George, an impressionable young man, was enticed by the offer and accepted. Unfortunately, that Thursday, Peter never arrived at the mall to meet his friend. [14] The hair around the area had been shaved as it would have been in an operation in a hospital. View description Share. When this young man woke up the next day, he was surprised to find himself both at home and in significant pain. It is confirmed that 5 of these victims were murdered, usually by having an object forced so far up their anus that it split the lining and they bled out.
Australia's murder capital: Why can't Adelaide bury the myth? Other times he would just pick up a hitch hiker.
The Family Murders Of Adelaide - True Crime Conversations This website was built on publicly available information contributed by many people who have an interest in this case. Peter Leslie Millhouse was a doctor from Mt. I first heard of the murders in an episode of an Australian television program called . The Family Murders is one of Australia's most captivating true crime stories. Darko's brother dropped them at a bus stop near the corner of on Grand Junction Rd and Addison. 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).
The Family Murders - Wikipedia Once known as the "City of Churches," Adelaide began going through a stark progression in the 1960s. Major Crimes was primarily responsible for serial killings, mass killings, and any other high-profile crimes that the local government wanted to be handled by a specialized task force.
Case 166: The Family : r/Casefile - reddit Meanwhile, as police struggled to answer these basic questions, the trial against Dr. Peter Millhouse remained a thing of the past. They now had five bodies - five victims - and five families pushing for answers. 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. He then moved away from Adelaide and the murders continued. For that reason, this crime remains technically unsolved to this day. 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. von Einem is serving life imprisonment. by enjin | Feb 12, 2021 . High profile lawyer and murder victim Derrance Stevenson regularly entertained teenage youths. Was Dr Millhouse involved in Neil Muirs murder. Description. Trace evidence, including hair and fibres from von Einem's home, was found on Kelvin's body and clothing.
A Breakdown of a series of murders that took place in Adelaide, South Police wouldn't get around to conducting a door-to-door canvas of the neighborhood until Tuesday, two days after Richard had gone missing. In the days immediately after Neil Muir's death, Dr. Millhouse had gone on a bit of a self-described "bender."
The Family Murders (Part One: The Murders) - Spreaker 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. When police had arrived at the crime scene, they assumed that whoever had tried to dump the body of Alan Barnes had failed, in some way. And Marshall is no novice at delving into the minds of evil men. It was at around this time - the end of August - that Investigator Rod Hunter finally got around to interviewing Bevan Spencer von Einem, the man implicated by an anonymous caller in the murder of Alan Barnes. George Duncan, one of the three men thrown into the Torrens, would drown that evening.
The Family Murders | Adelaide's most notorious unsolved serial killings Little is known about the unidentified man, but Roger James had his ankle broken when he was plunged into the river that May, and was only able to escape with the help of a friendly onlooker. Five young men were mysteriously abducted in different . March 3, 2023 - 7:08PM. The head was tied to the torso with rope passed through the mouth and out through the neck. 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. 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. The name of the group stems from an interview a police detective gave on 60 Minutes,[1] claiming the police were taking action "to break up the happy family". Suspect 2, a former male prostitute and close friend of von Einem known as Mr B. They organized a helicopter search of the area, which O'Brien was present for, but unfortunately, the police were unable to find anything definitive. The 'Family murders' involved the killing and torture of five young men from the 1970s to the mid-1980s.
The Family Murders Unresolved The Family Murders - Wikipedia 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. 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. It wasn't until the following year, 1983, that police finally rediscovered George's story. This screening also revealed that the young man had been drugged with Mandrax ("Randy Mandys"), which had resulted in him losing consciousness. 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. 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. This site is constantly being updated as more is learned. Five murders and over 150 rapes. When they finally got around to doing this, after the discovery of Richard Kelvin's body, one name popped out at them. Whatever it was, it looked like a human body but was somehow twisted and contorted in an inhuman nature. 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. Mark had likely hitched a ride with someone, and his friends trusted that he would make it home. 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 . The bags looked as if they had been dropped from the higher-up wharf, just like the body of Alan Barnes had been. Darko's brother dropped them at a bus stop near the corner of on Grand Junction Rd and Addison 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. A thrash metal band singer and members of his family were killed in an apparent murder-suicide late last month, according to police. POLICE are investigating new information linking convicted killer Bevan Spencer von Einem to the abduction and murder of teenager Alan Barnes. 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. 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. Gambier, a city roughly five hours south of Adelaide. He has spent that Sunday, June the 5th, playing footy, until the afternoon when his best friend Karl came over. Unfortunately, as the farmer's land burned, so did the remains of the missing teenager.
