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. 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 Over the next year or so, the case would stagnate. This was about 300 metres from his family home. 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. He loved music - both playing it and listening to it - and had a good rapport with his friends, whom he hung around constantly. What the two got up to that evening is anyone's guess, but rumors and theories have propagated this story in the decades since. After being arrested, Dr. Millhouse had denied ever knowing Neil, and continued stating so over the next year, openly defying the dozens of witness statements that claimed they were acquaintances at the least, intimate friends at the most. However, that was very circumstantial evidence at best, and anything but definitive. With tattoos, long hair, and a gruff demeanor, Neil looked like your average rock musician, and his transient lifestyle seems to support that. Even though he was nearly an adult at this point - and had a fair amount of independence in his life - this disappearance was deemed very out-of-the-ordinary. 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. 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. 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. Another anonymous caller claimed that they had seen Richard Kelvin in a snuff film, which had been filmed very recently. The next day was a Sunday, they both planned to hitchhike to Alan's home in Salisbury. In June of 1983, Richard Kelvin was approaching sixteen years of age. This witness recalled Alan getting into a vehicle, which appeared to be a white Holden sedan. [citation needed]. This website was built on publicly available information contributed by many people who have an interest in this case. It wasn't until Monday morning that Alan's parents decided to contact the police, having not seen him for several days. Police believe that up to 12 people, several of them high-profile Australians, were involved in the kidnappings. He failed to make any contact with his family, and police began to express concern that he had gone missing under duress. I first heard of the murders in an episode of an Australian television program called . 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. 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. Do you think the Family Murders case will ever be solved? Ian and Paula, Mark's friends, drove away but would return just minutes later, cooler heads having prevailed. Peter Stogneff. His friend likely just assumed that Peter had bailed on their plan, and likely gone to school that day. 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. It wasn't until the following year, 1983, that police finally rediscovered George's story. [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. 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. (What a lovely country, Australia!) [5][9] The cold case review was completed in November 2010 with no charges being laid against any of the three key suspects. He vividly remembered hearing a young voice shout out (which we can assume was Richard) and a group of voices screaming in protest, almost in unison. Hence, the odd scar that seemed to serve no other purpose. How did he manipulate large numbers of people to get involved to various degrees even if that involvement was merely remaining silent? Of the five men that fell prey to this violent killer, at least two had been drugged with Mandrax, as had George. The bags looked as if they had been dropped from the higher-up wharf, just like the body of Alan Barnes had been. [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 Family Murders is the name given to a series of five sadistic murders committed by a loosely connected group of individuals who came to be known as The Family. [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. Needing to get away from his friends and clear his head, Mark decided to get out and walk away. 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 had a network of over 30 people. Subsequent efforts to reach Alan through his friends had failed, and none of them had seen him since the weekend. 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]. Needless to say, over the past few months, this investigation had become a new beast entirely. It wasn't until the next day, Sunday (February 28th), that Mark's parents began to grow concerned. But now, they needed to find a suspect. The severing of Neil's limbs and the mutilation of his body was originally believed to have been part of an effort to dispose of his body. Bevan Spencer von Einem was jailed for life for the murder of 15-year-old Richard Kelvin. Gambier, a city roughly five hours south of Adelaide. 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. On the final weekend of August 1979, Neil was spotted at both the Duke of York and Buckingham Arms ("The Buck"), two local gay bars that I referenced at the top of the episode. The closest thing to hard evidence that police found in this sweep was what appeared to be traces of blood on the bathroom floor, which had been cleaned multiple times over with a chemical agent; and, as such, could not be tested. The ongoing investigation featured in an episode of Crime Stoppers which went to air on 2 March 2009. 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. 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. He had multiple channels to procuring young men. It shows the facts and most likely scenarios, but is fluid so when new information comes to light changes can easily be made. 