Kelvin was murdered by von Einem on or around 10 July 1983 in Adelaide, South Australia after having been abducted, held captive, sexually abused, drugged and tortured for five weeks. Ken Doig. SBS acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country and their connections and continuous care for the skies, lands and waterways throughout Australia. Nothing about the fact that that area of the South Parklands was a well-known beat or that David Saint was in fact homosexual. With Mandrax being regulated by the Central Board of Health in 1978 stocks for it in Australia had declined somewhat by 1983 and police began sifting through prescriptions for that drug in particular. 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. A forensic pathologist (currently Dr. Michael Hunter) analyzes the official autopsy reports of various celebrities to determine their cause of death. Despite the efforts of police and the investigation passing on to the Major Crimes unit, the teenager remained missing until July 24, when his body was found in Mount Crawford Forest. A jury of 12 people (seven women and five men) was selected and agreed upon by the prosecution and defence. His body had been washed prior to being re-dressed and was found placed in the fetal position, with his legs bent towards his chest and his head forwards and his arms wrapped around his legs. Robinson checks the rearview mirror to make sure he isnt being followed. 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. Barnes's fatal injuries mirrored those of Kelvin closely. I remembered it was an automatic and it was a six-cylinder and I remembered the first three letters of the number plate.. Its a meeting place for men who want to meet other men. OShea didnt report seeing them in the city which would have contradicted their version of events. Finally, to answer evidence about how fibres from von Einem's cardigan got onto Kelvin, von Einem stated that he put his arm around Kelvin and hugged him because Kelvin was upset about how his peers had been bullying him at school. Why? With Iain Glen, Lucy Drive, Antti Hakala, Enrico Lange. Twenty-year-old Peter Stephens had Doig on the ground with his hands behind his head. 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. Which might not seem surprising to the lay person, given that his defence was that he was not provoked into murder because he said he didnt commit murder. 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. I had to remain standing, I wasnt offered a chair. I never saw any stat dec by him. Little evidence was presented for the murder of Langley, as prosecutors felt if they could prove that von Einem had murdered Barnes, then it would naturally follow that he had murdered Langley, as well. He again claimed that on 5 June he had picked up Kelvin in North Adelaide, had driven him to his home, and later had dropped him off in the Adelaide CBD. self-control and do what the accused in fact did?, He further explained that: Losing self-control means what it says; it must be more than mere anger or panic. I was made to feel like an outcast. I remember a guy in my footy team, Gavin, boasting about doing it. The only lead the cops had was a sighting of three men in a white van whod been hanging around. Mick OShea felt his career was ruined by the Duncan drowning. von Einem', a name familiar to police as he had been questioned previously over the deaths of three young men and the alleged sexual assault of another. Read more about this topic: Bevan Spencer Von Einem, Criminal History, A joke, even if it be a lame one, is nowhere so keenly relished or quickly applauded as in a murder trial.Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (18351910), We are taking the Nautilus down for the last time.Earl Felton, and Richard Fleischer. Kelvin was 15 years old at the time of his death. Kelvin was murdered by von Einem on or around 10 July 1983 in Adelaide, South Australia after having been abducted, held captive, sexually abused, drugged and tortured for five weeks. Lewis told me that the perpetrators had infiltrated the police service and its administration and evidence was then either corrupted or destroyed. It was Pete. Proceedings began on 19 June 1990 before Justice Kevin Duggan, and six months later on 17 December 1990, Justice Duggan released his findings. Mick OShea recalls being there at the time trying to get a pinch. This gay-panic issue was given a kickalong by an incident in a Queensland churchyard. No mention of the homosexual motive was made when the three were convicted, either. She was heard yelling and swearing at Negre, wondering why hed endanger their relationship to hang out with people he didnt even know. I wondered why and where these poofters would gather in order to let themselves be bashed by little guys. In his first statement to police, he said he was feeling dizzy as he drove along so he pulled into Veale Gardens to see what was happening down there and also to watch the Festival of Arts laser show. "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. [6], On 4 February 2007, the ABC reported that von Einem had been charged over commercial dealings during his incarceration, including selling hand-painted greeting cards. Asked if his friend Londema had punched the victim, Verco replied that he didnt know. 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. I phone the number attached and the voice confirms his identity. 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. That was the actual wording of the charge in those days, was it? I ask. I couldnt get a member of the South Australian police force to sit down and talk to me about any of these murders, but was instead asked to put questions in writing to the media depart- ment. One of them, Richard Meerdink, hung back because he was on parole. He says that the whole drama cost him his job. But it didnt take long to figure out that it wasnt about that. The driver has got out and is now leaning on the boot, his blond mullet illuminated in the Toranas headlights. Von Einem took James to hospital where the alarm was raised. No, but like I said, its just its just not on what he did. 