Attributed Mr Cruel attacks
Lower Plenty Attack – 22 Aug 1987
At 4am on Saturday 22 August 1987, a masked intruder removed a window pane at a residence in Lower Plenty. Armed with a small black handgun and kitchen knife he handcuffed, gagged and tied up the parents and forced them into a cupboard and tied the 8-year-old son to the bed while he assaulted the 11-year-old daughter in different rooms, pausing to bathe her and clean her teeth, snack in the kitchen and check on the parents. He stole several items including an engagement ring, records and men’s clothing.
Abduction of Sharon Wills – Ringwood, 27 Dec 1988
At 5.30am on Tues 27 December 1988, Mr Cruel burst noisily into the bedroom of John and Julie Wills in Hillcrest Avenue in Ringwood with a handgun, demanding money and restraining them in a cupboard. The intruder then cut the phone line and proceeded to their daughters’ room with a torch, where he woke 10 year old Sharon Wills. He selected some of Sharon’s clothes from her wardrobe, blindfolded her, and led her to a car. He then drove her to a location where he bathed, assaulted and fed her. During her confinement she was leashed to a bed by the neck and heard planes flying overhead. Sharon was made to wash thoroughly and dress in garbage bags before being released 18 hours later at Bayswater High School after walking her around nearby streets.
Abduction of Nicola Lynas – Canterbury, 3 Jul 1990
At 11.20pm on Tuesday 3 July, Mr Cruel forced his way into a wind-out bedroom window in Monomeath Avenue Canterbury. He woke 13-year-old Nicola and her 15-year-old sister Fiona by tapping on Nicola’s head with a knife. He tied Fiona up, cut the phone wire and took various clothes from Nicola’s wardrobe. He took the car keys from a rented vehicle the family were using, led Nicola outside and drove the vehicle to his own waiting vehicle in Chaucer Avenue. He then drove her to a property where he bathed her, leashed her by the neck to a bed and dressed her in different clothes. He made her clean thoroughly then released her in Tennyson Avenue Kew 50 hours later on her 14th birthday, after marching her through the streets.
Abduction and murder of Karmein Chan – 13 April 1991
On 13 April 1991 thirteen-year-old Karmein Chan was babysitting her two younger sisters at their family home in Templestowe while their parents were working at the family’s Chinese restaurant 10 minutes away. At around 9pm they found a masked man with a large knife in the kitchen. After locking Karmein’s sisters in a wardrobe the man dragged Karmein out onto the street and 300m away to a vacant block. He had earlier spraypainted the words “Asian drug deal” “Payback” and “More and more to come” on the family’s car. What happened next is known only to the offender – Karmein’s remains were discovered on 9 April 1992 in a landfill area at the rear of an electricity substation near the corner Mahoneys Road and High Street, Thomastown. She had been shot three times in the back of the head. While the Chan attack is officially considered to be the work of Mr Cruel, due to the differences in MO some detectives have expressed reservations.
Suspected Mr Cruel attacks
Burglary/rape – Donvale, Fri 6 Dec 1985
At 10.30pm on Friday, 6 Dec 1985, the 30-year-old victim her 17-year-old sister returned home. The offender, who had broken in through a back door, was waiting inside. Armed with a long-barrelled pistol described as a ‘rusty silver revolver’3 and wearing a beanie and scarf to cover his face, he grabbed the victim and said “don’t make a noise I’m just a burglar.” He took her to the bedroom where he tied her younger sister up with pantyhose and locked her in the wardrobe. He then led the victim to another bedroom where he bathed her, saying “I’m going to wash you. I have a fetish about being clean before I do anything” and assaulted her, calling out to the sister in the wardrobe during the attack. He was described as late 20s-early 30s, slim, clean-shaven with a clean smell, a muscular chest and polite, well-educated accent. He stayed in the house for 90 minutes after the attack, stole money and disconnected the telephone from the wall before telling the victim to count to 1000 and leaving . 4
I have a fetish about being clean before I do anything”
Other things said by the perpetrator:
“I’m sorry it had to be you”
“I don’t have AIDS or any other sexual diseases”
“Your safety depends on you not seeing me”
Hampton Abductions – 1985
In February 1985, a 14-year-old girl was home alone in Hampton when a man burst in at around 9pm, threatening to “start throwing punches or cut her throat”. The man gagged her with a towel, hog tied her hands and feet and blindfolded her with a pillow. The perpetrator reportedly said to the victim: “My freedom is more important than your life” and tried to disguise his motive by telling her “your dad’s fooling around with my wife”. He falsely claimed he had left a note for her father, then forced her into the passenger seat floor of a small manual car with bucket seats and set off.
