I remembered that it had a burgundy interior. Just another detail, another repercussion, another agony, rippling down the years. The family had a distant cousin Bob, a married man whod become a woman, explains Helen. No, but like I said, its just its just not on what he did. "Mr B" also provided further information about other associates of von Einem, but claimed he took no part whatsoever in any murders. There was nothing at the time to link him to his murder, but he was kept in the radar. Four days after Richard Kelvin's body was discovered, von Einem was questioned by the police about the murder. The next pick-up is always just a glance away. They also found traces of a sedative in his blood. I formed the impression that the gay community in Adelaide, afraid of being lumped together with these sadistic paedophiles in the public imagination, had been making itself into as small a target as possible ever since. This made police suspect that von Einem had something to hide. He was doing his job. Under cross-examination, the prosecution were able to show inconsistencies in her current testimony compared to her earlier statements to police about von Einem's whereabouts on the weekend of 45 June, which weakened the defence case considerably as this highlighted von Einem's change the previous February of his account of what happened on the night of 5 June 1983. On December 3, 2004, former Supreme Court judge Ted Mullighan was appointed to head a commission of inquiry into the abuse of children in state care. Did a Dubious Confession Sway a Medical Examiner That was the actual wording of the charge in those days, was it? I ask. Finally, the defence called von Einem's mother to testify about her son's activities over the weekend upon which Kelvin was kidnapped. Karen Carpenter's eating disorder damaged her heart. But then, a partial victory. As part of the investigation into Robert Woodlands murder, police went looking for another one of the guys whod made the same allegations of paedophilia to Lewis, Shaine Moore. He told them he was gay and that hed been bashed by a man hed met who wanted to take him home. To answer evidence about how fibres from von Einem's bed came to be on Kelvin's clothes, von Einem stated that the two of them sat on his bed and played with the large harp which he kept in his bedroom. Why? A week or two later, after much cajoling, Utting convinced Williams to come in and meet a police officer she trusted with a view to handing over some of his information about how paedophiles were getting away with it through the legal system. A jury of 12 people (seven women and five men) was selected and agreed upon by the prosecution and defence. She growled something at him and said she wanted this bloke out of there, but Lindsay wasnt going to kick him out. Bashers are common at beats, but theyve never got Robinson. Richard Kelvin - The Family Murders But if we take the victims of gay-bashing murders as a random sample of beat users and perhaps they are except for a bias towards an older, slower cohort they represent a cross-section of society, according to criminologist Professor Stephen Tomsen, who studied 74 gay murders in NSW in the 1980s and 90s. Richard Dallas Kelvin (1 December 1967 c. 10 July 1983), was the son of Rob Kelvin, a long-time television news presenter for Adelaide station NWS 9. Autopsy Lindsay showed her around his house. The committal hearing to determine if there was sufficient evidence for von Einem to stand trial for murder began on 20 February 1984. He got pins in his cheek. One of the men, Dr. George Duncan, a British lecturer in law who had arrived in Australia only seven weeks before, was drowned. Deep down, I felt sorry for these guys and hated being a part of this. Lewis says he probably has a copy in storage but he wasnt able to go looking for me. We know about that. Its much harder to actually try and understand how levels of bias and hatred towards a minority group of victims come to be part of these scenarios as well., He adds, In Sydney and NSW weve had this history of gay-hate killings where people have been viciously attacked, brutally killed, and also theyve been victims of robbery. Bevan Spencer Von Einem - Criminal History - Murder of Richard With all the fibres being accounted for with his new story, von Einem concluded his statement by saying that Kelvin had stayed for two hours before von Einem dropped him off in the Adelaide CBD near the Royal Adelaide Hospital and gave Kelvin $20 to pay for a taxi home.