Unsolved The Family Murders

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Unsolved - The Family Murders - MEDIA

This thread may be used to post the Family Murders media related content. To include press and gathered photographs from various sources. Please feel free to post but as this is a no discussion thread, comments will be deleted or moved at discretion. WHO'S WHO VICTIMS AB - Alan Barnes 16yo...

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[Cendrillon]

What happens after he dies, do suppression orders remain in place or do they become void?

 

[Wooden Robot]

What happens after he dies, do suppression orders remain in place or do they become void?

No. There are still suppression orders in this matter on the names of people who have long since died.
Family can apply to keep the suppression order on.

 

[FAPope]

What happens after he dies, do suppression orders remain in place or do they become void?

No. There are still suppression orders in this matter on the names of people who have long since died.
Family can apply to keep the suppression order on.

A previous submission stated "that shop is essentially a front to retain his suppression order."

 

[johnymac1]

I did wonder that. He's in his 70s and this year we've had COVID and a bunch of other nasty bugs going around.

Thing is he's been so secretive and has very little online presence for his business it's difficult to keep an eye on him. He still has consistent business hours listed but I've also heard in recent times he's operated more on an appointment-only basis (i.e. he'll open the store for you to bring in something for him to repair) but not really opening it full-time.

Haven't heard at all whether he has any succession plans r.e. training someone younger to take over his business. Dunno exactly how in demand his supposed specialist skills in clock maintenance are these days

If he’s on deaths door. Hopefully someones there to catch a final statement.

 

[Dell43]

GIBBONS ? - GIBBONS Made three calls to Police on the Kelvin case. Charged with providing false information.

Thanks FAPope

I'm interested to know if Gibbons was only connected to the RK case due to the false reports he gave police or did he have a connection to BVE and/or any of his associates. There's a couple of snippet's of information that has me wondering.

 

[AdelaideGT]

Can't remember the last time I looked at a clock other than on my iPhone.

There was an ABC News story about a type-writer repair-man who is doing a roaring trade. He even did some work/sold something recently to a Hollywood star (Tom Hanks?).

 

[theredrooster]

Found this recently and I don’t believe I’ve seen it posted in here previously. It's Australia’s Most Wanted’s first original segment from 1988, entitled: “Lock Up Your Sons”. It starts at 41.05.

There's no real new revelationary information in it, but it provides a dramatization of Mark Langley's abduction and in particular the trans girls' alleged involvement.



Thoughts?

 

[GreyCrow]

' a brief few minutes' and ' a few minutes' indicates 2-3 (to me) but that block - even at its quickest is 5 minutes.

Secondly sound will travel in that area. The sound of another car would/should slow any mischief down.

Plus the 'set up' would have taken time to arrange - unless the couple in the car said they saw a car broken down.

ie I don't believe the few minutes

 

[Cendrillon]

' a brief few minutes' and ' a few minutes' indicates 2-3 (to me) but that block - even at its quickest is 5 minutes.

Secondly sound will travel in that area. The sound of another car would/should slow any mischief down.

Plus the 'set up' would have taken time to arrange - unless the couple in the car said they saw a car broken down.

ie I don't believe the few minutes

View attachment 1578571

Agreed, especially if they looped all the way back along War Memorial Drive, over the Morphett bridge and back on to Hindley Street like they inferred in the footage (i.e. it shows them again turning left from Hindley St onto King William Rd to go back North towards the Torrens.) Would it be more likely that a car pulled up and offered him a ride? Whether a transsexual was used as a 'lure' inside the car or not, if he was stuck there in the early hours of the morning and needed a ride it seems a bit more plausible to me than what they suggested. Do we know whether Mark was already impaired by alcohol from the earlier 18th family party?

 

[GreyCrow]

Agreed, especially if they looped all the way back along War Memorial Drive, over the Morphett bridge and back on to Hindley Street like they inferred in the footage (i.e. it shows them again turning left from Hindley St onto King William Rd to go back North towards the Torrens.) Would it be more likely that a car pulled up and offered him a ride? Whether a transsexual was used as a 'lure' inside the car or not, if he was stuck there in the early hours of the morning and needed a ride it seems a bit more plausible to me than what they suggested. Do we know whether Mark was already impaired by alcohol from the earlier 18th family party?

I agree the lure of a lift was more likely - especially if he was frustrated/angry at his friends.

His options in 1982 would have been limited - buses stopped at midnight - it was well after.

I do think he was impaired by alcohol - to what extent is unknown

Our group knew the consequences of missing the last bus or not having enough money for a shared taxi. But if it came to it - it was a 10km walk or sit in town until the first buses/trains started up - and yes we walked either solo or in pairs etc.

There are times I wonder how I made it - one time waking up on a bus stop seat in daylight.

 

[theredrooster]

It's Australia’s Most Wanted’s first original segment from 1988, entitled: “Lock Up Your Sons”.

