In Victoria, sodomy carried the death penalty until 1949. Von Einem first came to attention on the night of 10 May 1972 when two gay men were thrown into the River Torrens by a group of men believed to be police officers. The murders focused attention on the sort of things that went bump and grind in the night, and threw up rumours about a cadre of paedophiles in high places. And then one day while opening her front door, Utting was attacked. And it got him an occasional television star boyfriend, cabaret singer Tony Monopoly, with whom he lived. He wanted to encourage Handley to come forward and give a statement. The High Court ordered a retrial. It was a big buzz around the place. It took a couple of days to even identify the victim. One of them, Richard Meerdink, hung back because he was on parole. 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.. And well never know how much of a thing. It was also announced that von Einem had been excused from attending his court hearings so that he could avoid an "unpleasant" three-hour drive with other inmates.[12][13]. I tried not to go there, but when you were desperate and hungry and tired, I went back there and hoped it would not be me chosen that night for them to have their way. So they set up a similar white van at the beat and asked people to come forward with information, no questions asked. That was the actual wording of the charge in those days, was it? I ask. Three months later, however, Woodlands death would become a whole lot more. Von Einem took James to hospital where the alarm was raised. I used to drink with them every bloody night at the Crown and Sceptre, he says, and eventually one night I said to em, When are you actually going to formally interview me about this? They said, Were not. Lindsays de facto Mel Glover, the mother of his son, wasnt impressed. She was heard yelling and swearing at Negre, wondering why hed endanger their relationship to hang out with people he didnt even know. After being abused by my stepparents, I ran away and lived on the streets of Adelaide and I fell into the wrong crowd and did not know any better. I didnt know what it was at the time. Once they won that battle, they switched to campaigning for a royal commission into child abuse. Uniformed constable Rebecca Kuss arrived and saw a man sitting in the door well of the red Mercedes with his feet on the road. If he made one, it was gobbled up by the legal system and buried under suppression orders. WebThe autopsy is designed to determine the cause of death, properly document findings, and collect evidence. It would become central to an exquisitely Adelaide-style front-page drama, featuring allegations of paedophilia in high places, a string of deaths, claims of a cover-up, a political resignation and, of course, the Parklands that ring of darkness that besieges the city each night. For their part, the police saw the homosexual community as the criminals - because they were. Its a meeting place for men who want to meet other men. It can also be available for the police to check if it helps with their investigation. Barnes's fatal injuries mirrored those of Kelvin closely. An inquest was called. The good Samaritans dropped Coonie off, but were sufficiently worried to visit later the same day. A study in Melbourne showed that seven out of 10 LGBTQI people still dont report assaults and harassment. One time, four people followed his Torana out of here. Four days after Richard Kelvin's body was discovered, von Einem was questioned by the police about the murder. There were three major factors in von Einem's initial questioning that led police to become increasingly suspicious that they had found their prime suspect: As von Einem went on holiday to the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom during August and September 1983, the case against him began to mount up. The reward for any information leading to an arrest for the murders was increased to $250,000, and this was later increased to $500,000 in September 1989 and then to $1,000,000 in March 2008. The family closed ranks. 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. The only lead the cops had was a sighting of three men in a white van whod been hanging around. You have to keep your wits about you. It brought to mind something that a PhD student, Thomas Poberezny-Lynch, had said about how the media and courts often dealt with these crimes. Deep down, I felt sorry for these guys and hated being a part of this. Youve had too much to say already. In other words, We dont want you to tell us the story., Detective Chief Superintendent Bob McGowan from Scotland Yard wrote in his report only tabled in parliament in 2002 after successive governments had refused to release it that Michael Kenneth Clayton, Francis John Cawley and Brian Edwin Hudson took part, possibly with others, in throwing Duncan, James and [Witness A] into the water but despite intensive inquiries, no further witness has been found who can assist in providing further evidence against them there was no real intention of causing anyones death this was merely a high-spirited frolic which went wrong.. He jammed his foot hard onto the brake as they pushed him into the city intersection. Further down the river, 27-year-old Roger James was walking home from dinner with a friend. Then Handley left a message on Lewiss mobile asking if Lewis could get him a handgun for protection. It was only 16 months after Dad died.. 