He was last seen while hitchhiking being picked up by a white HQ Holden sedan carrying three or four people. 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. Later on, Ian would recall the argument cropping up around cigarettes, but that just proves the point of how nonessential it was. Suspect 2, a former male prostitute and close friend of von Einem known as Mr B. Five murders and over 150 rapes. 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 two were hiking through the area near the South Para Reservoir when they noticed something on the ground. 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. Unfortunately, from there, the trail would go cold for over a year at which point, another victim had already become ensnared in this tragic saga. There was not much to connect them, other than the graphic sexual nature of the crimes, and months would continue to pass before this story would begin to surface again in the public eye. 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". The victims were all young men, who had gone missing in or near the northern section of town. [14] The hair around the area had been shaved as it would have been in an operation in a hospital. 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. 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." The Family murders are the name of the murders of five young men and teenagers who happened in Adelaide, South Australia between 1979 and 1983. 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. . Once in the car they would be offered a drink that was laced with a knockout drug. With tattoos, long hair, and a gruff demeanor, Neil looked like your average rock musician, and his transient lifestyle seems to support that. For obvious reasons, he didn't tell his parents, setting out that morning with his backpack and heading off like any other day. Unfortunately, this lead ultimately led nowhere, so police began investigating people more tentatively linked to Neil through his social circle. Enjoy reading. This section explores the people who at this stage are thought to have been on the periphery. Mark Langley was an 18-year-old with the entire world in front of him: an athletic and good-looking young man, who quickly endeared himself to others. The "Family Murders" *Warning: graphic content and mentions of sexual abuse ahead. The Family Murders in South Australia : r/UnresolvedMysteries Richard Kelvin's disappearance was a slightly higher profile case than the others I've covered so far - due to him being the son of the region's top newscaster - but even then, the investigation was not without fault. If your information is verified and its not breaking any laws, we may publish it. 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. 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. The Family were not an official group, gang, or organisation. [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. 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. [5][9] The cold case review was completed in November 2010 with no charges being laid against any of the three key suspects. Australia - Australia -the Family, 1979-83, Adelaide, B S Von Einem (What a lovely country, Australia!) Interview with a monster: The City of Corpses murders - news Mark had likely hitched a ride with someone, and his friends trusted that he would make it home. 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. The Family Murders is one of Australia's most captivating true crime stories. Some of the victims were brutally tortured, or horrifically mutilated or cut up. The Family Murders of Adelaide Australia : r/UnresolvedMysteries - reddit While police pounded the pavement to find out what had happened to Richard Kelvin, the young man's life was slowly coming to an end. Police believe that up to 12 people, several of them high-profile Australians, were involved in the kidnappings. The Family Murders: 'Dissected' Kindle Edition - Amazon.com.au But his teachers recalled him being absent, and hours would pass that afternoon (heading into the evening) and Peter would fail to return home. Of only one victim. 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. 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. His body also showed signs of beatings and torture. Players - The Family Murders Players Five murdered young men, over 150 violent abduction drug-rapes, two people arrested, one person found guilty. Following the supposed abduction of Richard Kelvin, the police unit known as Major Crimes was tasked with overseeing the investigation. This was cancelled the night before. 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. On Saturday, February 27th, 1982, Mark attended a friend's 18th birthday party in Windsor Gardens, a neighborhood in northeastern Adelaide. 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. The other murders remain unsolved. [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. Peter Stogneff, aged 14,[17] murdered in August 1981. 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. Murdered victims were kept in captivity by the Family for up to five weeks. The older driver not only offered to give George a ride but offered to show him a good time with some ladies he knew. Police believe this murder is associated with other high profile murders commonly referred to in the media as the 'Family Murders'. He was able to exploit and manipulate enablers, helpers and participants over a long period of time. Victims - The Family Murders Over the next few days, it became apparent that Alan Barnes was not returning home. This story would become historic, in more ways than one. It has been reported that the exposed skin on his face and neck had begun to wither away, leading to the theory that he had been killed shortly after going missing. Neil's remains were brought in and carefully examined by the area's medical examiners, who quickly discovered an alarming red flag, which harkened back to the discovery of Alan Barnes' corpse. Dylan John Kovarskis murdered Nathan Russell in 2021 . 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. However, Neil's life was far less glamorous; rumors persist to this day that, leading up to August of 1979, Neil was engaging in sex work to support his bad habits and lifestyle. 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.). Bevan von Einem was an apex predator. 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. He told officers what the two had been up to that weekend: hanging out on Saturday and into Sunday morning, before splitting up. "CIA: Crime Investigation Australia" The Butchered Boys (TV - IMDb Father of boat crash victim Mallory Beach snubs Alex Murdaugh's family But at this point, police were already preoccupied with a separate lead from Neil Muir's social circle: a man named Dr. Peter Millhouse. Millhouse was charged and went to trial but was acquitted. Five young men were mysteriously abducted in different . Neil Muir's body had been so badly mutilated that he still barely resembled an entire being. 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. 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. On the afternoon of Sunday, June 5th, 1983, Richard was kicking around a soccer ball with his father Rob and his friend Boris at a park near his home. They wanted to continue eliminating suspects that personally knew Alan ahead of time, but promised to check out von Einem in the future. He then moved away from Adelaide and the murders continued. But underneath the surface, a monster lingered The next day was a Sunday, they both planned to hitchhike to Alan's home in Salisbury. The emergence of this drug would prove to be very interesting in the years to come, but at this point in the investigation, police were still struggling to connect all of the dots. The older man in the driver's seat reached into the backseat and pulled out a beer from a cooler, offering it to George. Also, like the other victims, Mark's cause-of-death seemed to be nearly identical: blood loss from an anal injury, caused by the forced insertion of an unknown item. He has spent that Sunday, June the 5th, playing footy, until the afternoon when his best friend Karl came over. 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. 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. And, with the recent discovery of the chemical cocktail found in Richard Kelvin's system, they had a pretty decent foundation for their investigation. Unfortunately, Richard Kelvin would never make it home. 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]. They now had five bodies - five victims - and five families pushing for answers. The son was fifteen when he was snatched from the street . Peter Stogneff was a fourteen-year-old that lived with his family in a middle-class home, in a northeastern suburb of Adelaide. But a discovery by the medical examiner seemed to undermine that: in addition to all of this, Neil's genitals had been mutilated by his killer. Although each attack and mutilation appeared different, police investigators soon began to link the horrific murders to one another. After taking the pills, George's memory began to blur. He had multiple channels to procuring young men. SA convicted murderer Bevan Spencer Von Einem during the jury's tour of North Adelaide dumping spot of Richard Kelvin's body. 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. They had no idea that they were about to make one of the most gruesome discoveries in Australian history. 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. Because Neil's transient lifestyle led to him becoming known as a bit of a vagabond, his sexuality was not exactly common knowledge. Mark Langley It is estimated that over 150 youths and young men were abducted, drugged, and then raped. Regardless, this information was incredibly helpful to police, who began to expand their interests to finding people in the area that drove similar vehicles. 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. Unsolved - The Family Murders | Page 148 | BigFooty Forum 1979: The Family (1 year) 1999: Snowtown murders discovered (20 years) As of 2021, this is the longest Adelaide has gone without a crime that has made national or international headlines as either a weird case (Somerton Man), child kidnapping or brutal serial killings since WWII. 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.