r/southaustralia • u/allmycircuits8 • 22h ago
News Loved ones of teens killed in ‘Family Murders’ fight to reveal names of alleged suspects
Suspects in one of Australia’s most notorious cold cases could die shielded by secrecy – unless the victims’ loved ones succeed with a new public petition. The loved ones of the young men slain in the Family murders have launched a petition, calling for public support to lift the longstanding veil of secrecy of the notorious unsolved crimes. Family members of Alan Barnes and Mark Langley, and the best friend of Richard Kelvin, have launched a joint social media effort to revoke orders protecting unnamed suspects in all of the cases.
On Tuesday, Mr Barnes’ sister, Robyn Plant, told The Advertiser that they had formed a united front, as their parents did in the 1980s and 1990s, to end the secrecy. “It has been a long struggle just to get this far, both for us and for our parents before us,” she said.
“This petition highlights how two generations have had to fight for answers, and we do not want there to be a third generation. “This has to end with us.”
Bevan Spencer von Einem was charged with the murder of Mr Barnes, and of Mark Langley, after he was convicted of the 1983 murder of Richard Kelvin. Those charges were subsequently dropped, however, amid Supreme Court proceedings that were blanketed in suppression orders.
Numerous other suppression orders were imposed during von Einem’s trial over Mr Kelvin’s murder, and many of them remain in force to this day. Some of the orders are set to expire 80 years after their imposition – by which time those whose identities they protect will be long dead.
The secrecy has sparked numerous conjectures and even conspiracy theories about the crimes and their purported ties to elite members of SA society. During his lifetime, von Einem – who died in prison in December 2025 – refused to reveal any more details about his crime or the Family theory.
On Tuesday, Ms Plant said the boys’ friends and families were not the only victims. “We do think about the girlfriends they had and how they were left to suffer in silence with broken dreams of their future,” she said. “Alan found the love of his life and they planned to marry one day and have a dozen kids. “This isn’t just about us, this is for them as well.”
In her social media post, Ms Plant says only public outcry will convince the courts of the need to lift the suppression orders.
“As some of you know my brother, Alan Barnes, was murdered in 1979, as well as Richard Kelvin, Mark Langely, Neil Muir and Peter Stogneff by the group known as The Family Murders,” she wrote.
“In that time only one person has been convicted of Richard Kelvin’s murder, we know there are more people involved.
“No one has been convicted for the rest of our boys.
“The suspects in this case has been able to hide behind suppressions orders for 46 years living normal happy lives while victims families fight for answers.
“Most suspects have now died, there are only a couple still alive.
“We know we will never see the inside of a courtroom with this … the next best thing we can do is get these suppression orders lifted so their names will always be attached to this case as suspects.”
She says there “must be enough public interest to outweigh the orders”, and calls on the public to provide as many signatures as possible.
“SA courts do not accept electronic signatures so we are asking people to print out a copy of the petition, get some signatures and post back to (our) post box,” she says.
Signatures can be sent to PO Box 140, Salisbury, SA, 5108.
