The Family Murders
Encyclopedia
The Family Murders was the name given to an alleged high society conspiracy involving the kidnap, torture
, and murder
of teenagers, particularly young men and teenaged boys, in Adelaide
, Australia
and surrounding areas in the late 1970s to the mid 1980s. The term stems from an interview a police detective gave on 60 Minutes, claiming the police were taking some action "...to break up the happy family."
Of the five murders, there has been one conviction. Bevan Spencer von Einem
was charged and convicted in 1984 for the murder of Richard Kelvin. In 1989, von Einem was charged with the murders of Alan Barnes and Mark Langley. However, the prosecution was forced to enter a Nolle Prosequi
[no contest] during the trial when crucial similar fact evidence
was deemed inadmissible by the presiding judge. The murders of Alan Barnes, Neil Muir, Peter Stogneff and Mark Langley remain unsolved.
A cold case was opened in March 2008 with a $500,000 reward available for anyone who provides information leading to a conviction. The reward carries an offer of immunity to accomplices dependant on their level of involvement. Due to changes in the Forensic Procedures Act which now allows DNA samples to be taken from suspects in major indictable offences, all the suspects were DNA tested. The ongoing investigation featured in an episode of Crime Stoppers
which went to air on Monday, 2 March 2009.
and other prominent members of the business community. Although many had previously been named, apart from suspect 2, their identities have been suppressed by the courts. Several suspects have died in recent years and one is currently in prison in Indonesia
.
Bevan Spencer von Einem
: Currently serving life imprisonment
for the murder of Richard Kelvin, police have evidence he was with Alan Barnes after he was abducted and he was one of the last people seen with Neil Muir following his abduction.
Suspect 1: An eastern suburbs businessman who visited von Einem after his 1984 conviction and is believed to have been with him when Kelvin was abducted. The man he was living with at the time of the murders is also a "person of interest."
Stephen George Woodards (Suspect 2): An Adelaide doctor well known in the gay community. Along with his partner, a well known Adelaide lawyer, both were known to pick up, drug and abuse young men. He is known to have supplied drugs to von Einem and suspect 1 which were used by both to incapacitate hitchhikers. He now lives in Sydney
and refuses to co-operate with police investigations. Now aged 61, he was arrested on 1 February 2011 for the kidnapping and torture of several teenagers around the time of the murders.
Suspect 3: A close friend of von Einem and suspect 1 and a former male prostitute. Police have evidence implicating him in drugging and sexually abusing hitchhikers. Police believe he was with von Einem and suspect 1 when Kelvin was abducted. He fled Adelaide and works as a bus driver in Brisbane
.
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
of teenagers, particularly young men and teenaged boys, in Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and surrounding areas in the late 1970s to the mid 1980s. The term stems from an interview a police detective gave on 60 Minutes, claiming the police were taking some action "...to break up the happy family."
Victims
- Alan Barnes, aged 17, murdered in 1979. Last seen being picked up by a white HoldenHoldenGM Holden Ltd is an automaker that operates in Australia, based in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, before becoming a subsidiary of the U.S.-based General Motors in 1931...
sedan with three or four people in it while hitchhikingHitchhikingHitchhiking is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle to travel a distance that may either be short or long...
, his body had been hideously mutilated and dumped in the South Para reservoir northeast of Adelaide. A post-mortem examination revealed that Barnes had died of massive blood loss from an anal injury, likely caused by the insertion of a large blunt object. He had died several days after he went missing and NoctecChloral hydrateChloral hydrate is a sedative and hypnotic drug as well as a chemical reagent and precursor. The name chloral hydrate indicates that it is formed from chloral by the addition of one molecule of water. Its chemical formula is C2H3Cl3O2....
was found in his blood suggesting he had been drugged.
- Neil Muir, aged 25, murdered two months after Alan Barnes in 1979. His remains had been dissected and neatly cut into many pieces, placed in a garbage bag and thrown into the Port RiverPort RiverThe Port River is the western branch of the largest tidal estuary on the eastern side of Gulf St Vincent. It extends inland through the historic Inner Harbour of Port Adelaide, to the constructed salt-water West Lakes in the north-western suburbs of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia...
at Port AdelaidePort AdelaidePort Adelaide is a suburb of Adelaide lying about 14 kilometres northwest of the City of Adelaide. It lies within the City of Port Adelaide Enfield and is the main port for the city of Adelaide...
. Skin bearing tattoos had been removed and most of the body parts were placed in another garbage bag before being placed in the abdominal cavity. The head was tied to the torso with rope passed through the mouth and out through the neck. 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 and Noctec was found in his blood. A prominent Adelaide doctor was later charged with Muirs' murder but found not guilty. Police are now satisfied he was not involved.
- Peter Stogneff, aged 14, murdered in 1981. His skeletal remains were found ten months later by a local farmer at Middle BeachMiddle Beach, South AustraliaMiddle Beach is a small town 40 km northwest of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the District Council of Mallala.-Demographics:The 2006 Census by the Australian Bureau of Statistics counted 366 persons on Middle Beach on census night...
