The detectives who had worked on the Kelvin case were absolutely convinced that Von Einem, either alone or with others, most likely with others, was responsible for the deaths of the other youths, or in the very least knew who was. And they had very good reason to be.
Apart from the fact that most of the other victims had suffered the identical anal injuries as Kelvin and had died in similar circumstances, their homosexual informants told them that it was common knowledge that Von Einem regularly picked up young hitch-hikers, drugged them and then sexually abused them.
The detectives worked tirelessly on new leads and new witnesses. After four years they visited Von Einem in Adelaide's Yatala Prison where he was being held for his own safety in the protective custody division and charged him with the murders of Alan Barnes and Mark Langley.
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| Yatala Prison |
At Von Einem's committal hearing held in 1990, the Crown chose to pursue a committal for Von Einem on the lines that "similar fact evidence" was admissible and alleged that if Von Einem was guilty of the Kelvin murder then he must also be guilty of the murders of Barnes and Langley as they were identical in every fashion.
And further more, the Crown alleged, it had circumstantial evidence that could back this up. Magistrate David Gurry allowed Crown Prosecutor Brian Murray, Queens Council, to proceed along these lines. It would prove to be a disastrous ploy.
And if the packed public gallery thought they had heard stories of unbelievable horror as the evidence unfolded of how the boys had died from the injuries inflicted upon them, then they must have thought that the Crown had saved the most shocking allegations for last.
If what they were about to hear was true, Bevan Spencer Von Einem would go down in history as one of the most sadistic monsters the world has ever known.
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