Review: The Death of Dr Duncan by Tim Reeves

On the evening of tenth of May 1972 Dr George Duncan, a lecturer at the University of Adelaide, was thrown from a footbridge into the River Torrens where he tragically drowned. He had lived in Adelaide for just six weeks. His alleged murderers were all police officers, from the Vice Squad and it was believed that Dr Duncan had been targeted because of his sexuality. Though no one would ever be charged with his murder, it led to widespread reforms across South Australia, which became the first state in Australia to decriminalise homosexuality. In The Death of Dr Duncan author Tim Reeves takes an in-depth look at this tragic, totally preventable death, how it led to a shift in public attitudes and legal reforms and the way the death was investigated, which never led to a criminal conviction. 

The Duncan case is absolutely shocking and rightly so. A man targeted because of his sexuality and murdered, allegedly by the very people who were supposed to protect the community. Then we have the endpoint, of no conviction but widespread legal reforms. The Death of Dr Duncan goes deeper, probing the investigation and showing how those legal reforms--the silver lining of a terrible thing--were not easily won. He also explores other surprising things about the night, such as the fact that Bevan Spencer Von Einem, who was later convicted of the depraved abduction and murder of teenager Richard Kelvin, rescued Roger James who was thrown into the river that very same evening. We also see how life was made very hard for James in the years that followed. We see the verdict that Scotland Yard made about the case and how it never led to justice for Dr Duncan.

This isn't always the easiest thing to read. It is, after all, a book about a historic injustice. Tim Reeves research is meticulous, his examination of the case thorough. 

Compelling reading.

Recommended.

PS Adelaide people ... you can see a memorial to Dr Duncan at the southern end of the footbridge, near Kintore Avenue. Dr Duncan is also recognised on the Pride Walk in Light Square.