victim - The Family Murders This was as good of a tip as police were going to get, and since the most recent victim of this strange killing spree had been found in the Foothills, police decided to follow through on the tip. [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. He loved music - both playing it and listening to it - and had a good rapport with his friends, whom he hung around constantly. [18] His skeletal remains were found in October 1982 later by a local farmer at Middle Beach, 50km north of Adelaide. 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. And, with the recent discovery of the chemical cocktail found in Richard Kelvin's system, they had a pretty decent foundation for their investigation. That evening, as Mark drove around with his friend Ian and Ian's girlfriend, Paula, an argument broke out. Suspect 3, an Eastern Suburbs doctor. 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. 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 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. On Saturday, June 16th, 1979, Alan spent the night at a friend's house. The body count had essentially doubled within a couple of months, and police were still unsure whether or not the cases were related. 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". [21] 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 older man in the driver's seat reached into the backseat and pulled out a beer from a cooler, offering it to George. The police came to this conclusion due to the status of his remains, which weren't nearly as decomposed as they should have been; by the time he was discovered at the end of July, he had been dead for no more than a week or two, despite having gone missing at the beginning of June. But he didn't commit these crimes on his own. The victims were all young men, who had gone missing in or near the northern section of town. While in rehab, Dr. Millhouse refused to speak to police about Neil Muir (or his alleged relationship with the man). "The Family murders" occurred in the period of time between the late 1970s and 1980s. Unlike the other murder victims, however, Mark's body showed an odd sign of surgical precision. The night before he went missing he stayed at Darko Kastelan's house in Cheltenham. 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. But other than that, this friend had nothing new to offer police: he hadn't seen or heard from Alan since the two went their separate ways. His mother, Judy, would later describe him as being incredibly witty; "cheeky," as she describes in a 2006 documentary, going on to say that Alan was always quick on his feet, and would respond to any type of comment with something sarcastic and bitterly funny. 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. According to his family, this was right in-line with Richard's odd sense of humor. 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. His body had been severely mutilated and dumped in the South Para Reservoir, northeast of Adelaide. But underneath the surface, a monster lingered
The "Family Murders" - Amateur Sleuth 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 never made it home. 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. 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. The "Family Murders" *Warning: graphic content and mentions of sexual abuse ahead. It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. It shows the facts and most likely scenarios, but is fluid so when new information comes to light changes can easily be made. It was there that they found his backpack hidden in the garage, which ultimately led to calls to all of his friends. Although each attack and mutilation appeared different, police investigators soon began to link the horrific murders to one another. Unfortunately, by the time they returned, Mark was nowhere to be found. 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. Eventually, Peter returned home with his backpack, stowing it in his family's garage while his parents were at work. 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. However, the medical examiners in Adelaide concluded definitively that Alan had died several hours before this happened. After taking the pills, George's memory began to blur. Needing to get away from his friends and clear his head, Mark decided to get out and walk away. It was this rapport that caused Peter to skip school on Thursday, August 27th, 1981. by enjin | Feb 12, 2021 | victim. Investigators were unable to pinpoint Peter's exact cause-of-death, or even estimate when he had been killed. The information is easy to navigate and easy reference. He had been sexually assaulted and went on to report this bizarre, terrifying incident to police. Noctec was found in his blood, suggesting he had been drugged. A few more anonymous calls would be received in the coming weeks. 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. The next day was a Sunday, they both planned to hitchhike to Alan's home in Salisbury. Over the next year or so, the case would stagnate. 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. 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. 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. His friend likely just assumed that Peter had bailed on their plan, and likely gone to school that day. This was cancelled the night before. Boris left on a bus, and Richard started making his way back home a trip that was no more than four-hundred meters. By the time they managed to look outside, whoever had been outside had already sped off. South Australia's overdue for another Likely, he was one of the people seen hanging out with Neil at the bars and clubs just days that weekend. 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. Once in the car they would be offered a drink that was laced with a knockout drug. 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 . 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. He then explained to the investigator that he was a former lover of Neil's, from roughly four years beforehand, and had run into the man just days before his eventual murder. 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. The other two men thrown into the river with him managed to escape with their lives, but they did not escape unscathed. 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. Alan Arthur Barnes, aged 16, murdered in 1979. Any person complicit in the abduction, rape and murders of the five victims, plus any person who visited the place of captivity when a victim was knowingly present, plus any person involved in the abduction, spiking and raping of teenage boys or young men with other members of The Family. Australia's most notorious unsolved serial killings. 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. Four of the five murders remain unsolved. Police believe that up to 12 people, several of them high-profile Australians, were involved in the kidnappings. Veale Gardens had a thriving male prostitution scene, many of which were underage. Because homosexuality was still outlawed in Australia at this point, Vice officers would often detain individuals that they believed were loitering nearby known gay hotspots. This witness would also recall hearing this supposed argument on the street come to a sudden end, punctuated with the sound of a loud exhaust system as a car sped down the street. [8] Little more could be determined as the remains had been accidentally burnt by the farmer while clearing his property of scrub.[11][19]. Like the other victims, investigators would learn a lot from the status of Mark's remains. 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. (What a lovely country, Australia!) The bodies were found from 24th June 1979 and the fifth and last body on 24th July 1983. 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. But only one recalled seeing where Alan might have gone. Another anonymous caller claimed that they had seen Richard Kelvin in a snuff film, which had been filmed very recently. The Family were not an official group, gang, or organisation. Of the five men that fell prey to this violent killer, at least two had been drugged with Mandrax, as had George.
