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A notorious child murderer suspected of killing at least four others has been found dead in prison, taking a “terrible legacy” and the truth of his crimes to the grave.
Bevan Spencer von Einem, convicted murderer, has died in custody.
Convicted murderer Bevan Spencer von Einem was found dead during a routine check in a prison hospital on Saturday morning while serving a life sentence for the 1983 murder of teenager Richard Kelvin. The 79-year-old had lung cancer and spent the last few weeks of his life in the Yatala Labour Prison infirmary, north of Adelaide.
“This is a really significant day – von Einem is probably one of the most notorious criminals that we’ve ever seen in the history of our nation,” South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas told media on Saturday.
“[He was] an appalling human being who committed some of the most heinous acts we’ve ever seen in our state’s history. He was responsible for crimes that truly shocked our state, paralysed families throughout the community, but of course had the most egregious impact on the victims’ families. Today, first and foremost, we think of them.”
Long suspected of taking part in other horrific killings known as The Family murders that shook South Australia during the late ’70s and early ’80s, von Einem refused to co-operate with police until the very end.
In 1983, von Einem abducted 15-year-old Richard Kelvin, a popular newsreader’s son, and kept him captive for five weeks. He was tortured, drugged and sexually assaulted before his body was found dumped in the Adelaide foothills.
He was one of five young men who were brutally killed in Adelaide within a few years. The Family were said to be a group of Adelaide’s elite who were responsible for the deaths of all five, but von Einem was the only person convicted.
Malinauskas said von Einem left a “terrible legacy”. “The fact that von Einem has passed, in some respects, is a good thing. This is not someone that we want to see in the state of South Australia,” he said.
“It is a great disappointment and a great shame upon von Einem, that even to his death he refused to co-operate with South Australia Police.”
Malinauskas said that the despite von Einem’s death, investigations into The Family murders would continue.
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