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The Family Murders
The Family Murders is the name given to a series of five murders in the state of South Australia, 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 Australia, in the 1970s and 1980s. Only one suspect was eventually charged and convicted for one of the crimes: Bevan Spencer von Einem was sentenced in 1984 to a minimum of 24 years (later extended to a minimum 36-year term, and later for the term of his life) for the murder of 15-year-old Richard Kelvin. The other murders remain unsolved; Von Einem died on 5 December 2025 without offering any new information. Rewards remain outstanding for information leading to other convictions for the murders.
Police believe that up to 12 people, several of them high-profile Australians, were involved in the kidnappings. The suspects and their associates were linked mainly by their shared habits of "actively [having] sought out young males for sex," sometimes drugging and raping their victims.
Von Einem was convicted in 1984 of the murder of Kelvin and sentenced to life imprisonment The non-parole period was increased to 36 years after appeal in March 1985. The criminal group became known as "The Family", after a detective described breaking up the "happy family", thought to be responsible for the murders, in a 1988 television interview.
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. Von Einem was also one of the last people seen with a fourth victim, Muir, following his abduction.[citation needed]
Apart from von Einem, three other core members are thought to be directly involved in the murders; while DNA testing re-commenced in 2008, no further charges have been laid.
A cold case review was opened in March 2008 with a $1,000,000 reward available for anyone who provided information leading to a conviction. The reward carried an offer of immunity to accomplices, dependent on their level of involvement. Due to changes in the Forensic Procedures Act, which later allowed DNA samples to be taken from suspects in major indictable offences, all the suspects voluntarily submitted to DNA testing. The ongoing investigation featured in an episode of Crime Stoppers, which went to air on 2 March 2009. The cold case review was completed in November 2010 with no charges being laid against any of the three key suspects.
Some authorities do not recognise the term "The Family", stating that "[t]hey should not be given any title that infers legitimacy. These people have no such bond, only an association that with time probably no longer exists". Others, who have examined the cases, however, argue that there were many more victims. Criminologist Alan Perry, of the University of Adelaide, has argued that the murders were part of a widespread series of kidnappings and sexual assaults of boys that might number several hundred victims in South Australia in the ten years from about 1973 to 1983.
Von Einem died of natural causes in prison aged 79 on 5 December 2025. Rewards ranging from $200,000 to $1 million continue to be offered in each case, for information leading to a conviction.
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The Family Murders
The Family Murders is the name given to a series of five murders in the state of South Australia, 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 Australia, in the 1970s and 1980s. Only one suspect was eventually charged and convicted for one of the crimes: Bevan Spencer von Einem was sentenced in 1984 to a minimum of 24 years (later extended to a minimum 36-year term, and later for the term of his life) for the murder of 15-year-old Richard Kelvin. The other murders remain unsolved; Von Einem died on 5 December 2025 without offering any new information. Rewards remain outstanding for information leading to other convictions for the murders.
Police believe that up to 12 people, several of them high-profile Australians, were involved in the kidnappings. The suspects and their associates were linked mainly by their shared habits of "actively [having] sought out young males for sex," sometimes drugging and raping their victims.
Von Einem was convicted in 1984 of the murder of Kelvin and sentenced to life imprisonment The non-parole period was increased to 36 years after appeal in March 1985. The criminal group became known as "The Family", after a detective described breaking up the "happy family", thought to be responsible for the murders, in a 1988 television interview.
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. Von Einem was also one of the last people seen with a fourth victim, Muir, following his abduction.[citation needed]
Apart from von Einem, three other core members are thought to be directly involved in the murders; while DNA testing re-commenced in 2008, no further charges have been laid.
A cold case review was opened in March 2008 with a $1,000,000 reward available for anyone who provided information leading to a conviction. The reward carried an offer of immunity to accomplices, dependent on their level of involvement. Due to changes in the Forensic Procedures Act, which later allowed DNA samples to be taken from suspects in major indictable offences, all the suspects voluntarily submitted to DNA testing. The ongoing investigation featured in an episode of Crime Stoppers, which went to air on 2 March 2009. The cold case review was completed in November 2010 with no charges being laid against any of the three key suspects.
Some authorities do not recognise the term "The Family", stating that "[t]hey should not be given any title that infers legitimacy. These people have no such bond, only an association that with time probably no longer exists". Others, who have examined the cases, however, argue that there were many more victims. Criminologist Alan Perry, of the University of Adelaide, has argued that the murders were part of a widespread series of kidnappings and sexual assaults of boys that might number several hundred victims in South Australia in the ten years from about 1973 to 1983.
Von Einem died of natural causes in prison aged 79 on 5 December 2025. Rewards ranging from $200,000 to $1 million continue to be offered in each case, for information leading to a conviction.