Yes, this is all information that was in the newspapers, I thought to myself. You would have picked up this information from the media after he went missing.
He then said that he took Richard Kelvin to his home at Paradise.
‘He came in the front door into the passage, walked into the lounge and sat on the long lounge, the settee. In the lounge room he kicked his shoes off. I can’t recall whether he put his shoes on to walk elsewhere or not. From the lounge, he turned right into the passage and left down the passage to my bedroom. He sat on the bed, [walked] back into the lounge room the same way, then leaving the same way as he came, through the front door.’
Later during the interview von Einem said: ‘The conversation would have got around to hobbies but I can’t recall what he did as a hobby.’
No, you can’t say about his hobbies because you don’t know about them. Nothing was in the papers about his hobbies.
‘I mentioned my harp to him and that I had one and we went into my bedroom where I showed him the instrument. We sat on the bed; I played the harp . . .’
Yes, more lies to explain how fibres from your bedspread and bedroom carpet were on Richard Kelvin’s clothes. What fifteen-year-old boy would go with a stranger to his home to listen to him play his harp in his bedroom?
‘While Richard was at your place did you touch each other at all?’
‘Yes.’
‘To what extent exactly, repeat exactly, did you touch each other?’
‘I put my arm around him as he was upset with his friends he was having problems with.’
Now he is trying to explain how fibres from his cardigan were on Richard’s clothes.
‘How upset was he about the matter?’
‘He was fairly upset.’
‘Crying?’
‘He could have been crying, yes.’
Anything you are asked that you had not thought about before, you are vague with your answer. You were definite about how Richard’s hands were on your car.
‘Was he crying or not?’
‘Well, from what I can recall he was sniffling.’
He finally said that he spent two hours at his home with Richard Kelvin before he took him back into town and dropped him off at the Palais car park opposite the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Von Einem said he gave him $20 to catch one of the taxis parked outside the hospital.
Yes, you like giving money to boys to get them home in taxis. Just like you did with the hitchhiker, George. But Richard never made it home.
When he was first interviewed on 28 July 1983, four days after Richard’s disappearance, von Einem denied any personal contact with Richard. Trevor asked questions about this.
‘You have during earlier interviews told some untruths then, is this right?’
‘Yes.’
‘From memory now, what parts were untruths?’
‘My mother was not at home. I also said that he [Richard Kelvin] was not in my home.’
So, eight months after he first denied knowing anything about Richard Kelvin and part-way through the preliminary hearing, he changed his story. Von Einem was trying to give an alibi to us at the Adelaide Jail. Von Einem now said that Richard voluntarily got in his car, he happily went for a drive with him and spent two hours with him at his home before he was dropped off at North Terrace and given $20.
Trevor continued the interview.
‘Did he give you any indication that he was a homosexual or bisexual?’
‘His appearance gave me the impression that he could have been bisexual.’
‘What gave you that impression?’
‘By his actions.’
‘What actions?’
‘The way he spoke.’
‘Is that all?’
‘Yes.’
That didn’t work. Trevor was trying to get him to talk about the dog collar. If von Einem admitted that he saw the dog collar then he could show that he was lying during this interview as well. We knew that Boris got him to take the dog collar off at the bus stop. If von Einem said that he saw the dog collar, then he must have seen it in O’Connell Street or later whilst he held him captive and put the dog collar back on him.
‘Richard was physically abducted from the North Adelaide area, wasn’t he?’
‘No,’ von Einem replied.
‘Where was your mother on that evening, the 5th June?’
‘My mother was at her cousin[s]’ at Houghton.’
‘What name?’
‘Alcorn.’
‘Christian names?’
‘Beryl and Ken.’
‘When did she go there?’
‘Saturday afternoon.’
Trevor asked about the booze von Einem kept in his car. He had already told us he was drinking beer and we knew he used to put drugs in the alcohol to seduce the boys.
‘Where was your esky?’
By this time Trevor knew that von Einem would drive around with an esky full of drinks in his car.
‘On the backseat.’
‘Did you have much alcohol in it?’
‘Well it had alcohol in it but I didn’t go out on the Saturday night for entertainment because I locked myself out of the house and had to go to see my mother to get her key.’
So, that’s what he calls his activities — entertainment.
‘You are aware that your mother told us you were home at about 6 p.m. on Sunday 5th. Why did she say that, do you know?’
‘On the spur of the moment. She probably wouldn’t remember what she did on that particular date because she does visit her cousin, I don’t know how often, but at regular intervals she stays up there.’
‘Alcorn’s house is pretty close to the airstrip where Richard’s body was located, isn’t it?’
‘Er, yes.’
Later in the interview Trevor asked questions about von Einem telling lies when we spoke to him in July.
‘I’ll ask you again. Why didn’t you speak up about all of this earlier?’
‘When he was reported missing I thought that he had run away from home and that he would turn up. I didn’t want my family, mainly my mother, to know that I did have him at home. I regret not speaking up as I could not foresee into the future
