But no one that got thrown in ever surfaced for a complaint because they were homosexual.. He pulled out an axe and hit him in the head with it, twice, before slitting his throat. It wasnt until 10 days after he was last seen that a forensic team was sent to examine Moores bedroom and the truth was revealed. 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. 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. Lindsay declined. Pearce rolled a scoob when, according to Pearce, Ruks started all this poofter shit and grabbed his crotch, causing him to snap. Soon after the news report went to air, two young men, Robert Verco and Jason Londema, walked into Adelaide police station with their parents and handed themselves in. 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. Youre on the side of the road. It was 1978. They actually thought they were engaged in some sort of leisure sport that actually had a degree of community approval.. 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. When they [the police] came to us and questioned us, Utting says, we believed they were there to ask us what we knew about these people that had been murdered. Finally, there was Richard Kelvin (15, last picture), the son of a famous local news presenter. 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. Being gay had got him an honourable discharge from the army which hed wanted. The toilets? After several attacks, I left the group and went and lived on the streets in another part of town. It was one man. I was lonely and horny and thought this time I would know better, but again that voice rang out in the night, Bashers! I got away but I did see one guy lying on the grass, getting kicked over and over by these guys. And thats one example of how a gay murder becomes not a gay murder. The Court of Criminal of Appeal rejected the appeal, saying that the trial was conducted fairly and justly throughout; they did concede that Mr. Justice White should have included the evidence relating to the birthday party. The trial against von Einem for the murder of Kelvin opened at the Supreme Court Building of South Australia on 15 October 1984 before Mr. Justice White. It had also got him sacked from a job with a pharmaceutical company which he hadnt wanted. The street kids I hung out with used to go down to Popeyes boathouse near the River Torrens [the Number One beat where George Duncan was murdered]. Twenty-year-old Peter Stephens had Doig on the ground with his hands behind his head. 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.. She knew that several people had visited the unit whilst Kelvin was there. Episode 1 Rex, the beat, and the bashing, This investigation was the basis of SBS True Stories Podcast Season Three. They had to tell her before she read it in the paper. Deep down, I felt sorry for these guys and hated being a part of this. 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. Different beats have their own rhythms and cultures. Another beat regular, Brad Shannon, who jokingly styled himself as probably Australias premier authority on beat culture, sadly estimated 90 per cent of beat users were married men. Williams had not only been a great source of knowledge about official corruption relating to the perpetuation of paedophilia hed begun his own anti-child-abuse campaign but hed been a great friend to Utting, too. More people suspected in the abduction and murder of Richard Kelvin When Rex Robinson was doing his first cruise along the strip that summers night in early 1992, another man who well call Tom also cruised in. Then he reveals himself: I read recently the writer Randolph Stow said, Gossip made me a homosexual before I was one. And I was a bit the same My sexuality is widely assumed but thats as far as it goes in Adelaide. WebA forensic autopsy is the examination of a body by a medical examiner with specialized training. 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. Out of Sight: The untold story of Adelaides gay-hate murders Interested Parties may contact Coroners & Medical Examiners for questions about: Finding Dallas death records; Locating death certificates; Order autopsy reports I seen them scuffling and throw something in the water, he tells me. There must be more in the car., Well take what we want anyhow, the guy replied. A simple phone call could have saved his life.. Then they started bringing one person in at a time. I ask how hed remembered the number plate 20 years later. Two days later, Lewis got up in parliament to say that Handley had been another of his witnesses. A judge ruled there was no case to answer, but the director of public prosecutions reinstituted the charges. 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. Shannon did a trade in selling milk and newspapers out of his van to these blokes so theyd have something to take to their wives. She knew she was doing it, the relative said, drunk, on the live stream. And now there was a lot of talk about a body that had been pulled out of the river. Documentary series. The next pick-up is always just a glance away. Through all this, though, Im still wondering where its going. Of course, it didn't. Just not this night. Instead, the women drove him home to the suburb of Dover Gardens. But the institutions dealt with the case appropriately and the killers went down for long stretches. The disappearance of Steve Williams remains a mystery, as does the bashing death of Robert Woodland in Veale Gardens. Saint didnt make it. And I just never felt comfortable with it.. This made police suspect that Kelvin had been dumped by a single person, most likely after nightfall in order to avoid detection.[4]. 