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. He wished he had bolted after he called the ambulance. South Australia and Queensland remain the only states where the gay panic defence can still be used. Other forensic scientists were called to testify about the hair and fibre samples collected that were linked to von Einem himself and his home. Their attitude wasnt a problem. More red lights, more screeching as they chased him until he got to his sisters place and ran inside. Once there, the street kids bashed and robbed them. Finally, to answer evidence about how fibres from von Einem's cardigan had got onto Kelvin, von Einem stated that he had put his arm around Kelvin and hugged him because Kelvin was upset about how his peers had been bullying him at school. It was 3am. Steve Williams has not been seen since and is presumed murdered. Its been argued that the screw got turned particularly tightly on South Australias homosexuals after the Woomera rocket range was built in 1949. I ran, but straight into the bashers who beat me senseless. He also stated that Von Eimen worked with otherassociates. You also know youre jumping into the car with complete strangers who could be genuine clients or they could be axe murderers. While looking for a parking spot in a side street, von Einem said that he had nearly run over Kelvin as he jogged in from his side. 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. The risks might be huge, but so is the allure. I say this, that although some additional distress will probably be caused to the Kelvin family as a result of publication of the fact larvae or maggots were on Richard In 2007, Mark Anthony Ninnes was convicted of manslaughter over the death of Walter Handley in the carpark. Youre gunna drown one., It seemed to OShea that the practice of tossing homosexuals in the river went back a long way. 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.. One of them, according to Lewis, was Robert Woodland. I assumed that he must have had tyre trouble, he told police, and that he was getting the jack.. At home? 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. I ask how hed remembered the number plate 20 years later. He denied that they went there to bash gay men. Being gay had got him an honourable discharge from the army which hed wanted. The team kept quietly plugging away. I phone the number attached and the voice confirms his identity. It all happened so fast there was no resistance. OShea didnt report seeing them in the city which would have contradicted their version of events. He was doing his job. The fact he was talking about it tells you it was out there. In the water, James looked about and saw the top of the head of the other man who had been thrown in. While the forensic scientists conceded that this was a possible scenario, under renewed cross-examination by the prosecution, they conceded that it would be still unlikely given the whole science of how fibres and hair are transferred from surface to surface over time. Im telling you to go. And he stood up: Cause Im bigger than you.. How big a purse do you carry? No, no, no, please dont say these things over the phone at the moment, Steve, for Gods sake, youre trying to get arrested before I even attempt to try to protect myself. Why would they obscure the fact this was almost certainly a hate crime? The defence then called various witnesses in an attempt to corroborate von Einem's story. 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. She had no solid material or food in her stomach; only a dark green material that had "the consistency of dried leaves." We did not know.. He liked this last part of his work the least. John hadnt come out to his siblings until he was in his 30s. 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. 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. In his unsworn statement, von Einem detailed his alibi with what he claimed happened between 5 June and 11 July 1983. The woman called 911. Episode 1 Rex, the beat, and the bashing, This investigation was the basis of SBS True Stories Podcast Season Three. His story was consistent with his friends about the beer and the bongs and the random nature of their stopping. Williamson got a good enough look at the bloke to decide that he was, indeed, larger. 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. 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. Duncans boss, the head of law at Adelaide University, Professor Horst Lucke, started writing letters to The Advertiser agitating for further inquiries. We know that one single call can make all the difference.. They were professionals and managers. He admitted going home and putting his bloodied jeans and his Metallica T-shirt in cold water to soak before washing them the next day. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. It has moved to where the Valiant had previously been parked. The intention was to get a key card then threaten the victim until he handed over his PIN. Utting recalls: Peter was absolutely flabbergasted at the time as the Speaker of Parliament [Her timing is out on this; hed actually resigned the previous month], to have a message like that left. He tried to calm Handley down, saying if he felt threatened, protection could be organised. From there she saw Lindsay and Hutchings either side of Negres prostrate body. Got a lot of buggeries, and general indecent behaviour it was all there to be had. I was surprised at what she said and suspected that she knew more than she was saying. Mr. Justice White imposed a non-parole period of 24 years. And not only did the police mostly turn a blind eye to it, but sometimes, it is believed, they were the perpetrators. Are you all right?. Allow six to eight weeks for the medical examiner to file a complete autopsy report with the coroners office. There was nothing at the time to link him to his murder, but he was kept in the radar. [10] On 13 August 2007, the Seven Network followed this with a story that the man standing next to the Einem lookalike in their archived film matched the police sketch of the suspect seen with the Beaumonts at the beach on the day of their disappearance. 