Over the next year or so, the case would stagnate. 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. His head had also been removed from the rest of his body, but was placed in its own separate black trash bag and connected with a rope tie to the rest of the remains. While changes in Southern Australia's draconian laws had decriminalized homosexuality, there were still people eager to prey on or harass gay men and women - behavior that lingers to this day. Now, with Mark Langley, police were able to confirm the presence of the drug Mandrax in his system. This section explores the people who at this stage are thought to have been on the periphery. In 2014 when Trevor passed away, his diaries were recovered. That was believed to have been Neil's cause-of-death, same as Alan Barnes. They kicked the footy around. He is 50 metres from his beautiful family home. Unfortunately, this lead ultimately led nowhere, so police began investigating people more tentatively linked to Neil through his social circle. [16][22] The sedative-hypnotic drug Mandrax, popular in the 1970s disco scene, was found in Langley's blood. Alan was supposed to find a ride back home and was taking his luck hitchhiking, hoping that someone willing to pick him up would be heading north towards his family's neighborhood of Salisbury. 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 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. 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. However, unlike many of the others, it was believed that Richard had been held captive for an extended period of time, enduring torture and sexual abuse for weeks leading up to his death. The other two men thrown into the river with him managed to escape with their lives, but they did not escape unscathed. 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. The Family Murders (Part Two: The Family) Unresolved The Family Murders Part Two: The Family As the families of five young men mourned, investigators began to circle around their top suspect, Bevan Spencer von Einem. If your information is verified and its not breaking any laws, we may publish it. This was cancelled the night before. The first of which was a very specific call alleging that two men - named Doug and Mark - were responsible for abducting Richard Kelvin. 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. On Saturday, June 16th, 1979, Alan spent the night at a friend's house. That Monday - August 27th, 1979 - Neil Muir was seen alive for the last time. Hence, the odd scar that seemed to serve no other purpose. 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. 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. He has spent that Sunday, June the 5th, playing footy, until the afternoon when his best friend Karl came over. There's a conviction in the last murder in the series, but I will include it due to the similarity and due to the man convicted being suspected in the other murders as well. 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. Examiners discovered that just a few inches above his groin - just below his navel - Mark had a small surgical scar that had been sealed shut with staples and a specific type of Johnson & Johnson surgical tape. On Saturday, February 27th, 1982, Mark attended a friend's 18th birthday party in Windsor Gardens, a neighborhood in northeastern Adelaide. It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. [5][9] The cold case review was completed in November 2010 with no charges being laid against any of the three key suspects. Of the young men whose stories I'll cover in this episode, he was by far the youngest, and his face showed it: he still had the youthful appearance of a child, and by all accounts, seemed to be your typical teenage boy. Case 166: The Family - Casefile: True Crime Podcast Listen to "The Family Murders (Part One: The Murders)" on Spreaker. The bags looked as if they had been dropped from the higher-up wharf, just like the body of Alan Barnes had been. 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. How did he manipulate large numbers of people to get involved to various degrees even if that involvement was merely remaining silent? [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 were not an official group, gang, or organisation. The 'Family murders' involved the killing and torture of five young men from the 1970s to the mid-1980s. This included people that visited the same bars and clubs as Neil and perhaps knew him that way. 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. 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. This story would become historic, in more ways than one. They wanted to continue eliminating suspects that personally knew Alan ahead of time, but promised to check out von Einem in the future. [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. 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. [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 was a fourteen-year-old that lived with his family in a middle-class home, in a northeastern suburb of Adelaide. 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. The Family Murders are a series of violent and depraved sex crimes committed against five young men and boys in South Australia throughout the 1970's and 1980's. In 1988 Detective Trevor Kipling described a group of people whom he suspected as being responsible as "one big happy family" and vowed to do all that he could to bring them to justice. But only one recalled seeing where Alan might have gone. The Family werent an official club or group, rather a loose collection of people with Bevan von Einem at the centre. The older driver not only offered to give George a ride but offered to show him a good time with some ladies he knew. Between 1979 and 1983, a series of heinous murders shocked Adelaide. Regardless, this information was incredibly helpful to police, who began to expand their interests to finding people in the area that drove similar vehicles. But he didn't commit these crimes on his own. But the rumors that he engaged in sex work were mainly perpetrated by those that knew him from his regular haunts: members of Adelaide's gay community, who regularly saw Neil at the gay-friendly bars they frequented. This ultimately resulted in a victory for Dr. Peter Millhouse's attorneys, earning the man an acquittal and his freedom. The bodies were found from 24th June 1979 and the fifth and last body on 24th July 1983. It's 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. Family Murders Are Adelaide's Most Horrific Unsolved Crime - PEDESTRIAN.TV A Breakdown of a series of murders that took place in Adelaide, South For obvious reasons, he didn't tell his parents, setting out that morning with his backpack and heading off like any other day. When they finally got around to doing this, after the discovery of Richard Kelvin's body, one name popped out at them. 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]. 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. Because Mark had been killed and his body been dumped in the Australian summer months, his remains had already suffered some serious decomposition by the time police were called to the scene. Other times he would just pick up a hitch hiker. Through these connections, police were able to link all of these crimes together. 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 and sexual abuse of a number of teenage boys and young men, as well as the torture and murder of five young men aged between 14 and 25, in Adelaide, South . He then moved away from Adelaide and the murders continued. In the days immediately after Neil Muir's death, Dr. Millhouse had gone on a bit of a self-described "bender." The man that had driven George there offered him a couple of pills called "No-Doz," which - he promised - would help him stay awake to enjoy the party.

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