More than likely any snuff movie would have been kept by the serial killers for their own enjoyment — to relive the moment. The Investigation Support Unit of the FBI in America can tell of cases in which the cries of victims were tape-recorded and the deaths of others were filmed. However, the films and tapes were not sold or copied. They were kept for the killers’ own pleasure and recall.
Another video we tried to locate was supposedly called Black and Blue. The film was supposed to show a young boy wearing a dog collar around his neck being led around on all fours. We weren’t sure whether it related to a snuff movie or it was a video that related to ‘S & M’ — sadistic and masochistic behaviour. If a video showing this type of behaviour was around, it could have all sorts of implications. Such a video would excite people with those tendencies toward having power and control over others. If we could find the video, we might find the people who were into this type of behaviour. If a film of this type came into the country legally and had an R-rating, then the video shops renting might have some records of the people who hired it. However, a check with film distributors, censors and video outlets produced no results. We were back to square one with that lead and more time was lost. But we couldn’t ignore the possibility of snuff movies and Black and Blue. When Richard Kelvin wore that dog collar to the bus stop it would have produced a second glance from most people and perhaps an excited stare from those into power and control.
A disgusting video that we did find was titled Fist Fuckers of America, which graphically showed men inserting their whole hands into the anuses of other men. The film showed what some people will do and just what some people are into. Also, it showed just how much the muscles of the anus would stretch. A man who regularly experienced anal sex could have an enlarged anus but we had a different situation here and the experts were still talking about a bottle being used on the local victims, although we couldn’t discount other possibilities.
The search for the elusive caravan, the EJ Holden sedan, the investigation and trial of Dr Millhouse, as well as the search for snuff and S & M movies were all potentially important leads that consumed a lot of time and effort. They were just some of the leads that were investigated that did not provide any more clues to help solve the murders. They led nowhere, but one benefit from carrying out these enquiries would be to help negate defence efforts to confuse a jury if we were successful. We could provide answers to defence suggestions that the boys may have been used in snuff movies in any trial. I have been describing some of the efforts of the detectives but there was just as much effort put into the examination of the boys’ bodies. The efforts of the forensic scientists were just as time consuming.
Crime scene examiner Ivan Sarvas, had lifted Richard Kelvin’s body onto a stretcher with the pathologist, Ross James, and placed him in the coroner’s van. At the mortuary, Des Phillips supervised the removal of his clothing and placed it into paper bags, rather than plastic, so it could breathe and not go mouldy. He marked the clothes with the name ‘R. KELVIN’ and put the date and name of the items on the bag. Des took the bags for examination but he had to dry the body fluids from the clothes before he could properly examine those. The clothes were placed in a drying cabinet which has a stainless steel base. The exhaust fan at the top of the cabinet draws air over the clothes and they dry naturally. Both officers recorded on their own files the time when the items changed hands. Ivan and Des were meticulous with their work, which later received strong praise from the Crown prosecutor.
Des was looking for paint, hair and fibres on the clothing that did not come from Richard’s home environment. He was looking for ‘trace evidence’. The words are derived from Lochard, a scientist, who stated that every contact between two objects leaves a trace of that contact. Trace of that contact can be shown by the evidence left behind.
Other crime scene examiners did the same for the clothing of Alan Barnes and Mark Langley. They did the examination of the clothing by vacuuming it inside and out when it was dry. They used tape lifts to remove foreign objects from the clothes. Clear adhesive tape is placed on the garments and then lifted off. Obviously, a lot of tape is used to cover all of the clothing. It has to be done for each different piece of clothing and for different sections of it. ‘Tape lifts’ and the vacuuming are done both outside and inside the clothing.
