The Family Murders. Greg McInerny

other victims - Richard Kelvin and Mark Langley.

      As of September 2nd 1979 the investigation into the murder of Alan Barnes had come to a stalemate. The theory about ‘Bruce’ had replaced all other theories and the murder of Neil Muir took priority while Mr B’s information sat dormant.

      The saddest part of the whole situation is that not only did SA Police appear to be blinkered on proving the ‘Bruce’ theory; they also appeared to have pushed harder to convict Alan for a rape charge than they did to convict anybody of his own murder. Alan was listed to appear in the Supreme Court on July 2nd 1979, ten days after his murder. If he had survived he would have been 17 years and 12 days old on the day of the hearing.

      Meanwhile, 33 year old Gino Gambardella who had been a suspect in the murder of Derrance Stevenson and was also still facing 2 counts of sexual assault, his third set of charges in 11 years, was never to be listed again. He would leave Adelaide and Australia forever, soon after selling his Vine St home in February 1980. He also vacated a rental property on South Rd Ridleyton shortly before.

      Gambardella had transferred the family home from him and his wife’s name into his name alone on the 28^th May 1979, just one week before the murder of Derrance Stevenson. It seemed that he was preparing for something and needed to take control of his finances.

      Two and a half years after Alan Barnes’s murder police again received information implicating Bevan Spencer von Einem in another murder, that of Mark Langley. The caller told police that he was worried about how Bevan Spencer von Einem treated boys he picked up at beats and on the street.

      The caller also named another man, a butcher, as a person who behaved similarly. The police reacted quickly and immediately sought to interview the less prepared suspect. Instead of simply denying everything, von Einem was taken a little by surprise and told police that he had been in the immediate area where Mark was last seen on the morning he disappeared.

      He also gave a particular time which all but fitted the period established for Mark’s disappearance. A cynic might think that he was admitting to this to cover himself. He would not have known whether the information included a registration number or other identifying description that could incriminate him hence the ‘open’ admission.

      Whatever was or wasn’t said in the interview, the police delved far deeper than they did when they received their information about the murder of Alan Barnes. This time they could smell a rat, and a putrid smell it was. It is a shameful pity that the same didn’t occur after June 26^th 1979.