[5]. Kelvin was 15 years old at the time of his death. One time, four people followed his Torana out of here. But Jason Pearce and Wayne Ruks went in and sat on a bench. Forensic investigators were able to match the many fibres found on Kelvin's clothing to those taken from von Einem's home, along with hairs found which matched those belonging to him. McGowan did suggest that Williamson changing his story might tend to substantiate charges being preferred, and I submit this report for directions. They found that not enough emphasis had been put on the fact that the ordinary person is not a single being. And then I seen them running up the river a bit. It was then I started cruising the beats myself, South Parklands, Veale Gardens and a few well-known public toilets, sometimes during the day but mostly at night. When I went looking back over old unsolved murder cases and the few assaults that had managed to make the papers around the country, Adelaide kept popping up. He took his parents to the Melbourne Cup when they got too old for their regular coach trip. Zito joined in. The prosecution's case also relied on evidence given by former associates testifying to von Einem picking up boys hitchhiking and sexually abusing them, as well as "Mr B"'s sensational evidence being in the company of Barnes and von Einem at the time just before Barnes's murder. I assumed that he must have had tyre trouble, he told police, and that he was getting the jack.. It had also got him sacked from a job with a pharmaceutical company which he hadnt wanted. Take the murder of Ken Doig. He was never seen alive again. Lindsay asked his friend, Luke Hutchings, to hold Negre down so he could go through his pockets. He wanted to sleep with Lindsay. In the first high-profile murder case involving a They quickly organised banners and rallied outside the attorney-generals office. His body was found a week later, and the details that came out in the autopsy were beyond disturbing. Shannon escaped from the childrens home and lived with the paedophile until he was tossed on the street: the novelty wore off for him. And my successes in all those years were generally in areas around the beats. People killed themselves.. They then callously abandoned him to the elements, as the judge would later say. His housemate, Brigette Mildwaters, told him to let Negre go. I was a cleaner and a supervisor. It can also be available for the police to check if it helps with their investigation. This day shed left parliament and was heading home when Williams rang. WebKelvin was held captive for approximately five weeks and a post-mortem examination revealed that he had died of massive blood loss from an anal injury, likely caused by the So when he heard about the murder at a well-known beat, he got straight on to a police inspector who hed had previous dealings with. I came around to discover I still had my wallet; that I had my shoelaces around my throat which had left a slight mark and I sort of staggered drunkenly back to the car.. I was surprised at what she said and suspected that she knew more than she was saying. This answered the question of how fibres from von Einem's carpet had got onto Kelvin's clothes. For his part, Shannon blames one particular former police officer for his claims not proceeding further, and says male prostitutes who witnessed or suffered crimes were too readily dismissed as unreliable witnesses. No mention of the homosexual motive was made when the three were convicted, either. It is most likely another sad, lonely death in the dark, but maybe, if you allow your mind to run a bit, you can see it entwined in a deep-black criminal conspiracy touching on those stories that many believe about who really run South Australia. WebThe Dallas County Medical Examiner & Coroner creates death records that can be used in criminal investigations, to resolve insurance claims, or to monitor Dallas public health. Beat is a peculiarly Australian usage for the places where men cruise for casual sex with other men. A witness, a security guard living in Margaret Street, had heard cries for help, car doors slamming, and a car with a noisy exhaust speeding away. Lewis tried to make contact with another witness to the same goings-on at Veale Gardens, Walter Handley. More interesting. She said that she had been told Richard Kelvin had been held in a unit and that Denis had cut Kelvins hair during that time. He could have killed me but didnt. This page was last edited on 1 April 2023, at 21:47. And somewhere in there, most of the people present heard Negre say, Ill pay you for sex, then.. Shame, South Australia, Shame.. His account of events didnt entirely gel with Robinsons but it was close enough. His arms are folded and a cigarette dangles from his lips. They were white-collar office workers. It was before lunch that I was told about it, recalls Lewis, and it made me sick and Im not often made sick because hed been afraid of that happening to him., I ask Lewis if he was alleging that Woodland had been killed to