Mark had likely hitched a ride with someone, and his friends trusted that he would make it home. While charges would later be filed against several police officers, they were ultimately acquitted; and it has been widely accepted in the decades since that local law enforcement engaged in a systematic cover-up. Alan Arthur Barnes, aged 16, murdered in 1979. He likely did this to hide it from his parents, in case they made it home before he did. The "Family Murders" *Warning: graphic content and mentions of sexual abuse ahead. On this night, in particular, that included these three men. Many of these people were directly involved in the abductions and rape of victims who survived. Meanwhile, as police struggled to answer these basic questions, the trial against Dr. Peter Millhouse remained a thing of the past. That Monday - August 27th, 1979 - Neil Muir was seen alive for the last time. The jury visits spot where Richard Kelvin's body was found, northeast of Adelaide. That was when similar stories of young men being drugged and sexually assaulted began to make waves throughout Australia; young men that had been drugged with similar substances. Police believe this murder is associated with other high profile murders commonly referred to in the media as the 'Family Murders'. We know, from the 2014-2017 Royal Commission, that Debi Marshall's count of 150 disappeared boys in Adelaide is miniscule compared to the number tens of thousands of victims who stepped forward once they were invited by the RC. Hence, the odd scar that seemed to serve no other purpose. If you have information about the case then contact us through our contact page. 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. Most were later described as being worthless, but a few piqued the interest of Investigator O'Brien. However, the medical examiners in Adelaide concluded definitively that Alan had died several hours before this happened. Add onto that abductions, drug-lacing, mutilations, victims held in captivity for weeks, and death by sado-masochism. [4][5] In 1989, von Einem was charged with the murders of two other victims, Barnes and Langley, but the prosecution entered a nolle prosequi (voluntarily discontinue criminal charges) during the trial when crucial similar fact evidence was deemed inadmissible by the presiding judge. After all, three of the victims (Alan Barnes, Neil Muir, and Mark Langley) had all died of similar injuries, and at least three (Alan Barnes, Mark Langley, and now Richard Kelvin) had all gone missing on Sundays. Richard Kelvin's disappearance was a slightly higher profile case than the others I've covered so far - due to him being the son of the region's top newscaster - but even then, the investigation was not without fault. There, George was plied with beers and other alcoholic beverages while the older women flirted with him. However, that was very circumstantial evidence at best, and anything but definitive. The police came to this conclusion due to the status of his remains, which weren't nearly as decomposed as they should have been; by the time he was discovered at the end of July, he had been dead for no more than a week or two, despite having gone missing at the beginning of June. The last victim was the son of our local television newsreader. Bob O'Brien was an investigator for Major Crimes, who had just started working with the unit the year prior (1982). Unfortunately, by the time they returned, Mark was nowhere to be found. [8] Little more could be determined as the remains had been accidentally burnt by the farmer while clearing his property of scrub.[11][19]. Among those voices, he described, was a higher-pitched voice, which sounded almost feminine. 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 . 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. In particular, they were members of the Vice Squad, who typically crackdown on "moral" crimes such as gambling, narcotics, pornography, and illegal substances. 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 Australia, in the 1970s and 1980s. The head was tied to the torso with rope passed through the mouth and out through the neck. Despite there being an overwhelming lack of physical evidence, police decided to pursue charges against Dr. Millhouse anyways, using the rope and trash bags recovered from his home as their primary building block. The older driver not only offered to give George a ride but offered to show him a good time with some ladies he knew. The area around the scar had even been shaved away, implying that this a methodical decision by someone with surgical experience perhaps someone trying to rectify a mistake.
Lock up your sons in the world's murder capital When a warrant was eventually served on Dr. Millhouse's cottage in northern Adelaide, police found the same type of trash bags and rope that had been found with Neil Muir's remains. 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. Eventually, Peter returned home with his backpack, stowing it in his family's garage while his parents were at work. 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. What the two got up to that evening is anyone's guess, but rumors and theories have propagated this story in the decades since. Police got the number one offender. 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. In June of 1983, Richard Kelvin was approaching sixteen years of age. In Adelaides gay community in the 1970s and 1980s, young men were coveted for sex. It wasn't until Monday morning that Alan's parents decided to contact the police, having not seen him for several days. Now twenty-five years old, Neil had spent the better part of the last few years struggling with addictions and vices that left him moving from place-to-place pretty regularly. They drove to War Memorial Drive (150m east of the Adelaide Rowing Club ) when Mark had a minor argument with the other male so got out and left. Its always easier to visualise events when you have maps. 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 He was seventeen years old, with a youthful, handsome appearance, and a carefree, fun-loving attitude. Alan's body had fallen to the dirt below, twisting and contorting in such a way that - should he have been alive - would have surely resulted in death or serious injury.
The Family Murders - Wikipedia Ian and Paula, Mark's friends, drove away but would return just minutes later, cooler heads having prevailed. On Saturday, June 16th, 1979, Alan spent the night at a friend's house. A day or two prior, at least. Of the five men that fell prey to this violent killer, at least two had been drugged with Mandrax, as had George. Neil Fredrick Muir, aged 25,[12][13] murdered two months after Barnes in August 1979.
The Family Murders: 'Dissected' Kindle Edition - Amazon.com.au The periphery of The Family is a grey area. [4][10], Some authorities do not recognise the term "The Family", stating that "[t]hey should not be given any title that infers legitimacy. On July 24th, 1983, a family was out looking for moss rocks in the vast reaches of the Mount Crawford Forest, about 35 kilometers northeast of Adelaide. After a bit, Rob decided to walk home, leaving the two boys at the park; assured that it was just down the street from their house and it was still early in the day. Police thought that these gruesome and violent actions had been part of an effort to easily transport Neil's remains out to sea, and dispose of them in a way that they'd degrade before being identified. Over the next few days, it became apparent that Alan Barnes was not returning home.
The Family Murders (Part One: The Murders) - Spreaker 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. 's had discovered the chemical compound chloral hydrate in the system of Alan Barnes, who also had an above-average level of alcohol in his system: roughly four times the legal limit, which was unusually high for a teenager. 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. They wanted to continue eliminating suspects that personally knew Alan ahead of time, but promised to check out von Einem in the future.
The Family Murders - 5 Teen Boys Raped, Tortured, And Killed Needless to say, over the past few months, this investigation had become a new beast entirely. von Einem is serving life imprisonment.
Father of boat crash victim Mallory Beach snubs Alex Murdaugh's 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. They now had five bodies - five victims - and five families pushing for answers. 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. 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 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. Murdered victims were kept in captivity by the Family for up to five weeks. The two were hiking through the area near the South Para Reservoir when they noticed something on the ground. George, an impressionable young man, was enticed by the offer and accepted. 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. Some of his strategies were to unscrew his car muffler or pull out his choke and ask an unsuspecting youth to help him with car trouble. In 2014 when Trevor passed away, his diaries were recovered. Millhouse was charged and went to trial but was acquitted. 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. This group was believed to be involved in the kidnapping and sexual abuse of approximately 150 teenage boys and young men, as well as the torture and murder of 5 young men aged between 14 and 25, in the city of Adelaide, South Australia, in the 1970s and 1980s. According to some witnesses in the area, screams had been heard at around the time that Richard had disappeared, some time between 5:30 and 6:30 PM that Sunday.
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