Convicted child killer Bevan Spencer von Einem rushed to hospital Convicted child killer Bevan Spencer von Einem rushed to hospital
Child murderer Bevan Spencer von Einem was admitted to the prison hospital and is believed to have died of lung cancer.
Authorities took the 79-year-old to Yatala Labor Prison on Tuesday from Port Augusta Prison, where he was serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of Adelaide teenager Richard Kelvin in July 1983.
Kelvin was last seen near his home in the Adelaide Hills about five weeks before his body was found.
The Adelaide Advertiser reported that Richard was held captive in the weeks after his disappearance, with an autopsy report revealing he had been sexually abused, injured and drugged.
He was the son of Nine News presenter Rob Kelvin.
Von Einem pleaded not guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 24 years, but this sentence was later increased to 36 years following appeal.
Police believed von Einem and his associates were involved in the murders of five children and teenagers in South Australia in the 1970s and 80s, and other unsolved murders referred to as the ‘Family Murders’.
He was tried for the murders of Alan Barnes and Mark Langley but the charges were dropped. He did not admit his guilt.
Five murders, including that of Richard Kelvin, were found to be sexually motivated.
It is understood detectives will attempt to interview von Einem before he dies.
Kelvin’s friend Karl Brooks told the Adelaide Advertiser he didn’t want anyone to die.
“I’m not that kind of person, but I also say ‘good luck’,” he said.
“If he had any conscience left… he could do something right and give the police something to work on, but I don’t think he would.”