shut him up. Verco, 21, and Londema, 20, remained consistent in their story throughout the committal and trial for grievous bodily harm with intent. von Einem also allowed police to take hair and blood samples, as well as carpets and other materials for testing. The whole squad had been ordered to attend a farewell booze-up the previous night where hed endured a lot of bravado from his colleagues about their escapades with the queers down at the river. Frustrated by the deadlock, Utting wrote a letter to the inquiry head, Ted Mullighan, outlining the allegations that had been made about the prominent citizens. Now, the reason I said, according to Lewis was that I havent seen anything to substantiate that Robert Woodland even visited Peter Lewiss office, let alone what he said there. And not only did the police mostly turn a blind eye to it, but sometimes, it is believed, they were the perpetrators. He told me how a boy of my age could go to The Wall and make a lot of money and life would be fabulous and youd have sugar daddies and everything would fall into your lap.. However, another suspect emerged strongly: a doctor named Peter Millhouse, whom several witnesses claimed had seen with Neil on the weekend before his murder. In Dantes Inferno, he has the homosexuals endlessly walking Youre walking around looking; looking for the signs, the signal, for the pick-up you go to a beat and walk and look and cruise and walk and get back in the car. However, it turned out to be impossible to corroborate these allegations. Not playing with your dick or anything, but loitering around the toilet block in, to me, an uncomfortable sort of way., As a strapping young blond man, he found it easy to attract advances, and that was enough to find something in the statutes to charge his suitors with. Detective Jennifer ODonohue interviewed Verco first. Mark Langley (18, fourth picture) got into a fight with a friend after a party and decided to walk home alone, never to be seen again. Suddenly there was a person behind me and they sort of said, Do you give it or take it? he told the ABCs Simon Royal in 2005. More people suspected in the abduction and murder of Richard Kelvin Lindsays sister Ashleigh would recall someone making a comment about someone being gay. There were three major factors of von Einem's initial questioning that lead police to become increasingly suspicious that they had found their prime suspect: As von Einem went on holiday in the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom during August and September 1983, the case against him began to mount up. But he battled away for a decade. Like so much else, Woodlands death had been swallowed by the darkness. 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, although only one has ever been identified and taken to justice. About a month after Paul Walker was tragically killed in a fatal car crash, the Los Angeles coroner has released the actors complete autopsy report. Tall and thin, he was intensely shy, private and unable to swim. Lindsay stole a Subaru Liberty and robbed an On The Run convenience store. He turned out to be Dr George Duncan, an Australian academic who came to Adelaide to teach legal history and Roman law. Saint was the nine of spades. Several witnesses living near to the Kelvins' home heard cries for help, car doors slamming and a car with a noisy exhaust speeding away. Pitcher was in a coma for five days, during which time he almost died twice when the swelling from the broken bones in his head threatened to block his airways. On 1 November 2007, the ABC reported that after 24 years behind bars, von Einem was now eligible to apply for parole. Activist Ian Purcell stood in front of a banner proclaiming Gay Bashing isnt self-de-fence, as he addressed the crowd: Who would have believed that South Australia which proudly led the world in gay law reform in the 1970s would, in 1992, see a jury set free two men who brutally bashed a gay man with a three-foot metal bar? The gay men victim and witnesses were all questioned at length about what it was they were doing in Veale Gardens and about such germane matters as where they would have had sex had they met the right man. Kelvin was 15 years old at the time of his death. Since homosexuality has not officially been considered a mental illness since 1973 the defence has morphed into a more straightforward matter of he came on to me and I flipped out. It became widely believed that a close-knit group of prominent Adelaideans The Family was behind it. Autopsy Reports Thats pretty harsh., It wasnt they. The file got sent to storage. James has only ever given one public interview about the night that was going to change everything for him and for all gay men in the state. Days later, Masterson confessed to Houston police that hed killed Honeycutt by strangling him in a sleeper hold. But the story that became public was this: that Robert Woodland, along with two others, alleged that while underage they performed sexual acts for two MPs (one of whom was still serving in 2002), a judge and a prominent policeman. Given these facts, on 25 May 1984, Magistrate Nick Manos ordered von Einem to stand trial for the murder of Kelvin. 