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. Past the toilet block. A primary objective is to try to reconstruct the circumstances and events 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 This page was last edited on 1 April 2023, at 21:47. In cars? 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. He claimed that he and Von Eimen used to pick male hitchhikers, drugged them and sexually abused them overnight, although he denied taking part in any murders. All Australian police forces now have lesbian-and-gay liaison officers to bridge the gaping chasm that has historically existed and still exists between the two sides. I was a bit wary because when I first went up there to identify them they told me [the suspects] were police officers, Williamson recalls. Forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd uses He greets me jovially but his charity-fundraiser demeanour hardens when I explain why Im there. Von Eimen was charged with Richards murder and found guilty in 1984. WIthin five weeks of the discovery of Moores body, Lewiss failure to hand over the documents and a video tape (which hed never claimed to possess) to police led to him being forced to resign as Speaker. The autopsy revealed that Kelvin had most certainly died from massive blood loss from an anal injury, likely caused by the insertion of a blunt object, such as a beer bottle, and he suffered bruising and injuries to his head and back, which were likely to have been caused by blows. Richard Kelvin, 15, (above with his father, former Channel 9 Adelaide newsreader Rob Kelvin) was abducted and murdered in 1983. You have to keep your wits about you. He said Hutchings did it. Theres an insecure and rather clumsy anxiety about masculinity among many young men in our society and I think a simple way to achieve some sort of masculine status and some sort of peer-group respect for themselves is to actually carry out gay bashings., The attacks were marked by their frenzied nature and while murder was usually not the intention, there was usually a reckless indifference to the outcome, Tomsen says, noting that the attackers were often surprised when police took the cases seriously. She had no solid material or food in her stomach; only a dark green material that had "the consistency of dried leaves." It became widely believed that a close-knit group of prominent Adelaideans The Family was behind it. The gay community organised a candlelight vigil in the park next to the Japanese gardens. On 1 November 2007, the ABC reported that after 24 years behind bars, von Einem was now eligible to apply for parole. Part of the thrill of it all is straight boys experimenting, says our Adelaide identity. There was nothing at the time to link him to his murder, but he was kept in the radar. Bit of all right. Youd be approached or thered be a bloke playing with his tool or something going on, he recalls. They took me into a room, he told the ABCs Simon Royal. The prosecution, on the advice of the Attorney-General, then entered a nolle prosequi for the Barnes murder charge. Lost the will to fight it. 9 days later, his mutilated body appeared in the Adelaide Foothills. Justice Duggan did rule that "Mr B"'s evidence could be heard, but that the defence would be allowed to question the evidence as it was being given. The prosecuting authorities, however, declined to act. It was like pulling up bloody weeds. There was no inquest. Jim Blaxland, 53, (not his real name), a fundraising manager for a prominent charity, finished the Crossquiz in The Advertiser before he got into his British red Mercedes around midnight to go and house-sit for a friend. It contains several medical reports in lieu of the examination they took from the deceased. The Texas Public Information Act deems autopsies public information. Von Einem stated he thought Kelvin had bisexual tendencies and said that the two of them then had a conversation about problems Kelvin had been having at school, and Kelvin willingly got into the car and they drove to von Einem's home. Why would they obscure the fact this was almost certainly a hate crime? By the time it was passed, it was considerably watered down, but over the next few years South Australia became the first state in Australia to decriminalise homosexuality. All 52 cards featured the faces of unsolved-murder victims. The evidence presented was that they went to the park just to rob someone. Von Einem also allowed police to take hair and blood samples, as well as carpets and other materials for testing. Now, there is only one vehicle on the strip. Another of those to walk into the Speakers office with stories of abuse was former male prostitute, Brad Shannon the beat regular mentioned earlier who remains happy to talk openly about what happened to him. And the murders and bashings werent confined to NSW. A very broad range of occupations.. *Warning: graphic content and mentions of sexual abuse ahead. She declined. His hatred of the bosses grew as he rose, very slowly, to be a detective in the CIB before he quit in 1981. He wanted to sleep with Lindsay. Kelvin's parents, girlfriend and best friend were called to testify that Kelvin was an average 15-year-old who would not willingly get into a car with a stranger, was heterosexual with no homosexual or bisexual tendencies, and that he had been wearing the dog collar as a joke. Four days after the body was discovered, von Einem was questioned about the murder of Kelvin by police. This answered the question of how fibres from von Einem's carpet got onto Kelvin's clothes. His blood showed a combination of several drugs and sedatives. He was doing his job. Police previously did see this harp in his room when they seized the drugs. His housemate, Brigette Mildwaters, told him to let Negre go. People killed themselves.. The inquest failed to reach a conclusion as to who killed Duncan, though the three officers were pushed out of the force. Lindsay showed her around his house. This was a time when, according to Ian Purcell, two men living in the same house could be convicted on the basis of an un slept-in bed and an open jar of Vaseline. Penley said the most common assaults were well-planned, with gangs jumping out of cars and dragging their victims off to be kicked, bashed and left bleeding in the darkness. Its not that James denied ever using beats. 