I’m staying out of this one, I thought.
Trevor was questioning Lee’s decision to arrest Peter Millhouse. At that time I didn’t know enough about the earlier murders of the young men to have a view as to who was right; but if Trevor was right, then we were looking at Milton Kelly’s alternative hypothesis that Neil Muir did not know his murderer and was sought out by his killer to relieve sexual and sadistic needs. This fitted with Trevor Kipling’s idea that the killer was a stranger to Neil Muir. Doctor Millhouse wasn’t involved. We were looking for at least one serial killer and, if more than one person were involved, then we were looking for serial killers who were preying on young men. We could be looking for serial killers who had abducted, abused and murdered five boys.
We had thought for some time that more than one person was involved in the murders. We had found more people that had heard Richard Kelvin’s abduction. A woman in Ward Street heard two voices — an argument at about the time Richard was snatched. One of the voices sounded higher pitched. There were car doors slamming and a car taking off. She thought the noises came from behind her house, where a laneway runs between Margaret and Murray Streets. Another woman living in apartments on Ward Street had her windows open and heard a yell and screeching of tyres like someone trying to run someone over. She thought that there were three or four involved and perhaps heard a female voice. A young couple in Margaret Street heard a shout and people talking. They thought they heard two male voices and a noisy car. Finally, the guy who was ill in bed was a security guard and he was interested in cars. Because of his interest in cars and occupation, he liked to pick the type of car when he heard exhaust noises. There are differences in sound, which allow a person to guess whether the car is a Holden or Falcon with a four cylinder, six cylinder or even a V–8 motor in it.
The security guard heard the cries for help, a whole lot of voices, car doors banging and a car that sounded like a Holden with a bad muffler driving off. Four different lots of people heard the abduction. The first witness thought it was about 5.30 that Sunday evening but all the rest said it was about 6.20 and that they knew the time because they were carrying out a set routine with a baby or they were watching the news.
We thought more than one person was involved with the abductions. This confirmed in our minds that more than one person grabbed Richard Kelvin. More likely than not more than one person was involved in the others. All of the boys were tall and reasonably well built. The only exception was Neil Muir. He was smaller. However, to cut up and dispose of Neil Muir in the way it was done probably meant more than one person although we couldn’t be sure.
We were looking for males, as men commit most murders. If there are more than two people involved, experts suggest that there would be a dominant person who has influence over more passive members of the group. When a group is involved, there is a bond because of a shared understanding and a common agreement about purpose.
The high-pitched voice was interesting. We knew that Richard Kelvin’s voice had broken and it was a deep male voice even when he raised his voice when he was happy and excited.
Could a woman be involved? we wondered.
The possibility of a woman being involved was a little different. Women have killed and will kill again but generally they kill their partners. Women have been involved in sexual and sadistic crimes of abuse but if any women were involved, then it would be unlikely that one would be the leader of the pack.
If the murders were connected, we were looking for serial killers. Some people refer to serial killings and use the words ‘mass killings’. Mass killing is used in the same context as serial killing but the two are different. Serial killings are murders committed at different times. Serial killers have an emotional cycle in which they kill, cool off and then kill again, whereas mass killings are the killing of more than one person as part of one incident. The killings at Jonestown of the religious followers of the Jones cult were mass killings. When a man kills his large family that is a mass killing. There is a commonality with the victims and it is one event. During World War II, it was Jews or members of other minority groups that were slaughtered. These are both examples of mass killings because there was no emotional cycle involved. They were mass killings for a political purpose.
Serial killers are skilful and accomplished in what they do. They cloak themselves in a normal way of life to hide their activities. They don’t flee the scene of the crime as many killers do. Many killers will flee and go interstate or may even leave the country but not serial killers. They continue with their daily lives. Their behaviour, on the surface, is perfectly normal. That is not to say serial killers won’t move around but their travelling is to find other victims. They are not fleeing from possible capture. If serial killings stop, then there has been a significant event, which brings a halt to the murder spree: the killer has committed suicide, he has moved to another location and is killing there or he has been imprisoned. The Truro murders stopped because the leader of the duo, Christopher Worrell, was killed in a car crash.
Serial killers are generally white, heterosexual men in their twenties or thirties. They tend to target women and children who are the
