Police and the public have been searching unsuccessfully for this house for 35 years. Thanks to the incredible memories of two child victims, I have identified the most sought after criminal address in Melbourne.
There are some things you just need to read. This post is one of them.
Right before Mr Cruel's emergence, Melbourne was terrorised by a similarly experienced and also unknown kidnapper. The two offenders overlapped in space, but never quite in time, and therefore never met in the same dark alley. What if they are one and the same?
Mr Cruel had an unusual fetish that he ritualistically included in his crime scenes. And this signature is a forensic bridge between him and an unidentified serial killer that terrorised Melbourne in the 1970s and 80s.
Two surviving victims were able to give police astonishing details of the detention premises they were held in. Police launched a massive ground-based operation to find Mr Cruel's house. And people have continued to search for it for the past 35 years. Are we any closer?
Mr Cruel graffitied the strange phrase "More anon" onto the Chan family's car. No one knew what it meant. But the word "Anon" should be remembered as the most blatant calling card ever left at an Australian crime scene.
Armed with secret layout sketches of Mr Cruel's house, Victoria Police conducted the most expensive search in history in their desperate attempt to find him.
One year after her abduction, Karmein's remains were found in a shallow grave. With three bullet holes in her skull. Melbournians were shocked. Who could do this to a child? And why had the city's rapist suddenly started to kill?
At least three people saw a suspicious man that was likely Mr Cruel. Yet police failed to follow up, missing a huge opportunity to produce an identikit. So what went wrong?
The April 1991 abduction of Karmein Chan. This was the kidnapping that changed everything.
When Mr Cruel struck in 1990 in Canterbury and in one of Melbourne’s most expensive streets, residents were forced to face the reality of his crimes. He was sending everyone a message that no place and no one was untouchable.
How the boogeyman of Melbourne's suburbs changed his modus operandi to outsmart the new age of DNA evidence.
In 1987, a masked intruder imprisoned a family during a terrifying two hour long home invasion and assault of a child. Police revealed he had struck at least 5 times before. Who was this new offender tormenting the north eastern suburbs of Melbourne?
An inaccurate official narrative has kept this notorious case unsolved. My new research reframes Mr Cruel as an experienced, lifelong and violent serial offender, making his true signal finally visible in the historical records.