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. He was last seen at the beat at 1am on December 5, after having left a Gouger St nightclub. One night at Veale Gardens, someone yelled out Bashers! and everyone ran. At the time, a witness gave the police a name they would hear again: Bevan Spencer von Eimen. Plans to change the law in Queensland are back on the drawing board. And then I seen them running up the river a bit. Woodlands body was found on the Wednesday. Also testifying for the defence was the bushwalker, who while walking his dogs through the airstrip had discovered Kelvin's body on 24 July. This blog is about mysteries and true crime. He was always hassling his trustee to dip into the pot for more. Theyll watch the married men come in and have a laugh at the desperation of it all, have a dig at their own sluttiness, slipping into the darkness when the cops come rolling through to harass them. For the defence, it was a case of trying to make von Einem's story hold up in court, and raising doubts about his ability to keep Kelvin captive for five weeks and committing the murder. He endured numerous operations. 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. Lindsay asked his friend, Luke Hutchings, to hold Negre down so he could go through his pockets. He greets me jovially but his charity-fundraiser demeanour hardens when I explain why Im there. About 1.30am, they all left together, going back to Lindsays place where they cracked open another round of pre-mixed bourbon cans. It was known from the beginning that vice squad officers were the chief suspects in the murder, according to OShea. The youth asked: Do you come here often?, Then, out of the blue, someone grabbed Blaxland from behind. 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 wanted to encourage Handley to come forward and give a statement. They spent the next three years in court. They didnt trust the police. 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.. Kelvin was 15 years old at the time of his death. Theres an ambulance coming.. Some 23 years after Rex Robinson found Jim Blaxland brutally bashed beside his red Mercedes in Veale Gardens, I knock on his door and explain my purpose. Before he reaches the Merc, however, he glides past a Valiant with fat tyres, mag wheels and doors painted a different colour to the body. Hed moved back in with his mum for a couple of months while his next place was under construction. 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. 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. He had no reason to kill Mr Negre. The document is only available to the immediate family of the said victim. I was warned by a mate to watch out for bashers but I thought, I will be right, I can run fast.. in the events that would follow. Also entered as evidence were samples taken from Barnes's body which showed that sedative drugs had been present. It was only 16 months after Dad died.. I think collectively it put a fair bit of pressure on police, recalls Purcell. The ambulance was called. So I was privy to the high-fliers and big rollers who used to come through The Wall and pay us boys for sex.. Their attitude wasnt a problem. Since then, several suspects of being part ofThe Family have been investigated by the police, but not enough evidence has been gathered against them. 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. Tall and thin, he was intensely shy, private and unable to swim. 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. However, hed follow them up in the mainstream media and court documents only to find that the victims homosexuality had been left out. Then Handley left a message on Lewiss mobile asking if Lewis could get him a handgun for protection. Von Einem then tortured, drugged, raped and held Kelvin captive for five weeks, before murdering him and dumping his body alongside an airstrip near Kersbrook in the Adelaide Hills area (to the north-east of the city and close to where relatives of von Einem lived). [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. Hed bought three houses, done them up and sold them, doing well enough out of it to be just about unshackled from the banks. It was a thing. 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. 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. I cant let him go, Lindsay replied. This made police suspect that he had something to hide. The shooting of a man by police as he held a toddler hostage after beating his neighbour to death was "necessary given the circumstances", the police watchdog has found. I had to remain standing, I wasnt offered a chair. Pearces barrister argued that his client had been interfered with as a child and so, to him, a homosexual advance was a grave insult. Its a meeting place for men who want to meet other men. They found that not enough emphasis had been put on the fact that the ordinary person is not a single being. His skeletal remains were found 10 months later in Middle Beach, by a farmer who was doing a prescribed burn in his land. The file got sent to storage. Thomas Poberezny-Lynch tells me: The logic went that the accused would say the deceased made a sexual advance towards me and that triggered my latent homosexuality which then caused me to suffer a bout of insanity because homosexuality was considered a mental illness at the time and therefore inflict fatal violence upon the deceased. So the investigation into Duncans death came up with nothing. We talk for a while about the Duncan murder and how one of the acquitted officers ended up owning a pub where people would go wanting to see the bloke who threw Duncan in the river. Steve Williams has not been seen since and is presumed murdered. Mick OShea recalls being there at the time trying to get a pinch. Police also questioned other people who von Einem associated with, however they volunteered little information. He turned out to be Dr George Duncan, an Australian academic who came to Adelaide to teach legal history and Roman law. Medical examiners determine the cause of death, and issue an autopsy report. There