Bevan Spencer Von Einem - The Good Samaritan

The Good Samaritan

The name Bevan Spencer von Einem first came to attention on the night of 10 May 1972 when two homosexual men were thrown into the River Torrens by a group of men believed to be police officers. The river banks, or "Number 1 beat" as it was then known, was a place for homosexuals to meet, as homosexual acts were illegal in South Australia at that time. One of the men, a British Law lecturer who had arrived in Australia only seven weeks earlier, Dr. George Duncan, drowned. The other, Roger James, suffered a broken leg and after crawling to the road was rescued by von Einem, who was driving past. Von Einem then took James to Royal Adelaide Hospital. James later declined to identify his attackers.

Within days it was suspected that the group of men who killed Duncan were three senior Vice Squad police officers. Witnesses claimed that the detectives were also accompanied by a tall civilian who was never identified. The detectives were called upon to give evidence at the Coronial Inquiry but they refused to answer any of the questions put to them and were subsequently suspended from duty and eventually resigned. The subsequent investigation, which called the incident a "high spirited frolic gone wrong", failed to find sufficient evidence to prosecute any of the officers. On 30 July 1985 former Vice Squad officer Mick O'Shea told The Advertiser newspaper that the group involved were Vice Squad officers and that there was a cover-up to protect them. A task force was set up, and on 5 February 1986 two former police officers were charged with the manslaughter of Dr. Duncan. Both were eventually cleared of the charges after refusing to testify.