, 50 km north of Adelaide. Peter's body had been cut into three pieces in a similar fashion to Neil Muir. Little more could be determined as the remains had been accidentally burnt by the farmer while clearing his property of scrubShrublandShrubland, scrubland, scrub or brush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity...
.
- Mark Langley, aged 18, murdered in 1982. His mutilated body was found in scrub in the Adelaide foothills nine days after his disappearance. 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 hair around the area had been shaved as it would have been in an operation in a hospital. The post-mortem revealed that Mark had died from a massive loss of blood from gross injuries to his anus, similar to Alan Barnes. MandraxMethaqualoneMethaqualone is a sedative-hypnotic drug that is similar in effect to barbiturates, a general central nervous system depressant. The sedative-hypnotic activity was first noted by Indian researchers in the 1950s and in 1962 methaqualone itself was patented in the US by Wallace and Tiernan...
was found in Langley's blood.
- Richard Kelvin, aged 15, murdered in 1983. He was abducted a short distance from his North Adelaide home. His body was found by an amateur geologist off a track near One Tree Hill in the Adelaide foothills. Kelvin was held captive for over 5 weeks and a post-mortem examination revealed that he had died of massive blood loss from an anal injury, likely caused by the insertion of a large blunt object. Analysis of Kelvin's bloodstream revealed traces of four hypnotic drugs, including Mandrax and Noctec.
Of the five murders, there has been one conviction. Bevan Spencer von Einem
Bevan Spencer von Einem
Bevan Spencer von Einem , also known as Bevan von Einem , is a convicted child murderer from Adelaide, South Australia...
was charged and convicted in 1984 for the murder of Richard Kelvin. In 1989, von Einem was charged with the murders of Alan Barnes and Mark Langley. However, the prosecution was forced to enter a Nolle Prosequi
Nolle prosequi
Nolle prosequi is legal term of art and a Latin legal phrase meaning "to be unwilling to pursue", a phrase amounting to "please do not prosecute". It is a phrase used in many common law criminal prosecution contexts to describe a prosecutor's decision to voluntarily discontinue criminal charges...
[no contest] during the trial when crucial similar fact evidence
Similar fact evidence
In the law of evidence, similar fact evidence establishes the conditions under which factual evidence of past misconduct of accused can be admitted at trial for the purpose of inferring that the accused committed the misconduct at issue.In Canada, the rule is established in R. v...
was deemed inadmissible by the presiding judge. The murders of Alan Barnes, Neil Muir, Peter Stogneff and Mark Langley remain unsolved.
A cold case was opened in March 2008 with a $500,000 reward available for anyone who provides information leading to a conviction. The reward carries an offer of immunity to accomplices dependant on their level of involvement. Due to changes in the Forensic Procedures Act which now allows DNA samples to be taken from suspects in major indictable offences, all the suspects were DNA tested. The ongoing investigation featured in an episode of Crime Stoppers
Crime Stoppers Australia
Crime Stoppers is a community policing initiative that commenced operation in the Australian state of Victoria in 1987, it has been operating Australia wide since 1998....
which went to air on Monday, 2 March 2009.
Key Suspects
Police believe that up to 12 people were involved in the kidnappings. Apart from von Einem they list three other core members directly involved in the murders with the remaining known associates involved to a lesser degree, being either indirectly involved or had knowledge of the murders but continued to interact with the group. The suspects include several prominent members of the legal community, the brother of a well known OlympianOlympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
and other prominent members of the business community. Although many had previously been named, apart from suspect 2, their identities have been suppressed by the courts. Several suspects have died in recent years and one is currently in prison in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
Bevan Spencer von Einem
Bevan Spencer von Einem
Bevan Spencer von Einem , also known as Bevan von Einem , is a convicted child murderer from Adelaide, South Australia...
: Currently serving life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
for the murder of Richard Kelvin, police have evidence he was with Alan Barnes after he was abducted and he was one of the last people seen with Neil Muir following his abduction.
Suspect 1: An eastern suburbs businessman who visited von Einem after his 1984 conviction and is believed to have been with him when Kelvin was abducted. The man he was living with at the time of the murders is also a "person of interest."
Stephen George Woodards (Suspect 2): An Adelaide doctor well known in the gay community. Along with his partner, a well known Adelaide lawyer, both were known to pick up, drug and abuse young men. He is known to have supplied drugs to von Einem and suspect 1 which were used by both to incapacitate hitchhikers. He now lives in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and refuses to co-operate with police investigations. Now aged 61, he was arrested on 1 February 2011 for the kidnapping and torture of several teenagers around the time of the murders.
Suspect 3: A close friend of von Einem and suspect 1 and a former male prostitute. Police have evidence implicating him in drugging and sexually abusing hitchhikers. Police believe he was with von Einem and suspect 1 when Kelvin was abducted. He fled Adelaide and works as a bus driver in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
.