on their level of involvement. 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. The ongoing investigation featured in an episode of ''
Crime Stoppers Crime Stoppers or Crimestoppers is a community program that helps people to provide anonymous information about criminal activity. Often managed by non-profit groups or the police, it operates separately from the emergency telephone number sys ...
'' which went to air on 2 March 2009. The cold case review was completed in November 2010 with no charges being laid against any of the three key suspects. Some authorities do not recognise the term "The Family", stating that " ey should not be given any title that infers legitimacy. These people have no such bond, only an association that with time probably no longer exists". Others, who have examined the cases, however, argue that there were many more victims. Criminologist Alan Perry of the
University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
, 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.


Victims

Alan Arthur Barnes, aged 16, murdered in 1979. He was last seen while
hitchhiking Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads hav ...
being picked up by a white HQ
Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...
sedan carrying three or four people. His body had been severely mutilated and dumped in the
South Para Reservoir South Para Reservoir is the second largest reservoir in South Australia, behind Mount Bold Reservoir, and the principal reservoir of the South Para River system. The reservoir's large capacity of around 45,330 megalitres and its location in the ...
, northeast of Adelaide. A post-mortem examination revealed that Barnes had died of massive blood loss from an anal injury, likely caused by the insertion of a large blunt object. His body also showed signs of beatings and torture. Noctec was found in his blood, suggesting he had been drugged. Neil Fredrick Muir, aged 25, murdered two months after Barnes in August 1979. His remains had been
dissected Dissection (from Latin ' "to cut to pieces"; also called anatomization) is the dismembering of the body of a deceased animal or plant to study its anatomical structure. Autopsy is used in pathology and forensic medicine to determine the cause ...
and neatly cut into many pieces, placed in a garbage bag and thrown into the
Port River The Port River (officially known as the Port Adelaide River) is part of a tidal estuary located north of the Adelaide city centre in the Australian state of South Australia. It has been used as a shipping channel since the beginning of European ...
at
Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...
. 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. The head was tied to the torso with rope passed through the mouth and out through the neck. 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 and Noctec was found in his blood. Peter Stogneff, aged 14, murdered in August 1981. His skeletal remains were found in October 1982 later by a local farmer at Middle Beach, 50 km north of Adelaide. Stogneff's body had been cut into three pieces in a similar fashion to Muir. Little more could be determined as the remains had been accidentally burnt by the farmer while clearing his property of scrub. Mark Andrew Langley, aged 18, murdered in February 1982. His mutilated body was found in scrub in the Adelaide foothills nine days after his disappearance. Among the mutilations was a wound that appeared to have been cut with a surgical instrument that went from his navel to the pubic region and part of his small bowel was missing. The hair around the area had been shaved as it would have been in an operation in a hospital. The post-mortem revealed that Langley had died from a massive loss of blood from gross injuries to his anus, similar to Barnes. The
sedative A sedative or tranquilliser is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement. They are CNS depressants and interact with brain activity causing its deceleration. Various kinds of sedatives can be distinguished, but t ...
-
hypnotic Hypnotic (from Greek ''Hypnos'', sleep), or soporific drugs, commonly known as sleeping pills, are a class of (and umbrella term for) psychoactive drugs whose primary function is to induce sleep (or surgical anesthesiaWhen used in anesthesia ...
drug
Mandrax Methaqualone is a hypnotic sedative. It was sold under the brand names Quaalude ( ) and Sopor among others, which contained 300 mg of methaqualone, and sold as a combination drug under the brand name Mandrax, which contained 250 mg met ...
, popular in the 1970s disco scene, was found in Langley's blood. Richard Dallas Kelvin, (born 4 December 1967) aged 15, murdered in July 1983. The son of popular local
Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
news presenter
Rob Kelvin Rob Kelvin (born 20 September 1944) is an Australian former television news presenter. He was a presenter of the weeknight edition of '' Nine News Adelaide'' produced by NWS-9. Kelvin presented the bulletin with Kevin Crease until February 2007, ...
, he was abducted a short distance from his North Adelaide home on 5 June. His body was found on 24 July by a geologist who was searching for moss-covered rocks near a dirt airstrip at
Kersbrook Kersbrook (formerly Maidstone) is a town near Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Hills Council local government area. At the 2006 census, Kersbrook had a population of 367. History The first settlers established farms in t ...
. Kelvin was held captive for approximately five weeks and a post-mortem examination revealed that he had died of massive blood loss from an anal injury, likely caused by the insertion of a large blunt object. Analysis of Kelvin's bloodstream revealed traces of four hypnotic drugs, including Mandrax and Noctec.
Trace evidence Trace evidence is created when objects make contact. The material is often transferred by heat or induced by contact friction. The importance of trace evidence in criminal investigations was shown by Dr. Edmond Locard in the early 20th century. ...
, including hair and fibres from von Einem's home, was found on Kelvin's body and clothing.


See also

*
Crime in Australia Crime in Australia is managed by various law enforcement bodies (federal and state-based police forces and local councils), the federal and state-based criminal justice systems and state-based correctional services. The Department of Home A ...
*
List of serial killers by number of victims A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, in two or more separate events over a period of time, for primarily psychological reasons.A serial killer is most commonly defined as a person who kills three or more peop ...
* Unsolved murders


References


Further reading

* *


External links

* ''
Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald S ...
'
interview with Bevan Spencer von Einem
by Debi Marshall, 2019
Frozen Lies Podcast
by Debi Marshall, 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Family Murders 1979 in Australia 1979 murders in Australia 1970s in Adelaide 1981 murders in Australia 1982 murders in Australia 1983 in Australia 1983 murders in Australia 1980s in Adelaide Incidents of violence against boys Male murder victims Murder in Adelaide Serial murders in Australia Unidentified serial killers