‘Clean-shaved and nicely dressed’: Neighbour recalls living next to Bevan Spencer von Einem
He secretly ran a house of horrors in suburban Adelaide – now neighbours tell of what it was like living next to Bevan Spencer von Einem in the 1980s.
When Bevan Spencer von Einem was cornered by police with physical evidence that murder victim Richard Kelvin had been in his house, he claimed to have innocently played his harp to the teenager before dropping him at a taxi rank.
The ridiculously wicked story stemmed from the killer’s unlikely love for the harp’s angelic strains.
The murderous monster – who is now 79 and close to death at Yatala infirmary – was a respected part of Adelaide’s harp community.
In the early 1980s, he was a committee member for the Harp Society of South Australia and a few nights before his arrest in November 1983, he was reportedly at one of its cultured concerts at the Adelaide Town Hall.
But behind closed doors at his home on a respectable suburban street in Adelaide’s north east, von Einem was an instrument of evil.
He and his still-unidentified accomplices kidnapped 15-year-old Richard in North Adelaide on June 5, 1983. The teenager was walking home from an O’Connell St bus stop, where he’d waved goodbye to his best friend, Karl Brooks, when he was snatched off the street.
Police believe Richard was in the home von Einem shared with his elderly mother, before he was subject to unbelievable torture and depravity and then murdered. Several men were involved in the killing.
Five weeks later, Richard’s body was found in the Adelaide Hills.
The 38-year-old was arrested and charged with murder. A police investigation had discovered evidence that included traces of von Einem’s hair on the body and fibres from the teenager’s clothing in von Einem’s home.
The news rocked South Australia and Adelaide’s harp community, where von Einem had become a well-known figure.
“I remember being incredibly shocked when he was arrested because I had only seen him a couple of nights before at a concert at the Adelaide Town Hall,” says one prominent member, who asked to remain anonymous.
“He seemed like a kind man, rather quiet and loved learning to play the harp.”
Today, long-term residents remember von Einem as a “clean-cut guy”.
Local businessman Peter Masserni, who still lives a few doors down at the end of that street, says he remembers seeing von Einem driving up and down the street in his black car.
He says groups of men were always arriving and leaving the killer’s home.
“A lot of people used to go in and out from there,” says the Italian-born 88-year-old, who has lived on that street for more than 60 years.
“We thought they were his friends. We thought it was just young people and he was the leader … they were young and having fun.
“We never thought he was doing anything bad. He was clean-shaved and very, very nicely dressed, nobody would have thought he would have done that.”
When police swooped on the house to arrest von Einem, Mr Masserni and his neighbours were shocked.
“He lived with his old mum. You never think that would happen with a mother (there),” he said.
“The police knocked on our door wanting to talk to us about it. The whole road was blocked up and everything. You never think that a man like this could live next-door to you, you never bloody imagined in a million years.”
Maria d’Angelo, who lives opposite von Einem’s old home, had an 18-year-old son at the time of The Family murders. Richard Kelvin was the last victim of the group of serial killers that haunted Adelaide during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Von Einem is believed to have been involved with The Family.
Ms d’Angelo says she remembered feeling terrified knowing murderers were on the loose in Adelaide, hunting down young men.
“After I heard all these things, I was so worried, it was a shock,” she said.
“We couldn't believe it happened when we live here.”
Ms d’Angelo says von Einem’s home had a high brush fence when he lived there but she remembers seeing his black car going up and down the street.
She also recalls von Einem’s elderly mother as a “nice lady”.
She says after he was arrested, the “police came and asked many questions”.
“It was terrible not just for me but for all the people around here,” she says.
Another long-term neighbour, who didn’t want to be named, remembers “lots of men and lots of cars”.
“I just thought they were mates hanging out,” the neighbour says.
Von Einem’s old home, which was built in 1966, has been sold three times since he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Richard Kelvin.
Its current owners bought the home for $369,000 in 2010.
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Originally published as ‘Clean-shaved and nicely dressed’: Neighbour recalls living next to Bevan Spencer von Einem
