EXCLUSIVE: A POLICE report prepared almost 20 years ago identified convicted sex killer Bevan Spencer von Einem as a suspect in the Beaumont case.

The confidential report, prepared in 1989 by detectives in the then Major Crime Squad, was the first time possible links between von Einem and the two baffling cases was documented and presented to senior police with a request to launch a major probe.

The request was granted with the detailed report being the catalyst for extensive investigations that explored his possible involvement in the mysteries.

The report and subsequent inquiries examined similarities between the two cases, von Einem's known involvement in the drugging and sexual abuse of hitchhikers prior to the start of the notorious Family murders and his residential addresses at the times of the child abductions.

Von Einem, 61, serving a 24-year non-parole period for the murder of Richard Kelvin in 1982, was on Friday officially questioned over the disappearance of the Beaumont children following renewed investigations into the 41-year-old mystery.

Major Crime Investigation Section detectives spoke to him in the cells of the Adelaide Magistrates Court prior to his appearance on child pornography charges.

The fresh investigations centred on the possibility von Einem may have been present at a search for Grant, Arnna and Jane Beaumont the day after they vanished from Glenelg on January 26, 1966.

They followed the discovery of video footage by Channel 7 that showed a man with a striking resemblance to von Einem, who would have been aged 20 at the time, avidly watching police divers search a drain at Glenelg.

Major Crime acting Superintendent Tony Crameri said yesterday von Einem had made a short statement to detectives, but he would not elaborate on its content.

"There has been no evidence produced which furthers this line of inquiry and it is now complete," he said, referring to the Channel 7 pictures.

When asked about the 1989 von Einem report, acting Supt Crameri confirmed its existence, but would not discuss its content.

"It is one of many files that have been produced in respect to persons of interest," he said.

Retired detective chief superintendent Gerry Edwards, who in 1989 was officer-in-charge of the division that included Major Crime, yesterday said he "recalled a document of that nature".

"As a result of that document there would have been a review of past events and actions issued," he said.

A police source familiar with the report said it was "significant" because it was compiled before a witness in the Family murders case, known only as Mr B, implicated von Einem in the child abductions. His statement, in which he claimed von Einem had confessed to him, provided detectives with uncorroborated intelligence that supported their suspicions of his involvement.

Mr B told police von Einem had told him he had abducted and killed the Beaumont children and Kirste Gordon, 4, and Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, and disposed of their bodies in Myponga Dam.

Police divers unsuccessfully searched the dam.

Despite lengthy inquiries, no other evidence has ever been uncovered linking von Einem to the Beaumont case or the abduction of the two girls from Adelaide Oval in August, 1973.

The source said the 1989 report examined in detail various areas including von Einem's likeness to the identikit images of suspects, the fact that none of the children were struggling when last seen with the suspect and von Einem's expertise in drugging people.

"The report examined how the children could be taken without putting up a fight or alerting someone to their plight," the source said. "It pointed out there was a significant amount of evidence already available at that point that showed von Einem was skilled at delivering a therapeutic dose of a sedative in order to gain control of a person."

The report stated that "if" von Einem was involved in the abductions, it would have been a simple matter for him to slip sedative drugs into drinks purchased for the children and highlighted that the last sighting of the Beaumont children was at a deli buying soft drinks with money from an unknown source.

"Von Einem's method of operation when seducing his victim was to offer them a drink laced with an undetectable sedative," the source said.

"Once that was achieved he had control over them. They would put up little resistance.

"It was hypothesised in the report that this was a strong explanation for why there were no reports of children struggling at Glenelg or Adelaide Oval. It was quite the contrary, they were seen to be co-operating with the unknown male they were last seen with."

The source said the report also revealed detectives had established von Einem lived at Thebarton at the time of the Adelaide Oval abductions. This was considered significant because the two girls were last seen walking along the railway line west of Adelaide Oval near the brewery with an unknown man.

As a direct result of the report, detectives spent considerable time examining archived Lands Titles documents, finally establishing that von Einem did live at Thebarton and nearby Mile End at the time of the Adelaide Oval abductions.

The Thebarton house was demolished in the 1970s when the SA Brewing Company purchased the entire street the von Einem house was situated on.

The source said the report recommended police conduct a number of investigations including questioning both von Einem and his mother about the abductions, enlist the help of a forensic odontologist to examine photographs of von Einem and the abduction identikits and have an intelligence analyst start incorporating the abduction case files into the existing Family murders case files to assist in detecting any similarities.

The report was also the catalyst for the abduction files to be examined by an FBI criminal profiler who was already examining the Family murders case files.

 

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