The toilets built behind Jolly’s Boathouse, which is now a popular Adelaide restaurant overlooking the still waters of the river, were part of the beat. The lively chatter from the patrons of the restaurant changes to quieter words in the darkness of the night amongst the trees and shrubs of the riverbank. Homosexuals come together in the vicinity of the boathouse, meeting on the grassy banks or the lower or higher walking path. The paths, supported by free-stone retaining walls, have occasional seats set back in recesses, allowing quiet meetings to happen.
Other beats exist around the city of Adelaide. Another popular one is at Veale Gardens off South Terrace, Adelaide. An access road runs behind the gardens. It stretches 500 metres to the restaurant, ‘Pavilion on the Park’, which is hidden from the city by the Glenelg tramline and shrubs between the restaurant and King William Street. Half-way along the access road there are more toilets, which are the focal point of the beat.
The beat on Unley Road was between South Terrace and Greenhill Road. The shabby toilets have since been demolished because of concerns about contact between the beat’s visitors and those using the BMX bike track that had been built just south of the toilets. The planners thought they were doing a good job. The kids needed a bike track, there was room in the parklands and there were toilets nearby for the kids to use. The planners obviously didn’t know that the area was a beat. Their understanding changed over the years and the toilets were bulldozed.
Another beat was on Glen Osmond Road also between South Terrace and Greenhill Road. Picnickers sit on the soft grass and use the playground and barbecue facilities during the day. At night, the area is used for other reasons. Homosexuals who want to met other men go there, including married men who seek pleasure and excitement different from that provided by their wives — and, just perhaps, people visiting the beats were serial killers.
Chapter 6
New Leads
By this stage of the investigation we had some police with different viewpoints, others who were out and about at all hours of the night in some pretty unsavoury places but we only had a few other leads — nothing concrete. What we needed was one crucial piece in the jigsaw that could open our eyes to the solution.
Another lead now came into Major Crime. The caller on the telephone was anonymous, as so many are. Obviously, many people want to give information without getting involved. Involvement may mean that the person has to give evidence in court or they may have a grudge against someone and they don’t want them to know they are ‘dobbing’ them into the police. Others want to pass on information that is false.
The call related to a light coloured 1963 EJ Holden sedan driven by two men, Doug and Mark. The male caller said that these two abducted Richard Kelvin. The car was described by the caller as being in good condition, fitted with a tow bar and with two mirrors on the front guards of the car. Thousands of these vehicles were built but, twenty years later, they were becoming scarce. Also, the car was said to be in good condition. That would have been unusual for a car that old. With the details about mirrors and tow bar and with the first names of two men, we were hopeful that someone would know the car and its occupants. We publicised this information with the help of the morning paper, The Advertiser, which was distributed throughout the State. The full-page spread on page thirteen called out ‘CAN YOU HELP?’ ‘WANTED’ was on the next line with ‘REWARD’ further down. The full-page spread showed a photo of Richard Kelvin, the distinctive T-shirt he was wearing and two photos of the type of car we were looking for.
Just to organise this type of publicity takes a lot of work. We received calls about people who had those names and vehicles, and who fitted this description but we had no success. This lead led nowhere and, as time passed, Trevor and I became more and more suspicious about the accuracy of the information.
When Trevor and I were investigating the Monteith murders, the killing of an elderly couple near Murray Bridge some time later, we released the description of the offenders’ vehicle. The vehicle used was quite common. It was a white Holden one-ton ute. Again, there were thousands around. However, the large storage box on the back of the vehicle immediately behind the cabin was unusual. It was large and had a sloping lid. We received calls about that vehicle almost straight away and we arrested one of the murderers within two days of the information being released. The vehicle that was heard during the abduction of Richard Kelvin was believed to have a loud exhaust. This didn’t fit with a vehicle being in good condition. We were starting to wonder — was it a false lead?
Another telephone caller suggested that Richard Kelvin had been used as a real-life player in a video. What the caller was talking about were ‘snuff movies’: films that show a person actually being murdered. We had discussed the possibility of snuff movies and speculation was rife that this type of film existed, although no one actually had seen one. We contemplated whether or not the boys were filmed as real-life actors in a hideous play of death and abuse. We could not ignore the possibility. Investigations were made in that direction.
Enormous difficulties surrounded this
