Hes dead, thank Christ. There was no struggle, nothing. This came across as a strange thing for an innocent person to say. On 29 October 2006, The Australian reported that von Einem had been selling hand-painted greeting cards to prison officers for $20 each. Kelvin was 15 years old at the time of his death. The woman called 911. von Einem was quite sketchy on his activities after that, however he did remember what he did on 10 July, the day the body was dumped on the airstrip. Barnes's fatal injuries mirrored those of Kelvin closely. I remembered that it had a burgundy interior. 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. Lindsay stole a Subaru Liberty and robbed an On The Run convenience store. Which is how I came to be looking at the case of the red Mercedes, the two-tone Valiant and the white Torana. 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. On June 5, 1983, he was abducted a short distance from his house after Thats a bit strange. You know, like, Why would this common criminal be calling this policeman sir? and I thought, They are trying to trick me.. This made police suspect that Kelvin was dumped by a single person, most likely after nightfall in order to avoid detection. It was only after three months that I could leave my apartment After six months I returned to the beats. They talked about the laser show and the powerful old-model car. Adds Purcell: There were vigilantes from the gay community who would collect number plates and hand them in to the police. There was a feeling, however, that the information was never acted upon. He ordered von Einem to stand trial; however, he expressed concerns with most of the prosecution's evidence. She noted that the glove box had been rifled and papers were strewn about the front seat. 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. On 11 May 1990, Magistrate Gurry ordered von Einem to stand trial for the two murders of Barnes and Langley. She knew Williams had a lot of dangerous enemies, any one of whom could have taken him out, totally unrelated to her business. Loves the thrill of it all. Im going to gaol for the rest of my life, arent I, sister girl?. He was last seen at the beat at 1am on December 5, after having left a Gouger St nightclub. His lawyer believed a handwriting analysis would clear von Einem. They took me into a room, he told the ABCs Simon Royal. Plans to change the law in Queensland are back on the drawing board. The charges against Hudson were dropped and, some 16 years after the event, Clayton and Cawley were found not guilty. 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. The court heard that Handley, 38, was acting as a go-between for a third man who wanted to buy a gun from Ninnes worth $1600. Also entered as evidence were samples taken from Barnes's body which showed that sedative drugs had been present. 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. There is a long pause. (Queensland and the Northern Territory have taken this mantle in more recent surveys.). Finally, the defence called von Einem's mother to testify about her son's activities over the weekend upon which Kelvin was kidnapped. 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. She growled something at him and said she wanted this bloke out of there, but Lindsay wasnt going to kick him out. He presumed he was well over the limit. He wished he had bolted after he called the ambulance. Utting says they told police what they knew but were guarded in what documents they handed over. This story will take you into the world of beats and bashings during those dark decades, at a time when society with all its fears and biases not only tolerated but perpetuated the abuse. Their brother, who they always called John, had come out to them a few years earlier, but not to their mother. I was sent in as bait because of how young I looked to lure guys into the bushes. Tarrant County On August 28 of that same year, a body cut in pieces was found inside garbage bags thrown in the Port River. I wondered why and where these poofters would gather in order to let themselves be bashed by little guys. He sees the lump on the road is a man, face down, motionless. Ken Doig. I was 16, but looked about 13. The autopsy revealed the same injuries the previous victims had and the gut-wrenching fact that he had been kept alive, being tortured and sexually assaulted, for around 5 weeks. 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. So we took this up with Klunder the minister and said, You know, we warned you this was going to happen.. The defence then called various witnesses in an attempt to corroborate von Einem's story. Even the police never said this one was a robbery gone wrong. 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". This would change the conviction from murder to manslaughter. 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. 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 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. Rutkin asked his inspector friend why. 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. Under South Australian law, a third of the non-parole period could be taken off for good behaviour in prison. You have no place to live. The group was dubbedThe Family by the media after one of the detectives involved in the case mentioned in TV that they wouldbreak up the happy family of criminals. 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. Then he draws on a literary allusion that perfectly describes the way so many people had acted in the stories I am researching. There has been no justice for Duncan, but within seven weeks of his death, the first bill in Australia to decriminalise homosexuality had been introduced into the South Australian parliament, by a conservative politician. But he claims his attempts were hamstrung by police seeming to somehow know of their planned meetings in advance and being there waiting. 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. 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). Police previously did see this harp in his room when they seized the drugs. He was captured a few days later, 100 kilometres away in Tailem Bend. 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. So John was staying at Mums, recalls his sister Helen Hillard. 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. But then, a partial victory. Criminologist Stephen Tomsen doesnt want to be too dismissive of police who focus on the robbery-gone-wrong aspect of a crime. 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. I was taken to hospital and the police came and saw me and questioned me but when they heard where I was, they verbally abused me, calling me a fucking poofter and a pervert and I got what I deserved. At approximately 6:15pm on 5 June 1983, von Einem (likely along with other unknown persons) abducted Kelvin near the intersection of Margaret Street & Peppertree Lane, North Adelaide, just 60 metres from Kelvin's home around the corner in Ward Street. Worth another look, that one. People living close to the Kelvins then testified that they had heard noises and commotion corresponding to the abduction taking place on the night of 5 June at around 6pm. He cant see anyone in it. Mick OShea felt his career was ruined by the Duncan drowning. 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. 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. Pushed on this point in a later police interview, he said hed been there before. 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. After 7.5 hours of deliberation, the jury returned to give their verdict. And the older ones tended to be involved more in the gay panic murders, rather than the poofter bashing homicides. And my successes in all those years were generally in areas around the beats. I phone the number attached and the voice confirms his identity. 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. 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. His name was Pete., Can I tell you what he did? I never saw any stat dec by him. And it got him an occasional television star boyfriend, cabaret singer Tony Monopoly, with whom he lived. One night at Veale Gardens, someone yelled out Bashers! and everyone ran. 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 Within hours of the story going live, I received an extraordinary email from a guy well call Todd. On 29 January 2006, the Sunday Mail reported that von Einem was currently being investigated for allegedly raping an inmate several times at Yatala Labour Prison. Kelvin had just seen off a friend at a nearby bus stop on the corner of O'Connell and Marian Streets, North Adelaide and was returning home for dinner. The first time he went to a beat, at what is now the Himeji Japanese Garden, he was a 23-year-old with a girlfriend, still in denial about his sexuality. Thats exactly what Im here to talk about, I say, and Robinson opens the door and agrees to have a chat. He was blinded sufficiently to lose his drivers licence for a year. 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. Once they won that battle, they switched to campaigning for a royal commission into child abuse. Autopsies are surgical procedures that confirm the cause and manner of death. Episode 1 Rex, the beat, and the bashing, This investigation was the basis of SBS True Stories Podcast Season Three. He drives past, does a U-turn, drives past again. 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. The message from this decision is that gay people are no longer protected by the law, Penley said. She did not kill anybody. 1915. Then slowly towards the Valiant, pulling in behind. I cant help wondering if many would have preferred the dunking to the opprobrium of coming across OShea and his fellow conscientious officers; being charged, named in the paper. Mick OShea arrived at the vice squad the next morning unaware that his career had already been thrust onto a new trajectory. Because he was on Death Row, Hickock couldnt go to churchso instead, he participated in Bible Correspondence courses, according to a Special Progress Report from 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..