There were also hairs which were found on Richard’s clothing that were starting to look interesting. The majority of the hairs on Richard’s clothing were his own but there were a few hairs that were different from Richard’s and they looked very much like those hair samples that were taken from von Einem! If we could show the fibres and hair matched, then it would prove that our main suspect, Bevan Spencer von Einem, was with Richard Kelvin. We might just have a case.
Now it was time to visit a few of von Einem’s other associates and other people who had been nominated as possible suspects. There was the lawyer, the doctor, the second person whom von Einem said was one of his best friends, another transvestite and a couple of others that needed to be visited just as we had done with von Einem. Five raids were planned to happen on the morning of 12 October 1983.
Trevor Kipling planned and organised the raids. Two detectives were given a nominated suspect to interview, and a crime scene examiner was allocated to go with the detectives. If there was more than one suspect at an address, then only one crime scene examiner went to the address. Resources were starting to be stretched thin by this time and we had to manage as best we could. Also, the raids were planned to occur at the same time to prevent different suspects ringing one another and warning each other what was happening.
On that day, Trevor and I returned to von Einem’s home. After we arrived, von Einem phoned his lawyer, Helena Jasinski. Trevor explained the reason for our new visit to the house and she advised her client not to say anything. He wasn’t talking anyway and we didn’t expect him to. Helena Jasinski followed us into the house and was present as we seized the bedspread from von Einem’s bed and pulled up the carpet from his bedroom floor. Helena and von Einem objected, claiming our actions were unusual, but we knew that it was going to be important, as fibres on Richard Kelvin’s clothing were looking more and more certain to be from von Einem’s bedroom. We didn’t have to pull up carpet from the passageway and lounge as a carpet square made of the same material was laying in the passageway near the front door.
By this time, Lee Haddon had finished with the trial of Dr Millhouse and he was helping out with some of the administration work. Lee had an initial connection with our team, having asked Peter Woite on 2 August 1983 to try and locate the person who first mentioned von Einem’s name as someone we should speak to about the murder of Alan Barnes. Obviously, that person knew von Einem and he probably knew things about him that we didn’t. We could learn things from him, or at least discover that he had a grudge against von Einem and was just setting him up. It was important that we found out either way. Later this person became known as ‘B’. He told us things about von Einem that were so bizarre that they had to be true.
Chapter 9
The Associate
Peter Woite was given the task of finding B. He learned that he was interstate, living in Melbourne, so Peter travelled to Victoria to speak with him, but B had moved again just prior to his arrival. Now, he was believed to be living in Mildura on the Murray River. Peter contacted local detectives to see if they could find him but they didn’t have any luck and the trail went cold after that. We chased up family members — coincidentally, his father lived in a suburb near von Einem, while his sister lived in the northern outskirts of Adelaide — neither of them knew of B’s exact whereabouts. Peter kept running into a blank wall.
Revisiting the enquiry in October 1983, I drove to B’s sister’s house at Gawler, north of Adelaide, but she wasn’t home, so I left a message for her to phone me. I spoke with her a couple of times on the telephone and she said that she would try and get him to ring me.
I was sitting in the offices of the Major Crime Squad when B telephoned in November 1983. B said that he would not come to the police building but would meet me at a hotel. We decided to meet that afternoon. I was sitting at a table in a city hotel when B walked in with another young man. B looked soft but not effeminate although his male friend looked gay. He was prissy and subservient to B. I bought both of them a drink and B told his friend to sit elsewhere. He immediately moved off without saying anything and sat at another table. I told B that I wanted to speak to him about von Einem. He started asking me questions, testing me, assessing whether or not I could be trusted. Then he told me a few things that whetted my interest. He said that he picked up boys with von Einem, drugged them and had sex with them.
I’ve got to get this guy on side. This guy’s information is dynamite, I thought.
I asked him to come to the Angas Street police building so I could get a statement from him. He didn’t want to come straight away because he had his friend with him. He said that he would come in the next day.
I was sitting at my desk in the Major Crime office when a constable at the front desk rang to tell me B was at the front counter. I went down and greeted him.
‘Thanks for coming in,’ I said.
‘No worries.’
‘Look, we’ll go to an interview room upstairs where it is quieter.’
There were interview rooms downstairs at the Adelaide Police Station but I didn’t want any distractions and I didn’t want anyone who came into the police station seeing