was nothing at the time to link him to his murder, but he was kept in the radar. The 33-year-old grabbed some cigarettes off the dash and sat on a bench by the river to think about some problems. Even though Lindsay did not use the gay panic defence, the judge was still required to tell the jury that if they didnt believe Lindsays version of events and if they thought he really did do the stabbing, they could still find that he was provoked into it by the homosexual advance. Of course she panicked. When the police arrived at the house shortly after they took one look at a photo of him and said, Yeah, thats John.. Which brings us to the curious case of Robert Woodland. This would change the conviction from murder to manslaughter. That never goes away.. When asked about drugs, von Einem did admit he had Mandrax. Von Einem pleaded not guilty; his defence was led by barrister Barry Jennings, who was assisted by Helena Jasinski, who had been von Einem's solicitor from the start of the police investigation of him in the murder during the previous year. There was also that person who had tipped off police about Von Eimen initially. The victims came flooding through the Speakers door with their stories of abuse. If it hadnt been for Jamess presence, the dead body would probably have surfaced a week or so later and the death would have remained an obscure event - a mystery even more opaque than the one we are left with today. Richard Dallas Kelvin (1 December 1967 c.10 July 1983), was the son of Adelaide television personality Rob Kelvin. 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. When it comes to touching other people up especially from a stranger. There is a long pause. In inner-city parks, a Gday and a groin rub might be all the sign thats needed to head behind a bush. It was a big buzz around the place. A study in Melbourne showed that seven out of 10 LGBTQI people still dont report assaults and harassment. So the vice squad knew nothing. Three men left a pub in Maryborough about 9pm on July 3, 2008 to smoke pot in the grounds of nearby St Marys. Reported information should include: Name of Deceased Residence of Deceased Date of Birth Sex/Race Date, You pull a patch of them in one spot and they spring up somewhere else. But he did try. 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. Most nights he wont pick up. Any gay man working for the project could be a blackmail target for foreign agents. 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. He was asked if he kept any other drugs in his possession, and he said no. Because beats are such secretive places it would be near impossible to survey who is using them. It was a great success and it was the memory of that triumph that kept drawing him back. Like so much else, Woodlands death had been swallowed by the darkness. They panicked and left. First, is it a reasonable possibility that what the deceased did or said caused Mr Lindsay to temporarily lose his self-control and to kill Mr Negre whilst he was not in control of himself? The justices of the High Court of Australia, however, disagreed. 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. 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. More red lights, more screeching as they chased him until he got to his sisters place and ran inside. One of them, according to Lewis, was Robert Woodland. Feel free to contact me! Thats the day I lost all faith in the legal system, our whole system of government. But Doig gave up his wallet and his PIN without resistance. The prosecution then rested its case. On 1 November 2007, the ABC reported that after 24 years behind bars, von Einem was now eligible to apply for parole. Lewis says he probably has a copy in storage but he wasnt able to go looking for me. This has been a story of justice denied, and there is still a long way to go. Despite the blood, he was chatty. His housemate, Brigette Mildwaters, told him to let Negre go. I'm always open to questions, comments, suggestions or requests. Kelvin was 15 years old at the time of his death. But word had got out that police were suspects. They beat the charges a second time and were acquitted, but the evidence became so obscured under the weight of suppression orders that it has become difficult to talk about. 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. Brad Shannons allegation to the Mullighan inquiry about having had sex with a well-known politician while underage was passed on to South Australian police along with another allegation hed made about being raped by two police officers and a man known as Mother Goose, but nothing came of it. Theyd never spoken publicly about it before I came along, but Helen wanted it known that there was more to her brother than the guy who got killed cruising in the shadows. 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. 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. It was a small murder in the media sense, rating a few short stories over following days and in the normal scheme of things would have received minimal attention even if a killer had been caught. Lewis had wanted something more wide ranging. While looking for a parking spot in a side street, von Einem said that he nearly ran over Kelvin as he jogged in from his side. Von Einem had prescriptions for them and had already been questioned over the similar deaths of three other young men. 