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. That Monday - August 27th, 1979 - Neil Muir was seen alive for the last time. [4][10], Some authorities do not recognise the term "The Family", stating that "[t]hey should not be given any title that infers legitimacy. Mark's remains had also clearly been thoroughly washed before being dumped, just like Alan Barnes. Australia's most notorious unsolved serial killings. The Family were not an official group, gang, or organisation. Players - The Family Murders Players Five murdered young men, over 150 violent abduction drug-rapes, two people arrested, one person found guilty. Allegations would even surface that indicated Dr. Millhouse had been one of the people in the area that supplied Neil with prescription drugs, but that would remain an allegation for the foreseeable future. The name of the group stems from an interview a police detective gave on 60 Minutes, claiming the police were taking action to break up the happy family. 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"). The final two - Mark Langley and Richard Kelvin - had disappeared just blocks away from one another. These individuals have come to be known as the "The Family" and are believed to have kidnapped and sexually abused over 150 boys and are believed to have tortured and murdered at least five teenage boys during a crime spree in Adelaide, South Australia. A day or two prior, at least. 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. 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. In the latter half of the 1970s, South Australia had started to regulate drugs like Mandrax, known throughout most of the world as "Quaaludes." 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. 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. See what they say here. 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 Family werent an official club or group, rather a loose collection of people with Bevan von Einem at the centre. 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. Of only one victim. 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. 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. Millhouse would have. One such case is the Family Murders of Adelaide, Australia. However, the medical examiners in Adelaide concluded definitively that Alan had died several hours before this happened. 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. The evidence is contained in a detailed diary kept by a man who was a close associate of several key players in the so-called Family murders. Enjoy reading. A thrash metal band singer and members of his family were killed in an apparent murder-suicide late last month, according to police. He then moved away from Adelaide and the murders continued. The victims were found in random locations throughout the state, their bodies neatly cut into pieces. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the case is how did von Einem find accomplices willing to be involved in such crimes? I think we might get closer to understanding what happened but I think lack of physical evidence pretty much rules out any more charges being laid. 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. Neil had several drug debts throughout Adelaide, and that is where police started their investigation. Alan lived with his parents, both English immigrants, in Salisbury: a northern suburb of Adelaide. We know that on the morning of Sunday, June 17th, Alan and his friend woke up, and tried their luck hitchhiking back to Alan's family's house (a practice that wasn't that uncommon in the late 1970s). But his teachers recalled him being absent, and hours would pass that afternoon (heading into the evening) and Peter would fail to return home. 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. It was the body of Neil Muir or, rather, what remained of him. He had struggled to wean himself off of heroin, using methadone to do so, only to have methadone become his next addiction. Richard Dallas Kelvin, (born 4 December 1967) aged 15,[23] murdered in July 1983. Other times he would just pick up a hitch hiker. In August of 1979, Neil was living alone in an apartment on Carrington Street, right in the middle of Adelaide itself. A span of 4 years. For that reason, many of these men and women had to keep their sexuality confined to specific locations. That was believed to have been Neil's cause-of-death, same as Alan Barnes. 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. The Clermont County Sheriff's Office . On Saturday, June 16th, 1979, Alan spent the night at a friend's house. For many, that meant gay-specific bars and clubs, where these individuals were allowed to socially express themselves honestly for the first time in their lives. This story would become historic, in more ways than one. von Einem is serving life imprisonment. 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, 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. His remains had been dissected and neatly cut into many pieces, placed in a garbage bag and thrown into the Port River at Port Adelaide. 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". Police wouldn't get around to conducting a door-to-door canvas of the neighborhood until Tuesday, two days after Richard had gone missing. 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 section explores the people who at this stage are thought to have been on the periphery. In 1979, residents of Adelaide were gripped by fear when several young men began to go missing under mysterious circumstances. And Marshall is no novice at delving into the minds of evil men. [7] Suspect 1, an Eastern Suburbs businessman, is believed to have been with von Einem when Kelvin was abducted. Gay people (in particular, gay men) began to become more comfortable in their own skin, and no longer had to suppress their sexuality in public. 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.