The Family Murders Of Adelaide

It’s 1983, and a 15-year-old boy named Richard Kelvin is in a laneway in North Adelaide. He is 50 metres from his beautiful family home. 

He has spent that Sunday, June the 5th, playing footy, until the afternoon when his best friend Karl came over. They kicked the footy around. Richard called his girlfriend. And then he walked Karl to the bus stop. 

It’s 6:15pm, and the sun is disappearing. 

He says to Karl that he doesn’t want to walk back alone. There are surrounding parklands, and he jokes “I might get mugged or something.” Richard is as aware as any other child in Adelaide that the streets aren’t safe at night. Over the last four years, boys have been murdered. 

Richard attempts to run home. He wants to call his girlfriend. He must be back in time for dinner. But then a sound echoes through the neighbourhood.

Multiple people hear it. The suburb is otherwise quiet, and then there’s a loud cry, as though for help, followed by the screeching of car tires. 

Richard is not the first boy to go missing, but he is the most high profile. His father is a famous news presenter, Rob Kelvin. 

It will be six weeks and one day before Richard’s boy is found. For most of that time, he was alive. It is a tragedy of unimaginable scale. 

He is the fifth murder victim that we know of, ranging in age from 14 to 25. 

The people responsible were capable of cruelty beyond what any of us could imagine. And, according to some, they belonged to a much larger network, targeting potentially hundreds of innocent victims. 

CREDITS

Guest: Debi Marshall

Host: Jessie Stephens

Producer: Gia Moylan

Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri

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