15 Details from the In Cold Blood Killers Case Files So the backlash began. She decided to call him to find out where hed got to. On 11 May 1990, Magistrate Gurry ordered von Einem to stand trial for the two murders of Barnes and Langley. The worst was in June 1984. Richard says its not surprising that so many have weighed in. The verdict prompted legal academic Alan Berman to start a petition to change the laws in Queensland. Australian Murder of Richard Kelvin and a Secret Group Known as Lindsay told Negre he was cool to stay the night. Mr. Justice White then gave his summation of the trial, and in the early afternoon of 5 November 1984, the jury retired to consider their verdict. But what those figures dont reveal are the broken ribs and ruptured spleens that were nurtured and unheeded by a society that was looking the other way. Milton Keynes: Fatal police shooting 'necessary', watchdog finds Also, most of the men performing these acts were shut tight in the closet. And its needed. Another of Lewiss informants, Craig Ratcliff, leaked the story of the link between the two deaths to the media and the frenzy was on. I had to remain standing, I wasnt offered a chair. Once they won that battle, they switched to campaigning for a royal commission into child abuse. Nevertheless, on the way home they thought it would be a good idea to punch back a few more cones, so they pulled into this little track in the South Parklands, completely unaware, he said, that theyd just driven into Adelaides most thumping beat. I dont think he knew. From day one, police said publicly that robbery was the motive. Then slowly towards the Valiant, pulling in behind. WebDocumentary Biography. The Saint family didnt hear from police again until recently when a detective from the new cold-case unit rang her brother asking to use Johns image on a deck of playing cards that was to be distributed to prisons. Kevin Williamson, not long out of the army, had a few beers at the Torrens Drill Hall on the parade grounds below Government House, before heading to his car about 10.45pm on May 10, 1972. Hes dead, thank Christ. The police were surprisingly quick to publicly dismiss the paedophilia allegations, especially considering that they hadnt even seen the information that Lewis and his team had gathered. But after fabrics and hairs found in Richards clothes matched with some found at Von Eimens house, he changed his story and said that the day he went missing hed met the teenager on the street and that hed gone willingly to his house, where they had talked for about two hours before he dropped him close to a hospital with money for a taxi. WebRichard Dallas Kelvin Age: 15 Date of abduction: June 5, 1983 Date of death: July 10, 1983 Date of body dump: July 10 or 11, 1983 Date body found: July 24 1983 Location of body: In His skeletal remains were found 10 months later in Middle Beach, by a farmer who was doing a prescribed burn in his land. My head was twisted around and I was being forced to the ground in the same movement. Indeed Shannon recalled a time in the late-80s when he was hanging around Veale Gardens: By six oclock in the morning youd start to get what we called the morning shift and all of these guys would come through who had told their wives, Im just ducking out to get the paper and milk.. But in a small-town coincidence, when OShea left more than an hour later, he had pulled up next to them at traffic lights, still in the city. The prosecution was led by Brian Martin QC (later the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory), with assistance from Paul Rofe QC (who went on to be Director of the Department of Public Prosecutions). It was a talking point, a laughing point, all those things rolled into one., So when they asked John why he hadnt come out to them earlier, hed said, Well everybody carried on so much about Bobby, I couldnt do that to Mum and Dad. Three suspects were on the run and so police were trying to generate leads through the media to hunt them down, but there was never any mention of the gay angle. They used to talk about it in the vice squad every bloody day of the week, says OShea. WebRichard Kelvin, aged 15 years, was abducted at about 6.15 p.m. on Sunday 5 June 1983 from a laneway off Ward Street, North Adelaide. Dallas County Medical Examiner & Coroner John hadnt come out to