On route, he calmly answered her questions, telling her he’d never done anything like this before and he hadn’t been planning it for long. He claimed he was into heroin “and anything he could get his hands on” and his habit cost him $1500 a week. He also told her he had been the one who had broken into the house in the weeks before her abduction. At one point the car backfired and he said “trust me to steal a crappy car”. He stopped several times, pretending to call her mother.
He eventually arrived at his destination and led her barefoot across an expanse of dirt, grass and concrete, over 2 low brick fences and through a wire fence and sat her down and replaced her blindfold with material and tape. She saw she was in a vacant house with no walls or windows around 100m from a highway. He then revealed his true motive, saying “you realise I’m going to rape you don’t you?”.
After assaulting her, he drove for 45 minutes, telling her he’d drop her at a phone box with one hand and both legs tied together and 20c to call home. He then changed his mind, telling her he would drop her “quarter of a mile” from a police station and would pull her jumper over her head. In the end he released her in the car park behind Moorabbin Bowl at 2.10am and told her to count to 1000 before removing her blindfold and pulling her jumper over her head.
According to an anonymous ex-Spectrum taskforce member interviewed for The Hunters TV program in July 2024, DNA left by the Hampton abductor did not match DNA left behind during the abduction of Sharon Wills.
The victim described the man as 175cm, wearing a black balaclava with white stitching around the mouth and eyes. He was medium build, aged 25-30 with an Australian accent, shoulder-length straight straggly hair and a distinctive “soapy smell”.
Five months later on July 3, approximately 200m from the first victim’s home, a 14-year-old Hampton boy was walking home from the shop at 8.25pm when a 30-year-old man with thin-medium build, wearing runners, blue jeans and a hooded duffle coat grabbed him from behind and demanded money. The man showed him a knife saying “it’s razor sharp, feel it”, covered the boy’s head with a beanie and forced him into the footwell of his car which was parked in a laneway.
The boy was driven for 30 mins to a suburban home which was lined with plastic sheeting, prompting the offender to say “they must be renovating”. The offender washed the boy, saying it was important they were both clean, assaulted the boy and released him three hours later in Caulfield South near Caulfield police station. He then removed the tape from the boy’s eyes and pulled his jumper over his head and told him to count to 1000.
“Sorry it had to be you.”
Things the offender said to the 14-year-old boy:
“Sorry it had to be you.”
“I’m a weirdo and a bastard.”
“At least you won’t have to go to school tomorrow.”
“Police will want to know a lot of things” 1
Caulfield abduction – 16 Feb 1986
A woman was home alone in Caulfield when a man in a balaclava and loose-fitting jeans suddenly surprised her at 12.30am. Claiming to be after money, he showed her a long-barreled handgun, saying “See this? See what I’ve got? I won’t hesitate to use it”. He blindfolded her with Elastoplast or medical tape and forced her into a red-coloured Toyota Corolla.
On route he replaced her blindfold with cotton wool and tape, but the victim was able to see through the blindfold. She saw he was wearing glasses and had a thick reddish brown beard. She also saw a blue kids soft toy which was either a fish or a whale.