Pretty f’ed up that a tiny, trivial squabble over “which brand of cigs are best” can turn into such a vile 4-decade nightmare for so many. I bet this poor guy and girl have had their lives ruined by it as well.

 

[theredrooster]

Episode 4, entitled “Killer Elite”, from the 2018 “City of Evil” television docu-series. This work is based on the research of journalist Sean Fewster and explores Adelaide’s strange and violent criminal underbelly. The segment, relevant to this thread, runs 6.21 to 26.50.



No real new information is unearthed on “The Family” case here. However, the episode does provide some interesting 60 Minutes archival footage, from the early 80s with veteran journalist Jennifer Byrne, plus insights and thoughts from members of the victims’ families.

It does confirm that SAPOL actively kept the cases purposely unlinked from public consideration, in the early '79-83 years, despite a very clear correlation between the drugs, MO, anal injuries and dismemberments and hundreds of other, reported, similar abductions.

“I would say, every weekend someone would have been picked up,” Det. Trevor Kiling says to camera.

In my opinion, it also quite clearly serves up that homophobic SAPOL cops, led by Detective Superintendent Ken Thorsen, went out of their way to dismiss the first four murders as just: 'lowlifes, gays, prostitutes, street-kids, rebels, scene queens and/or druggies'. Thorsen’s smug, ultra-conservative sharpness (even now), when discussing anything involving gay men, is again positively infuriating, as it was in Deb Marshall’s ‘Frozen Lies’ work. One can’t help but think if he wasn’t such a bigoted pig that some innocent lives and heartache could have been spared here.

The segment also suggests there was a potential sixth victim of “The Family” but doesn’t go on to discuss this theory any further.

Thoughts?

 

[AdelaideGT]

buses stopped at midnight

More like 10.30 back in those days. I was asked to work an extra shift finishing at 11pm or midnight back then and had to tell the boss I'd have no way of getting home.

An aquaintence who was going to have dinner at his g/friend's place that night (not much drinking, if any, involved) said he could pick me up on his motorbike and give me a lift as he only lived one suburb away from me.

Sadly he never made it home as he crashed the bike just past Festival Theatre. Somehow I survived.

 

[GreyCrow]

The segment also suggests there was a potential sixth victim of “The Family” but doesn’t go on to discuss this theory any further.

Thoughts?

Some people suggest Daniel Sheppard is a possible victim.

CASE PROFILE - Daniel Sheppard - Crime Stoppers South Australia

On 31 December 1994, Daniel Sheppard attended New Year’s Eve celebrations with his brother and friends at Lennies Tavern in Glenelg, before catching a tram into the city to continue celebrations at Hindley Street in Adelaide. In the early hours of New Year’s Day 1995, the 19-year old walked...

crimestopperssa.com.au

 

[DropBearess]

Some people suggest Daniel Sheppard is a possible victim.

CASE PROFILE - Daniel Sheppard - Crime Stoppers South Australia

On 31 December 1994, Daniel Sheppard attended New Year’s Eve celebrations with his brother and friends at Lennies Tavern in Glenelg, before catching a tram into the city to continue celebrations at Hindley Street in Adelaide. In the early hours of New Year’s Day 1995, the 19-year old walked...

crimestopperssa.com.au

I've often wondered about that. I also suspect Glen Stewart may have been the first victim in February 1977. Does anyone know why this case has never been included in the list of possible victims? Absence of a body perhaps?

 

[GreyCrow]

More like 10.30 back in those days. I was asked to work an extra shift finishing at 11pm or midnight back then and had to tell the boss I'd have no way of getting home.

Agree to disagree. My nights (1982-84) in town were based around the pub shutting at midnight and having to make a decision at 11pm regarding more drinks v taxi v bus v walking. We may have been on a terminus line which made the buses leave town later

My thoughts to your friend

 

[theouthouse]

Question/clarification for Charlie.

Alan was in someone elses dress clothes when abducted and when his body was found. Why was he in a friends dress clothes and not his normal clothes to begin with? Was this common for him to do?

I am just looking into theories of reasons behind this. Thankyou.

 

[bth18]

I've often wondered about that. I also suspect Glen Stewart may have been the first victim in February 1977. Does anyone know why this case has never been included in the list of possible victims? Absence of a body perhaps?

I’m not certain of a link - in DM’s book she certainly draws links and in Dissected too. debi says that Mother Goose said that Clocker told him that James Crocker was a victim of the family in 1994, but one of them is probably lying.

Daniel’s abduction is very on brand, but it would also be very ballsy for people under investigation for one the states most notorious crimes

 

[Zebo]

Some people suggest Daniel Sheppard is a possible victim.

CASE PROFILE - Daniel Sheppard - Crime Stoppers South Australia

On 31 December 1994, Daniel Sheppard attended New Year’s Eve celebrations with his brother and friends at Lennies Tavern in Glenelg, before catching a tram into the city to continue celebrations at Hindley Street in Adelaide. In the early hours of New Year’s Day 1995, the 19-year old walked...

crimestopperssa.com.au

That program was aired in 1988, so 6th victim wasn't Daniel Sheppard.