his siblings until he was in his 30s. On 11 August 2007, The Australian reported that detectives were calling for information to establish the identity of a young man seen in the Seven Network's news archive, showing police searching a storm water drain in the days after the Beaumont Children's disappearance. At 10.30pm of April 16, 1991, he stumbled across South Terrace and collapsed into bushes where he was found, covered in blood, by a passer-by. They grabbed him. She knew that several people had visited the unit whilst Kelvin was there. Samuels was taken to Piedmont Hospital, police said. He was in G Block of Yatala Prison for decades but was transferred to Port Augusta Prison in the north of the state in 2007. There was no struggle, nothing. Autopsies | Georgia Bureau of Investigation Division of Forensic Meanwhile, the Mullighan inquiry into the sexual abuse of children in state care found that it was very common for state wards to run away and head to the beat at Veale Gardens to make money, much as Brad Shannon had done. It was around 11pm on March 31, 2011, that Andrew Negres girlfriend left a southern AdelaIde pub in a huff. We thought, Fuckin hell this is gunna be messy. And it was., OShea says a superintendent called them all in. By this time, I had my act sorted out, got a job and an apartment. Defence lawyer Sam Abbott said he expected the Director of Public Prosecutions to drop the most serious charge of producing the material and, if not, he would argue there was no case to answer. So I think I asked one of them to speak or to turn around or something, and then he said to the police officer, Is that all sir? and I thought, Hang on. Forensic pathologists were called to testify about the injuries to Kelvin's head and anus, and the likely cause of his death, and pharmacists gave evidence of the excessive amount of different hypnotic drugs which von Einem had been prescribed (5872 tablets and capsules of six different brands of drugs between 15 December 1978 and 10 August 1983), and showed that von Einem had often had prescriptions for drugs issued from three different chemists on the same day or during the same weeks. The coppers will be here shortly. And I said, But Im not doing nothing wrong. And he said. Professor Tomsen found the victims of gay murders were considerably older than the average victim of violent crime, while the perpetrators tended to be younger than the standard killer. He got some traction but then the Newman Government was elected and plans to change the law were scrapped. His head was bloodied, his clothes dishevelled. Bevan Spencer Von Einem - Tortured 15-year-old boy to death I say now to the House that there is a stench of the most heinous kind arising from these crimes and associated activities which comes right into this place and into the front bench.. The disappearance of Steve Williams remains a mystery, as does the bashing death of Robert Woodland in Veale Gardens. He kept looking at me with a smiling face, Blaxland would recall. Not only had Alan died only one or two days before his boy was found, meaning hed been held for at least 5 days being tortured and beaten, but the cause of death was massive blood loss from an anal injury, probably from the insertion of a large object. Even some of the out-and-proud gay community looked down on what those men did in the darkness. Mick OShea arrived at the vice squad the next morning unaware that his career had already been thrust onto a new trajectory. An autopsy usually includes the examination of internal organs. in the events that would follow. Shannon said it was a habit he got into on the Wall. James has suggested elsewhere that this fear that the police were trying to discredit him by having him identify an innocent officer made him clam up. This is something I was told repeatedly. And so Robinson, with his cropped hair and short moustache, cruises back past the Mercedes. Its focus is on investigation, crime solving and the victims. He drives past, does a U-turn, drives past again. Pins in his leg. It is more attractive to them. The man bore a striking resemblance to a youthful von Einem. But gay men get bashed at beats all the time, I point out. With all the fibres being accounted for with his albi, von Einem concluded his statement by saying that Kelvin stayed for two hours before von Einem dropped him off in the Adelaide CBD near the Royal Adelaide Hospital and gave Kelvin $20 to catch a taxi home. What else was there to ask the Speaker and his staff about? Von Einem also allowed police to take hair and blood samples, as well as carpets and other materials for testing. He came out of the car and then it just got out of hand and, er, this fellow fell down and we panicked and took off.. They gave him a towel and offered