Jury finds 77-year-old guilty of gay hate murder of Raymond Keam

A NSW Supreme Court jury has found a 77-year-old man guilty of murdering Sydney man Raymond Keam in a suspected gay hate assault in 1987.

Stanley Bruce Early, 77, was charged with murder over the death of Raymond Keam in a park in Sydney’s east at night in February 1987.

Raymond Keam identified as heterosexual and had a female partner and children. Randwick’s Alison Park was a popular gay beat in the late 80s.

Prosecutors alleged Early attacked the 43-year-old, suspecting he was homosexual, and with an intention to kill or cause grievous bodily harm, either on his own or in a criminal group.

Man alleged ‘ringleader’ of gay bashing group

Witnesses said a man nicknamed “Spider” roamed Alison Park assaulting men he perceived as gay. Prosecutors alleged Spider was Stanley Early’s nickname. The man lived opposite the park at the time.

In 1987, a local told police “Spider” was a ringleader of a group who bashed and robbed gay men in the park, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The court heard Early (pictured below) had also bragged about smashing a Porsche’s window at the park because it belonged to a “p___ter”.

No witnesses saw he and Raymond Keam together at the park, and Early pleaded not guilty in the circumstantial case.

The court previously heard Early unexpectedly left Sydney late at night to visit his brother in Bundaberg the day Keam’s body was found.

He allegedly told his brother he’d “been in a bit of a blue… in the park across the road”.

In 2021, NSW Police announced a $1 million reward for information on Keam’s death. Stanley Early was arrested in Victoria a few months later.

An inmate told the Supreme Court he’d spoken with a “Stan” in custody for murder. He alleged Stan told him he was in jail because of “people’s loose mouths” and hadn’t killed “for over 30 years”.

The inmate said Stan later told him he and others bashed a man they suspected was gay. They then left him in the park across the road “frequented by p____ers with a gay sex problem”.

The alleged conversations between the two men contained details not in media reports, a detective told the Supreme Court.

Raymond Keam’s family sought closure for 35 years

Speaking in 2021, Raymond Keam’s son Dane Keam said his father’s murder caused “immense pain” to his family for decades.

“For 35 years my family and I have lived with a constant cloud looming over our heads, of not knowing who attacked our father,” Dane said.

“I grew up without a father figure. [I] have missed out on sharing some really great experiences with him.

“There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t think about him.”

Raymond Keam’s death was among 88 cases reviewed by NSW Police’s Strike Force Parrabell.

The taskforce looked at suspected historical unsolved crimes involving gay hate bias.

A NSW Supreme Court judge will sentence Stanley Early at a later date.

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