Mr B - The Family Murders He also happened to be a relative of Robin Millhouse, South Australia's former Attorney General who would become a Supreme Court Justice in 1982. Trevor Peters lived two doors away from one of the transgender suspects and mixed in the same circles as a number of suspects. At this point, the idea of a random killer hadn't even crossed investigators' minds. The post-mortem revealed that Langley had died from a massive loss of blood from gross injuries to his anus, similar to Barnes. 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. [14][24] His body was found on 24 July by a geologist who was searching for moss-covered rocks near a dirt airstrip at Kersbrook.
Case 166: The Family - Casefile: True Crime Podcast Hence, the odd scar that seemed to serve no other purpose. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the case is how did von Einem find accomplices willing to be involved in such crimes? However, instead of charging them with any known crimes, the officers proceeded to throw the three men into the nearby Torrens River. [3], Von Einem was convicted in 1984 of the murder of Kelvin and sentenced to life imprisonment. This story would become historic, in more ways than one. Among those voices, he described, was a higher-pitched voice, which sounded almost feminine. 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.
Victims - The Family Murders 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,. They admitted that he'd faced some issues with other kids at his school, but he was otherwise happy and had just gotten a serious girlfriend. Needless to say, over the past few months, this investigation had become a new beast entirely. Bevan Spencer von Einem is serving a life sentence for one of those murders. He was seen in the presence of individuals who would become relevant later on, but - at the time - were simply believed to have been his friends.
[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. 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. SA convicted murderer Bevan Spencer Von Einem during the jury's tour of North Adelaide dumping spot of Richard Kelvin's body. The last victim was the son of our local television newsreader. Following the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1975, Adelaide began to be known as one of the more progressive cities in all of Australia. 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. They phoned police that evening, hoping that their son's whereabouts could be chalked up to a simple miscommunication. After doing away with his old, dried-up crops, the farmer was looking over his land when he came upon the now-charred remains of young Peter Stogneff. 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). 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. 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. That Monday - August 27th, 1979 - Neil Muir was seen alive for the last time. 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. Sadly, this dark and tragic saga was just beginning. The Family Murders is a well known and notorious series of crimes that occurred in Adelaide, Australia. Unfortunately, information gathered by police that fateful Tuesday began to cast doubt on the idea that Richard had willingly chosen to run away from home. Peter Stogneff, aged 14,[17] murdered in August 1981. 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. When using other people (sometimes transgenders, sometimes cross-dressers, and sometimes Mr B), a common ploy was to ask a lone youth if he want to go to a party where there was plenty of booze and women. The Family Murders Of Adelaide. Ian and Paula, Mark's friends, drove away but would return just minutes later, cooler heads having prevailed. Over time Trevor kept diary records of his conversations with that suspect as well as another suspect. Bevan von Einem had a network of around 25-30 people. Millhouse would have. Five murders and over 150 rapes. [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. 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. Sadly, Neil's biggest vice was his ever-evolving drug addiction. Analysis of Kelvin's bloodstream revealed traces of four hypnotic drugs,[11][26] including Mandrax and Noctec. He immediately contacted the police, and when they arrived at the scene, they were able to quickly identify the remains as Peter. So the police began reaching out to people that worked or had otherwise been in the area.