to take him to hospital, but he declined. Why would they obscure the fact this was almost certainly a hate crime? Autopsy The defence then called various witnesses in an attempt to corroborate von Einem's story. Hairs from von Einem were found on and inside Kelvin's clothing and of 925 fibre samples found on Kelvin's clothing, 250 came from von Einem's home environment, with just seven from Kelvin's home. But he claims his attempts were hamstrung by police seeming to somehow know of their planned meetings in advance and being there waiting. And thats how it went when Michael Lindsay, his two sisters, his de facto and a couple of mates came through the doors of the Hallett Cove Tavern around midnight. R v VON EINEM 1984 - Justice White's Statement Concerning She knew Williams had a lot of dangerous enemies, any one of whom could have taken him out, totally unrelated to her business. We took our complaints to Minister [John] Klunder and said, This has got to stop or sooner or later somebodys going to get murdered.. A segment of his skull floated loose in his cranium. Despite the intricate details of von Einem's alibi and his version of events, his alibi had two huge problemsit completely contradicted his initial statement of his whereabouts on 5 June 1983, where he said he was in bed with the flu. There was a party going on. According to Lewis and his team, two female social workers had, independently, already come forward claiming knowledge of the same allegation against the same people. I wasnt an alcoholic but I was a binge drinker, so for the next 14 years, either on alcohol, dope or speed, I would do the beats.. Most nights he wont pick up. When he refocussed, unsure if hed slept, he noticed a car parked close behind. Autopsy History | The Complete History of the Autopsy It was a thing. They denied having heard anything about the 1991 murder of another gay man, David Saint, in the South Parklands. He said there were people who didnt want him to be able to talk about what, he wanted to tell me. The risks might be huge, but so is the allure. Faced with irrefutable evidence from prosecutors that Kelvin had been in his company, von Einem suddenly changed his story to answer that evidence and admitted that he had been in contact with Kelvin on the night of 5 June 1983. von Einem said that he was driving along O'Connell Street in North Adelaide looking for a parking spot in order to buy some fish and chips for dinner. The Family Murders *Warning: graphic content and | Amateur His leg was broken, as were some ribs. Rutkin asked his inspector friend why. This answered the question of how fibres from von Einem's carpet got onto Kelvin's clothes. Within a week, police had declared robbery as the motive. In 1983, I was placed in a foster home by my parents. I said to them on a number of occasions, Youll drown one one day. In their summation, the prosecution stated that the evidence they presented proved that von Einem's story was full of lies and inconsistencies, and that he did murder (with the help of others) Kelvin. What have we done? Police searched his house and took fibres which matched fibres taken from Kelvins clothing. Are you all right?. Autopsy Report I cant let him go, Lindsay replied. The 25-year-old comes here a lot. Another is a prominent businessman in South Australia and a third one is a former male sex worker. "Mr B" also gave startling allegations of von Einem being involved in the unexplained Beaumont children disappearance in 1966, as well as the disappearance of two girls at the Adelaide Oval in 1973. And put a small, a small axe through the back of his head.. So the investigation into Duncans death came up with nothing. It would appear that robbery was part of the picture because his bag and wallet were missing, but the fact that his assailant had wanted to take him home would indicate that he was targeted as a gay man. It was a matter of national security. She knew she was doing it, the relative said, drunk, on the live stream. Disturbing Details Found In Karen Carpenter's Autopsy Report The light went green and he sped off to Holden Hill police station. In an extraordinary twist, a close relative appeared on Big Brother a few years later and told her fellow house-mates what the girl had done. In 2009, he killed his next boyfriend, Luke Noonan, 29, in similar circumstances. Barnes' fatal injuries mirrored those of Kelvin's closely. Lost the will to fight it. Three men left a pub in Maryborough about 9pm on July 3, 2008 to smoke pot in the grounds of nearby St Marys. HIs cause of death was the same as Alan and Neils and his blood also had traces of a sedative. Forensics also determined that Kelvin was murdered between 8 July and 10 July 1983 and was dumped at the airstrip no later than the 10th.