Overview
- Von Einem, 79, died while serving a life sentence for the 1983 abduction, rape and murder of 15-year-old Richard Kelvin, for which he was convicted in 1984.
- Police have long linked him to a suspected group known as The Family tied to four unsolved murders of young males between 1979 and 1982, and he remains the only person ever convicted in connection with the cluster.
- Charges later laid over the murders of Alan Barnes and Mark Langley were withdrawn due to evidentiary issues, and investigators say they believe others were involved in Kelvin’s abduction and killing.
- A $1 million reward for information leading to a conviction in the unsolved cases remains active as police continue their inquiries without his cooperation.
- He was declared a dangerous offender in 2009 and received an additional three months for possessing child abuse material, and Yahoo News reported he had recently been treated in a prison hospital for lung cancer.