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. He initially claimed that he had no knowledge of what happened to Kelvin and said that on the night of abduction he was in bed with the flu. Studying the gay press of the 1970s, looking for evidence of bashings and murders, hed found cases that the gay community clearly treated as hate crimes. The verdict prompted legal academic Alan Berman to start a petition to change the laws in Queensland. A forensic pathologist (currently Dr. Michael Hunter) analyzes the official autopsy reports of various celebrities to determine their cause of death. The attackers ran off. Of the 92 offenders he studied, 43 were teenagers and 23 were in their early 20s. The now controversial forensic pathologist, Dr Colin Manock, had him pinned as a homosexual at his autopsy, owing to the funnel shape of his anus. About how his mate got out for a leak and was suddenly wrestling with the old guy. It is the least that so many of the victims in the above stories could have hoped for. When (the politician) came along, I remembered, I rthat he had a white VK Commodore. She knew Williams had a lot of dangerous enemies, any one of whom could have taken him out, totally unrelated to her business. He loved holidaying with the family, taking his speedboat down to their shack on the Murray. Within a week, police had declared robbery as the motive. Not at all camp, the 41-year-old had spent a lot of his working life in the freezer of a chicken processor. He said, You better get going. On August 27, 1981, Peter Stogneff (14, second picture) disappeared. Robinson drives to the end of the track, past two more cars, and does a U-turn at the car park of the Adelaide Pavilion restaurant. A forensic pathologist (currently Dr. Michael Hunter) analyzes the official autopsy reports of various celebrities to determine their cause of death. The body was found placed in the foetal position with his legs bent towards his chest and his head forward with his arms wrapped around his legs. The 25-year-old comes here a lot. The four murdered were Alan Barnes in June 1979, Neil Muir in August 1979, Peter Stogneff in August 1981 and Mark Langley in February 1982. The 33-year-old grabbed some cigarettes off the dash and sat on a bench by the river to think about some problems. Even so, OShea felt the Scotland Yard investigation was a snow job from the start. When police knocked on von Einem's door and enquired about whether they could ask him a few questions, his immediate reaction was to say that he wouldn't answer anything without speaking to his lawyer first. Beat is a peculiarly Australian usage for the places where men cruise for casual sex with other men. While the Mullighan inquiry was underway, the mystery of Shaine Moores death was solved. He spits bile at me through the hard mesh screen about the way the judge let the families in the gallery yell out faggot and poofter when he and other witnesses took the stand. He winces and rubs his now loose-skinned face as he recalls the job that would define him. The red Mercedes. Richard Cabot studied 3,000 autopsy reports and reported that more than 50 percent of diagnoses were incorrect. I wondered if he was bullshitting. When asked about drugs, von Einem did admit he had Mandrax. EXCLUSIVE: There is heartbreaking plea almost 40 years in the making from the best mate of Richard Kelvin, the teenage boy murdered by Bevan Spencer von Einem in 1983.It was a horrific crime forever etched in the minds of South Australians and there is a fresh push to unmask key suspects in the notorious Family Murders. Eventually, after two years on the street, I got my act together and joined the army but after three months I was discharged for having a bad back, and I went back to Adelaide. Although hed been a policeman for many years, I dont think he understood that Ken was going there to pick up men for sex, because at the time remember Ken was married.. 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. Everyone would see. Like so much else, Woodlands death had been swallowed by the darkness. Fraser got manslaughter and was out a few years later on parole. But she couldnt help but wonder if shed caused his death by setting up the meeting. Lindsay kicked him and stomped on his head. The witnesses included colleagues and friends who testified to him being unwell and at home during the first week of Kelvin's captivity. You might have hooked up with somebody in a fumbling and hardly ideal way, I dont know, maybe two in ten times. Karen Carpenter's autopsy (via autopsy files) revealed that at the time of her death, she weighed 108 pounds. He was next seen at 1.30am by two women who approached him a block away from the Mars Bar, heading away from Veale Gardens near Adelaides Chinatown. This has been a story of justice denied, and there is still a long way to go. And somewhere in there, most of the people present heard Negre say, Ill pay you for sex, then.. They also found traces of hypnotic drugs. 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. I was parked on South Terrace. Kelvin was 15 years old at the time of his death. He denied having any other drugs in his possession, but police also seized a bottle of Noctec, concealed on a ledge behind his wardrobe. WebAn autopsy revealed that Richard had died from massive blood loss due to an anal injury, likely caused by a blunt object with a tapered neck, such as a beer bottle. During their search they found a prescription for Mandrax issued to a 'B. The prosecution later charged him with the murders of Alan and Mark, but eventually dropped the case when crucial evidence was ruled inadmissible by the judge. Shame, South Australia, Shame.. The first known victim was Alan Barnes (17, third picture). Little effort was put into concealing the body; Kelvin was found wearing the same Channel 9 shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers which he wore on the day of his abduction, together with the dog collar fitted around his neck. 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]. 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. The scientists stated that if von Einem's story was true, then there should be a very small amount or even none of the fibres and hair samples from that night still on Kelvin's clothing some 36 hours later, let alone five weeks later. We were in the under 13s and Gavin, blond haired and freckle-faced, was the smallest member of the team. 