After driving around aimlessly, turning into oncoming traffic and pulling in and out of driveways, they arrived at a vacant housing commission property in Embankment Grove Chelsea. The man shone a torch through the window and unsuccessfully tried to force his way in through the window.
He drove her to a nearby reserve where he lay down a blanket and said “you know what I brought you here for don’t you?” When he started to remove his trousers, the woman screamed and ran, prompting him to abandon the assault, leaving cotton wool, tape and footprints in the reserve.
You know what I brought you here for don’t you?”
Residents heard screaming at 3.15am and saw a man around 5’9 in height holding something in his left hand walk from the reserve into Thames Promenade to start up a small old red car.
Things the offender said to the Caulfield victim:
“Just shut up, it’s just gonna be straight sex, no kinky stuff”
“I’m gonna do it whether you like it or not”
“I’ll take you and drop you off at a police station”
“I’m a madman. This is the way I get my kicks”
“Fuck it don’t these people ever go home?”
Source: Caulfield woman abducted, say police; 17 Feb 1986, The Age
Hawthorn home invasion and rape – 26 April 1985
At 2am a man wearing black pants and a black skivvy forced his way into a 26 year old woman’s apartment in Hawthorn. He told her he had a gun “and knives too” and told her not to look at his face. He tied her with thin plastic cord and made her bathe before telling her “you know what I’m here for” and assautling her.
Other bayside attacks – 1985-1987
Mr Cruel is also suspected of involvement in the following assaults
- Brighton abduction and rape – July 1986
- Dingley assault – 1987
Possible Mr Cruel attacks
Burglary/rapes – Warrandyte and Bulleen, Dec 1985
Within days of the Donvale attack, two other burglary/rapes occurred in nearby suburbs. The offender was armed with a gun in each case.
The first attack in the series was on 30-year-old woman in Warrandyte on Wed, 4 Dec 1985. At 11.10 pm the offender appeared from a walk-in-robe in the victim’s bedroom armed with a gun while the woman was getting ready for bed and raped her. 2 The attacker was wearing a balaclava, gloves and fawn overalls and was described as 30-40, pale complexion, medium build with broad shoulders.
The final attack was on 34-year-old woman in Bulleen just four days later. The victim was asleep with her 6-year-old daughter when she was awoken by the attacker at 11.30pm. He was armed with either a sawn-off shotgun or a silver pistol. The attacker was described as late 20s-early 30s, slim with mousey hair, faded jeans and T-shirt.5
Attempted abduction – St Albans, 16 Dec 1991
8 months after Karmein Chan’s body was discovered, an unsuccessful abduction attempt occurred on a 12-year-old girl in St Albans while task force detectives were taking a rare night off, prompting speculation the attacker may have had inside knowledge of the investigation. An intruder dressed in a beanie, jeans and a blue check shirt forced open a side window at 2am while the family of 7 slept, and started tying the girl’s hands together, but fled when she woke and started screaming. Dogs tracked his scent to a track 200m away, near power lines. Police noted that while there were some similarities in the attack, including its occurrence during school holidays, there were also some key differences such as the location and the fact that the intruder was wearing a beanie rather than a balaclava.7
Other possible unattributed attacks
References
- Herald Sun, 8 April 2016; Adam Shand Collection ‘Creating Mr Cruel’
- ‘Police seek man after rape’, Doncaster and Templestowe News; 10 December 1985
- ‘New silver gun terror in rapes‘, The Sun News Pictorial; 9 December 1985; by Michael Reid.
- ‘Police seek a new Mr Stinky rapist’ The Age; 12 May 1988
- ‘New silver gun terror in rapes‘, The Sun News Pictorial; 9 December 1985; by Michael Reid.
- The Age, 4 May 1991; ‘Police hunt for Mr ‘Cruel’‘ The Sun News Pictorial; 19 November 1987; by Jim Tennison
- ‘Police warn parents after attack on girl, 12’ The Age, 17 Dec 1991; ‘Mr Cruel kidnap link to bedroom intruder’ SMH, 16 Dec 1991