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. It was just that they never came back.. When questioned about the Kelvin murder, rather than profusely denying any involvement, von Einem simply said that he would not do such a thing because it would be "unethical". Based on this reckoning, von Einem could conceivably have been eligible for parole in late 1999. We took our complaints to Minister [John] Klunder and said, This has got to stop or sooner or later somebodys going to get murdered.. But when they came to interview Kevin Williamson, he thought, Well, why not? We had a few to drink so I wasnt, er, wasnt too clear. He described how he and Londema had started smoking cones in the morning, then drank Strongbow cider through the afternoon. The person behind James suddenly pushed him in the back so that he collided with the approaching group. And while other Adelaide crimes like the disappearance of the Beaumont children and the Snowtown murders grabbed the headlines and gave the city its perhaps undeserved reputation, with one notable exception the cases I was looking at like most gay-hate crimes went by largely unnoticed. We thought, Fuckin hell this is gunna be messy. And it was., OShea says a superintendent called them all in. ABC News Online", "Opposition questions von Einem prison move ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)", "Bid to revoke von Einem parole ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)", "Lawyer questions von Einem porn charge ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)", "Bevan Spencer Von Einem avoids 'unpleasant' trip with other inmates | AdelaideNow", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bevan_Spencer_von_Einem&oldid=1147740879, Australian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, Australian people convicted of child pornography offences, People convicted of murder by South Australia, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by South Australia, Articles with dead external links from November 2016, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, BLP articles lacking sources from December 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. An ingrained culture whose legacy re-mains in a fear of reporting crimes and in the gay-panic defence, whereby, in two states, you can still kill a bloke and have it downgraded to manslaughter by saying, He came on to me.. Robinson checks the rearview mirror to make sure he isnt being followed. Another man, who would become known as Witness A, had also been thrown in the river that night. The Attorney-General of South Australia immediately appealed the leniency of the non-parole period, and on 29 March 1985 the Court of Criminal Appeal in South Australia increased the non-parole period to 36 years, a record at the time in that state. Thats exactly what Im here to talk about, I say, and Robinson opens the door and agrees to have a chat. The committal hearing to determine if von Einem should stand trial for the murders of Barnes and Langley began on 5 March 1990 before magistrate David Gurry. Another is a prominent businessman in South Australia and a third one is a former male sex worker. In the first high-profile murder case involving a He was afraid for his life, recalls Lewis. Perhaps they thought saying that would save the family some anguish. Shannon used his earnings to move around the country and found himself working Veale Gardens where, in about 1985, he claims to have been picked up by a well-known South Australian politician, though not one of the two implicated in Woodlands allegations. There was a furious drumming of knife blows to Negres chest. They quickly organised banners and rallied outside the attorney-generals office. This death had an even greater impact on the team, says researcher Wendy Utting. They were tradesmen. Finally, there was Richard Kelvin (15, last picture), the son of a famous local news presenter. 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. 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. He had skipped school on that day, but its believed hed made it back home at some point because his backpack was found in the garage. 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 would not answer anything without speaking to his lawyer first. His hair was long, straight and black. 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. It was around 11pm on March 31, 2011, that Andrew Negres girlfriend left a southern AdelaIde pub in a huff. No mention of the homosexual motive was made when the three were convicted, either. The following evening, the TV news reported the vicious bashing in Veale Gardens. A jury of 12 people (seven women and five men) was selected and agreed upon by the prosecution and defence. Negre struck up a conversation with the strangers and hit it off right away. All 52 cards featured the faces of unsolved-murder victims. What did you say cunt? Lindsay replied. You should try it.. People thought he was one of the suspects. Rubber burned. Finally, the defence called von Einem's mother to testify about her son's activities over the weekend upon which Kelvin was kidnapped. In all his cruising days he only had two incidents. When (the politician) came along, I remembered, I rthat he had a white VK Commodore. If he made one, it was gobbled up by the legal system and buried under suppression orders. 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.. 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). Veale Gardens sits at the southern end of the ring, while further north, near the top end of town and the River Torrens, is the Number One Beat which, in 1972, had been Adelaides hottest gay pick-up spot since before anyone could remember. The Texas Public Information Act deems autopsies public information. I just wanted to be liked and accepted. That was Bevan Von Einem. Autopsies are conducted by a coroner, medical examiner or forensic pathologist in the state of Texas. Its not that James denied ever using beats. David John Saint was an ordinary guy. Duncans boss, the head of law at Adelaide University, Professor Horst Lucke, started writing letters to The Advertiser agitating for further inquiries. They had a wonderful social scene but they had to be very careful because they could easily be dragged before the courts..
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