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. This came across as a strange thing for an innocent person to say. He turned out to be Dr George Duncan, an Australian academic who came to Adelaide to teach legal history and Roman law. Further down the river, 27-year-old Roger James was walking home from dinner with a friend. Not at all camp, the 41-year-old had spent a lot of his working life in the freezer of a chicken processor. And so I decided to focus on the city of churches and bodies in barrels a socially progressive city with a reputation for twisted darkness where even while they were leading the way in gay law reform, men were being viciously bashed behind the bushes. There was also that person who had tipped off police about Von Eimen initially. He was sitting on his car playing with his dick, having a tug, and they reckoned they were just there to go to the toilet, he says. in the events that would follow. It completely contradicted his initial statement of his whereabouts on 5 June 1983, when he said he had been in bed with the flu. Three men left a pub in Maryborough about 9pm on July 3, 2008 to smoke pot in the grounds of nearby St Marys. Immediately following the David Saint murder, in reading the media reports from police it became obvious to us that they were treating it as a burglary gone wrong. But word had got out that police were suspects. Is this some sort of trap? Thats the day I lost all faith in the legal system, our whole system of government. The witnesses included colleagues and friends who testified to him being unwell and at home during the first week of Kelvin's captivity. Dr. Millhouses refusal to cooperate with police and circumstantial evidence found at his home (like trash bags and rope that matched the one found with the body) led him to be arrested and charged with Neils murder. 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. It was around 11pm on March 31, 2011, that Andrew Negres girlfriend left a southern AdelaIde pub in a huff. Youve got no say., Blaxland heard someone walk to his car and that was the last thing hed remember until a voice: Try and hold on. 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. Von Einem still denied ever coming into contact with Kelvin. I just wanted to be liked and accepted. Shame, South Australia, Shame.. Soon after Handleys death, Utting received a phone call from another of her contacts, the former local chapter president of the Gypsy Jokers, Steve Williams. Take the murder of Ken Doig. His skeletal remains were found 10 months later in Middle Beach, by a farmer who was doing a prescribed burn in his land. The 43-year olds boyfriend and estranged husband went back and forth over who was to blame for Kellys death, which was initially reported to be the result of an 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. Von Einem was the leading suspect in the unsolved murders of four other young men between 1979 and 1982, and police continued to pursue leads on those cases in the years after his murder conviction. 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 von Einem. With yellow hair and numerous facial piercings, he was hard to miss. The prosecution decided after Justice Duggan's findings two days earlier to have von Einem tried separately for the murders of Barnes and Langley. And somewhere in there, most of the people present heard Negre say, Ill pay you for sex, then.. To detect them and deal with them you had to sort of operate partially covertly, which sort of put you in the realms of being a queer yourself. She knew Williams had a lot of dangerous enemies, any one of whom could have taken him out, totally unrelated to her business. McGowan did suggest that Williamson changing his story might tend to substantiate charges being preferred, and I submit this report for directions. Anyone can request an autopsy report. Terrified, Mildwaters took refuge in a nearby bedroom. Police didnt keep stats and even if they did, they would have been worthless because gay people didnt go to the police. James crawled to a road where he waved down a passing car, driven by a man called Bevan Von Einem, who would later go on to notoriety as a convicted child murderer and suspected serial killer. January 3, 2014. You get a lot of married men.. The acquittal came as a shock to the gay community. The nerves down the side of his face were frozen. Only one man, however, was convicted for just one of the murders. Hed recently split from his wife and had custody of the three kids. Both her stomach and bowel were swollen. But then a head pops up in the back seat. Lewis tried to make contact with another witness to the same goings-on at Veale Gardens, Walter Handley. You also know youre jumping into the car with complete strangers who could be genuine clients or they could be axe murderers. However, the police then found the bottle of Noctec and von Einem immediately became nervous and told police that he "rarely used those drugs". He admitted hitting Blaxland a couple of times. Mate its unreal, he said with casual bravado. He initially claimed that he had not seen Kelvin and had no knowledge of his whereabouts and stated that on the night of abduction he had been in bed with the flu and was off work for the next week. 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. Analysis of Kelvin's bloodstream revealed traces of alcohol and five hypnotic drugs, Mandrax, Noctec, Amytal, Valium and Rohypnol. In 2009, he killed his next boyfriend, Luke Noonan, 29, in similar circumstances. The agitation continued, so two Scotland Yard detectives were called in for an independent inquiry.
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