Notorious Adelaide killer Bevan Spencer von Einem dying
The only person convicted over The Family Murders is dying, leaving loves ones desperate for the truth about a chilling killing spree.
One of Australia’s most infamous killers is close to death after spending decades in prison for the sadistic murder of a teenage boy in the 1980s.
Bevan Spencer von Einem was the only person convicted in connection with The Family Murders, which involved the torture and deaths of five Adelaide boys and men in 1970s and 1980s.
Von Einem, 79, was found guilty of 15-year-old Richard Kelvin’s 1983 murder. Richard was held captive for five weeks before his body was found in the Adelaide foothills.
He was sentenced to life in prison following his 1984 trial.
The notorious inmate was taken from Port Augusta Prison to the Yatala infirmary on Monday night, 7News reported, after sources told the channel von Einem was “on death’s door”.
Loved ones of other victims killed during The Family’s suspected activities are reportedly desperate for police to speak with von Einem, hoping for death bed confessions.
The former accountant was previously charged with the murders of Mark Langley, 18, and Alan Barnes, 16, but those charges were dropped in 1990 and 1991.
Von Einem has never co-operated with police.
Richard, the son of popular local Nine Network news presenter Rob Kelvin, was abducted close to his North Adelaide home on June 5, 1983.
His body was found, having suffered gruesome injuries, at Kersbrook on July 24, 1983.
At the time von Einem denied involvement in the boy’s death but told police he and Richard had been in contact on the day of his disappearance.
He claimed to have run into Richard on the street and invited the boy back to his home where he comforted Richard, who had been upset about being bullied at school.
Journalist and author Debi Marshall visited von Einem in Port Augusta Prison about six years ago when he denied kidnapping, torturing or murdering anybody.
During the prison visit von Einem inadvertently admitted seeing the Richard wearing a dog collar, a key issue in his trial, and also made admissions of a sexual nature about the boy.
Police had questioned von Einem previously and he denied seeing the collar, which Richard had worn as a joke but removed prior to being kidnapped.
