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. Some time after they went missing, their bodies would each be found, often horribly mutilated. 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). For that reason, this crime remains technically unsolved to this day. At the same time he was developing a network of people who made it possible for him to carry out his sexually sadistic fantasies. Oh, that reminds me. He told officers what the two had been up to that weekend: hanging out on Saturday and into Sunday morning, before splitting up. Suspect 3, an Eastern Suburbs doctor. The convicted killer and notorious head of "The Family" ring who picked up hitchhikers and schoolboys to drug and offer to South Australia's elite to sexually abuse has broken his 20-year silence, to blame his victim, and to claim innocence over other murders. He loved music - both playing it and listening to it - and had a good rapport with his friends, whom he hung around constantly. 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. George Duncan, one of the three men thrown into the Torrens, would drown that evening. Due to the state of the young man's remains, it was believed that Alan had been detained against his will for several days. von Einem is serving life imprisonment. 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 victims were all young men, who had gone missing in or near the northern section of town. While police began to investigate who might be responsible for this heinous crime, medical examiners testing the body made a pretty shocking discovery: the presence of drugs in his blood. [8] The reward carried an offer of immunity to accomplices, dependent on their level of involvement. While in rehab, Dr. Millhouse refused to speak to police about Neil Muir (or his alleged relationship with the man). The older driver not only offered to give George a ride but offered to show him a good time with some ladies he knew. Alan lived with his parents, both English immigrants, in Salisbury: a northern suburb of Adelaide. He had struggled to wean himself off of heroin, using methadone to do so, only to have methadone become his next addiction. This was done in a different method to what had happened to Neil Muir's remains, but medical examiners were able to identify points in the bones just above the knees and the back where a saw had carved the body into pieces. [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. 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. The Family Murders revolved around von Einem. Following the supposed abduction of Richard Kelvin, the police unit known as Major Crimes was tasked with overseeing the investigation. '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. 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. There were signs that he had been tortured and beaten by a sexual sadist, who had likely kept Alan drugged with a chemical compound named chloral hydrate. His body had been dissected into parts, with his internal organs carved out and missing, replaced by his lower legs and arms, which had been sawed off and placed inside of his hollowed-out chest cavity. They kicked the footy around. So the police began reaching out to people that worked or had otherwise been in the area. [3], Von Einem was convicted in 1984 of the murder of Kelvin and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2014 when Trevor passed away, his diaries were recovered. 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. 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. The Family werent an official club or group, rather a loose collection of people with Bevan von Einem at the centre. See what they say here. 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. 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 . In the latter half of the 1970s, South Australia had started to regulate drugs like Mandrax, known throughout most of the world as "Quaaludes." 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. On this night, in particular, that included these three men. 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. But at this point, police were already preoccupied with a separate lead from Neil Muir's social circle: a man named Dr. Peter Millhouse. Police thought that these gruesome and violent actions had been part of an effort to easily transport Neil's remains out to sea, and dispose of them in a way that they'd degrade before being identified. 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 was cancelled the night before. 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. 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. 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. This was about 300 metres from his family home. 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"). 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. Dylan John Kovarskis murdered Nathan Russell in 2021 . 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. 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. This ultimately resulted in a victory for Dr. Peter Millhouse's attorneys, earning the man an acquittal and his freedom. 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. Meanwhile, as police struggled to answer these basic questions, the trial against Dr. Peter Millhouse remained a thing of the past. A day or two prior, at least. The very next day - August 28th, 1979 - a couple of fishermen were heading out to the Port Adelaide River, on what was supposed to be a regular workday for them. The group was involved in kidnapping, sexually abusing, torturing and murdering 5 boys. [5] Others, who have examined the cases, however, argue that there were many more victims. Show True Crime Conversations, Ep The Family Murders Of Adelaide - 10 Nov 2021. 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. "CIA: Crime Investigation Australia" The Butchered Boys (TV - IMDb They phoned police that evening, hoping that their son's whereabouts could be chalked up to a simple miscommunication. Mark Langley 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. Eventually, Peter returned home with his backpack, stowing it in his family's garage while his parents were at work. 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. The victims were found in random locations throughout the state, their bodies neatly cut into pieces. Peter Stogneff, aged 14,[17] murdered in August 1981. On Saturday, June 16th, 1979, Alan spent the night at a friend's house. 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. Moments later, George lost consciousness, falling prey to the drugs that he had consumed. [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. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the case is how did von Einem find accomplices willing to be involved in such crimes? This reported sighting led police to the notion that a group of people might have been acting in-tandem to abduct Richard, for reasons that appeared nefarious. 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". But now, they needed to find a suspect. Victims - The Family Murders Victims Alan Barnes Feb 12, 2021 The night before he went missing he stayed at Darko Kastelan's house in Cheltenham. Referred to as a "Randy Mandy" among the era's deviants, Mandrax was a sedative that had just become popular worldwide with the branding "Quaalude." He had seemingly disappeared, and a brief search of the area failed to come up with him. [5][9] The cold case review was completed in November 2010 with no charges being laid against any of the three key suspects. 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? It is estimated that over 150 youths and young men were abducted, drugged, and then raped. March 3, 2023 - 7:08PM. 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.