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. For every death, there were dozens of assaults that went unreported. 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. The prosecution decided after Justice Duggan's findings two days earlier to have von Einem tried separately for the murders of Barnes and Langley. More interesting. Von Einem said that he was driving along O'Connell Street in North Adelaide looking for a parking spot in order to buy some dinner. When I asked why police said robbery was the motive for David Saints murder, they answered: The motive for his murder remains unclear with no evidence to suggest that it was robbery.. Instead, the women drove him home to the suburb of Dover Gardens. Robinson can see it clear as day. However, police raids on various locations around Adelaide linked to von Einem yielded few clues. Nothing about the fact that that area of the South Parklands was a well-known beat or that David Saint was in fact homosexual. James knew him from parties and the beats. 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 For the prosecution, it was a matter of proving von Einem's guilt (along with that of unknown persons) by presenting the strong scientific evidence that had been gathered during the investigation, and disproving von Einem's story of being in contact with Kelvin on the night of 5 June 1983. Even some of the out-and-proud gay community looked down on what those men did in the darkness. 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. He got some traction but then the Newman Government was elected and plans to change the law were scrapped. Asked if his friend Londema had punched the victim, Verco replied that he didnt know. Kenton Penley, spokesman for the Lesbian and Gay Community Action, said gay bashings were on the rise and that according to information gathered by the community, at least two homosexuals were hospitalised each week after serious attacks. He told them he was gay and that hed been bashed by a man hed met who wanted to take him home. The man, known as "Mr. B", was located and informed police in great detail how he and von Einem picked up young male hitchhikers, gave them alcoholic drinks laced with hypnotic drugs, and took them to von Einem's previous home in the Adelaide suburb of Campbelltown, where the young men were abused overnight and sent home the next day. The day he was due to meet with this officer those couple of days is when he disappeared, Utting recalls. Von Einem had prescriptions for them and had already been questioned over the similar deaths of three other young men. There is some good news. This is something I was told repeatedly. Police had the right to go in and look. 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. Sensationally, the three police officers suspected of involvement refused to give evidence on the grounds it might incriminate them. They were tradesmen. Someone is hiding there. Those 88 deaths are the worst of the tragedies. After that I never returned.. Before he shuts the door in my face, he tells me he is going in for surgery next week on the leg that Verco and Londema had broken all those years ago. 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. He was captured a few days later, 100 kilometres away in Tailem Bend. Ten days later, Coonies brother checked and found him still in his bed, dead. 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. I had to remain standing, I wasnt offered a chair. 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. He felt his name was forever besmirched by having been in the vice squad at the time, by having his picture in the paper leaving the inquest. Together they smashed Pitchers face to a pulp and that expression is meant literally breaking his jaw, his eye socket, his cheek. I remembered that it had a burgundy interior. Everybody thought I was gay but nobody had enough guts to say anything. I mean fair enough at work where mates want to give you a slap on the bum, but you know hes only mucking around. Analysis of Kelvin's bloodstream revealed traces of four hypnotic drugs, including Mandrax and Noctec. They also stated that his admission that he had picked up Kelvin showed that he was in contact with him on 5 June; that the fibres and hairs proved that von Einem was with him at the time of just before and/or at the time of death; and that the drugs proved von Einem was with Kelvin in between those times. However, another suspect emerged strongly: a doctor named Peter Millhouse, whom several witnesses claimed had seen with Neil on the weekend before his murder. And thats one example of how a gay murder becomes not a gay murder. 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. By the time he noticed the body, it was already charred, destroying what little evidence could have been gathered except for one detail that linked his murder to Neils: his body had been cut up in pieces with a saw. Based on this reckoning, von Einem could conceivably have been eligible for parole in late 1999. HIs cause of death was the same as Alan and Neils and his blood also had traces of a sedative. Then his car got a bump from the back. Terrified, Mildwaters took refuge in a nearby bedroom. Ruks died from internal bleeding of the abdomen. This was, in part, due to a series of murders which would go a long way to cementing Adelaides reputation for particularly sick sadism. Little effort was put into concealing Kelvin's body; he was found wearing the same Channel 9 shirt, blue jeans and white Adidas sneakers which he wore on the day of his abduction, together with the dog collar fitted around his neck. The charges against Hudson were dropped and, some 16 years after the event, Clayton and Cawley were found not guilty. But gay men get bashed at beats all the time, I point out. Two days later, Lewis got up in parliament to say that Handley had been another of his witnesses.