Bevan Spencer von Einem

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Bevan Spencer von Einem : biography

1945 –

The autopsy revealed that Kelvin had most certainly died from massive blood loss from an anal injury, likely caused by the insertion of a blunt object, such as a beer bottle, and he suffered bruising and injuries to his head and back, which were likely to have been caused by blows. Analysis of Kelvin’s bloodstream revealed traces of four hypnotic drugs, including Mandrax and Noctec.

With the drugs as their only firm lead at that stage, police began sifting through prescriptions for those drugs. During their search they found a prescription for Mandrax issued to a B. von Einem, a name familiar to police as he was questioned previously over the deaths of three young men and an alleged sexual assault of another.

Four days after the body was discovered, von Einem was questioned about the murder of Kelvin by police. He initially claimed that he had no knowledge of what happened to Kelvin and said that on the night of abduction he was in bed with the flu. Police also searched his home in the northern Adelaide suburb of Paradise, where police seized a bottle of Mandrax. Von Einem admitted that the drugs were his and said that he used them to help him sleep. He denied having any other drugs in his possession, but police also seized a bottle of Noctec, concealed on a ledge behind his wardrobe. Von Einem also allowed police to take hair and blood samples, as well as carpets and other materials for testing.

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:

  • 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 wouldn’t answer anything without speaking to his lawyer first. This made police suspect that von Einem had something to hide.
  • When questioned about the Kelvin murder, rather than profusely denying any involvement, von Einem simply said that he wouldn’t do such a thing because it would be "unethical". This came across as a strange thing for an innocent person to say.
  • When asked about drugs, von Einem did admit he had Mandrax. He was asked if he kept any other drugs in his possession, and he said no. However, the police then found the bottle of Noctec and von Einem immediately became nervous and told police that he "rarely used those drugs".

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. Forensic investigators were able to match the many fibres found on Kelvin’s clothing to those taken from von Einem’s home, along with hairs found which matched those belonging to von Einem. Forensics also determined that Kelvin was murdered between 8 July and 10 July 1983 and was dumped at the airstrip no later than the 10th. However, police raids on various locations around Adelaide linked to von Einem yielded few clues. Police also searched for a man who previously claimed to police during the investigation of the unsolved murder of Alan Barnes in 1979 that von Einem was involved in his death and also that he was a former associate of von Einem. Barnes’ fatal injuries mirrored those of Kelvin’s closely. The man, known as "Mr. B", was located and informed police in great detail how he and von Einem picked up young male hitchhikers, gave them alcoholic drinks laced with hypnotic drugs, and took them to von Einem’s previous home in the Adelaide suburb of Campbelltown, where the young men were abused overnight and sent home the next day. "B" also provided further information about other associates of von Einem, but claimed he took no part whatsoever in any murders. Police also questioned other people who von Einem associated with, however they volunteered little information. With enough evidence, along with the information given by "B", to indicate that Richard Kelvin was at von Einem’s home around the time of his death, police arrested and charged von Einem with murder on 3 November 1983. Von Einem still denied ever coming into contact with Kelvin.