 

[Zebo]

Found this recently and I don’t believe I’ve seen it posted in here previously. It's Australia’s Most Wanted’s first original segment from 1988, entitled: “Lock Up Your Sons”. It starts at 41.05.

There's no real new revelationary information in it, but it provides a dramatization of Mark Langley's abduction and in particular the trans girls' alleged involvement.



Thoughts?

Thanks for posting this.

It's got some creative content. At the inquest, Mark's father said the party was at a 'family friend's house', not a cousin's. Surely he'd have said it was a relative if it was.

Some of the scenes don't line up with what was reported by Ian/Paula in 1982, nor what was later said in evidence in the 1987/88 inquest [assuming newspaper reports are accurate]. While some of the story changed, they alternatively said they were away '4 minutes' or '5 minutes', which would suggest a Memorial Drive/Victoria Drive lap? Perhaps the TV show put in Hindley Street for some dramatic footage. Also, they were reported in the inquest as 'parked near the zoo' so Ian could 'use the toilets', which he apparently did. That's not the Adel Uni Boat Club?

The 'breakdown' scene, while thought-provoking, differs from the stories that boys have since told about BVE pickups (were there any 'damsel in motoring distress' stories anywhere else?). Perhaps the evidence that emerged post the inquest cast a different slant on theories of what may have happened.

 

[John Barnes]

Question/clarification for Charlie.

Alan was in someone elses dress clothes when abducted and when his body was found. Why was he in a friends dress clothes and not his normal clothes to begin with? Was this common for him to do?

I am just looking into theories of reasons behind this. Thankyou.

I have done a lot of research on the clothing Alan was wearing and it turns out Alan was in clothes mum got him for his birthday . But yes Alan sometimes would wear other people clothes. Preach and him would often do so as well as Phil


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Arthur John]

Jules Bar, Hindley St.downstairs, in bar area, around 1.00am in July 1977. Approached at bar and warned that the woman that started chatting to me was actually a man. Was in invited to join group at table which were older, conventional looking people, I was 24. Maybe there were four of them. The group included a conservative looking woman into her forties. They tried to talk me into going to a home for a party, (I think they said it was in Springfield) with unlimited alcohol, drugs and women. They were persistent. I made an excuse to go to toilet and took off in a hurry. It all felt really bad. A very dodgy collection.

 

[PenfoldsFan]

Had an interesting conversation with a work colleague last week. He's openly gay and was 17 in 1983 when he frequented the beats of Adelaide.
I asked him if he was familiar with the Family murders and he said yes and that he may have had an encounter with people in and around the group during that time.
Said he was walking home one evening down Greenhill Rd when a Holden sedan pulled up next to him, the driver, an older man, asking if he needed a ride.
Be said he knew he was being 'picked up' but figured he'd accept as it was better than walking.
He was taken to a house in the Unley Rd area where they began talking, he was expecting an encounter and was surprised when the man said he wasn't looking for sex as such but had fetishes he'd like to act out.
I wont go into detail of what those fetishes we're as it isnt something I'd like to put on public record without his approval, however, he said he thought the first request whilst weird he agreed to but as it got sicker he declined.
He said he became really tired and fell asleep, when he woke hours later there we're muliple men in the kitchen of various ages, all older than him, and was asked by the man who picked him up if they could play too.
He said it freaked him out and he made a swift exit and never saw them again.

When he finished the story I said I think he may have dodged a bullet there, the Greenhill Rd and Unley Rd connection along with the Holden and introduction of more 'players' too coincidental to be a coincidence.

 

[Zebo]

Episode 4, entitled “Killer Elite”, from the 2018 “City of Evil” television docu-series. This work is based on the research of journalist Sean Fewster and explores Adelaide’s strange and violent criminal underbelly. The segment, relevant to this thread, runs 6.21 to 26.50.



No real new information is unearthed on “The Family” case here. However, the episode does provide some interesting 60 Minutes archival footage, from the early 80s with veteran journalist Jennifer Byrne, plus insights and thoughts from members of the victims’ families.

It does confirm that SAPOL actively kept the cases purposely unlinked from public consideration, in the early '79-83 years, despite a very clear correlation between the drugs, MO, anal injuries and dismemberments and hundreds of other, reported, similar abductions.

Anyone else notice that on Crimestoppers, Neil Muir appears to have been 'unlinked' from the other four murders?

 

[jason_recliner]

Jules Bar, Hindley St.downstairs, in bar area, around 1.00am in July 1977. Approached at bar and warned that the woman that started chatting to me was actually a man. Was in invited to join group at table which were older, conventional looking people, I was 24. Maybe there were four of them. The group included a conservative looking woman into her forties. They tried to talk me into going to a home for a party, (I think they said it was in Springfield) with unlimited alcohol, drugs and women. They were persistent. I made an excuse to go to toilet and took off in a hurry. It all felt really bad. A very dodgy collection.

That's better than most nights at Jules!