Unsolved Hunt for Mr Cruel

johnymac1

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The Chan's restaurant was(/is) in Etham near the big roundabout at the end of Fitzsimmons Lane.

If the suspect lived in Eltham, why would he target a child living in the same suburb?
is Eltham, an established area, surounded by parkland?, perfect cover to park his car.
A crazy taxi driver once took me through the outer northern burbs, Lillydale - Tulla, what a wild ride!!

few things struck me after watching the latest vids.
1/ Mr Cruel took alot of stuff to the victims house, 3 rolls of electrical tape- different colours, surgical tape, handcuffs, rope, knife and and hand gun.
The rope was from overseas, not sold in Oz, I would assume its from Japan. All caried in a cloth satchel.
Why the need to carry 3 different colours of tape? (red blue and green)?
2/ He changed to a better balaclava to hide his eyes.
3/ He didnt park close to the victims house, for fear of his car being identified
4/ why the need to take money, in some of his raids he took items and cash?
 
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johnymac1

All Australian
Nov 6, 2019
764
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AFL Club
Adelaide
The Chan's restaurant was(/is) in Etham near the big roundabout at the end of Fitzsimmons Lane.

If the suspect lived in Eltham, why would he target a child living in the same suburb?
we have two cases in Adelaide where a girl was abducted by a person living close, different offenders!
Louise Bell, offender living a block away and known to the victim
Rhianna Barreau with an unknown offender believed to have lived within 500m
 

JWS2019

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The Chan's restaurant was(/is) in Etham near the big roundabout at the end of Fitzsimmons Lane.

If the suspect lived in Eltham, why would he target a child living in the same suburb?
Pretty common usually say near workplace or home within a radius. None where abducted in eltham only bordering suburbs.
 

JWS2019

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is Eltham, an established area, surounded by parkland?, perfect cover to park his car.
A crazy taxi driver once took me through the outer northern burbs, Lillydale - Tulla, what a wild ride!!

few things struck me after watching the latest vids.
1/ Mr Cruel took alot of stuff to the victims house, 3 rolls of electrical tape- different colours, surgical tape, handcuffs, rope, knife and and hand gun.
The rope was from overseas, not sold in Oz, I would assume its from Japan. All caried in a cloth satchel.
Why the need to carry 3 different colours of tape? (red blue and green)?
2/ He changed to a better balaclava to hide his eyes.
3/ He didnt park close to the victims house, for fear of his car being identified
4/ why the need to take money, in some of his raids he took items and cash?
Good thought provoking questions!
1. Disguise as electrician? tradesperson? OCD?
2. Original sketch showed some detail that may be significant to his image?
3. If local, this would make sense that he hid his car not hugely populated at this time and locals would notice your car out front
4. Think cash was part of the role play. I’m sure I saw that other valuables where left behind.

I thought the the linked interview and podcasts where great thanks for the share - was throrough on going over all the old articles was interesting to hear thoughts at those times.
 
Mar 21, 2016
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The different colour duct tape/electrical is interesting. With the rest of his kill kit he isnt making out to be an electrician - though he may have got them at Bunnings. Trying to recall if any of the hardware chains sold 3 packs in different colours?

I know they have done in the past.

Another reason may well be trying to disguise a large purchase of white etc

But I think the 3 pack idea is closest
 

JWS2019

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The different colour duct tape/electrical is interesting. With the rest of his kill kit he isnt making out to be an electrician - though he may have got them at Bunnings. Trying to recall if any of the hardware chains sold 3 packs in different colours?

I know they have done in the past.

Another reason may well be trying to disguise a large purchase of white etc

But I think the 3 pack idea is closest
Probably amounts to nothing! Just my crazy mind latching into something! No bunnings In 87 but I’m sure you’d be able to source pretty easily. Just peops didn’t really have all the home Reno stuff that we do these days which makes me think tradie but again not a stretch to purchase.
 

JWS2019

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The different colour duct tape/electrical is interesting. With the rest of his kill kit he isnt making out to be an electrician - though he may have got them at Bunnings. Trying to recall if any of the hardware chains sold 3 packs in different colours?

I know they have done in the past.

Another reason may well be trying to disguise a large purchase of white etc

But I think the 3 pack idea is closest
And the gun and handcuffs definitely ruins the electrician idea lols!
 
Sep 22, 2011
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This guy was seriously creepy.

What is the protocol for (retired) detectives in providing information on names? If the suspect and informant are both dead, is there anything stopping him from naming them?

Nothing legally. Sounded to me like possibly a bit of a public nudge to police etc. He seemed to say that he thought it was true but others didn’t. Maybe they’ll look a little harder now.
 
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It plays somewhat with this information:


During the original investigation, a detective was contacted by two judges and two barristers, who asked to remain anonymous, supplying information on who they thought was Mr Cruel.

This was uncovered in the wake of the Lawyer X scandal - ie reviews of whether legal figures have overstepped the mark in terms of also informing on their clients.

Which would follow that the person/s they spoke about would have been a criminal/s known to police.
 
Mar 21, 2016
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It plays somewhat with this information:


During the original investigation, a detective was contacted by two judges and two barristers, who asked to remain anonymous, supplying information on who they thought was Mr Cruel.

This was uncovered in the wake of the Lawyer X scandal - ie reviews of whether legal figures have overstepped the mark in terms of also informing on their clients.

Which would follow that the person/s they spoke about would have been a criminal/s known to police.
The article didn't mention if they investigated this name
 

sprockets

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It plays somewhat with this information:


During the original investigation, a detective was contacted by two judges and two barristers, who asked to remain anonymous, supplying information on who they thought was Mr Cruel.

This was uncovered in the wake of the Lawyer X scandal - ie reviews of whether legal figures have overstepped the mark in terms of also informing on their clients.

Which would follow that the person/s they spoke about would have been a criminal/s known to police.
That article answered another question as well, at least for me...

"Ferreting out the existence of other possible Nicola Gobbos has been one of the most secretive activities of the Royal Commission into the Management of Police Informants. No public hearing has ever been conducted on the subject because of its sensitivity."
 

less than zero

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This podcast talks about the first attack


A pretty comprehensive comparison of the media reports of the crimes over the years.

One of the most interesting revelations to me is that the attacks were not all on the school holidays. This piece of misinformation has become 'fact' so much so that many people have profiled the perpetrator according to this information, possibly resulting in a bit of tunnel vision.
 

JWS2019

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A pretty comprehensive comparison of the media reports of the crimes over the years.

One of the most interesting revelations to me is that the attacks were not all on the school holidays. This piece of misinformation has become 'fact' so much so that many people have profiled the perpetrator according to this information, possibly resulting in a bit of tunnel vision.
Crazy isn’t it.... so odd that information provided to FBI was inaccurate. Definite tunnel vision. Could have really changed things if someone had suspicions about a person, but were not a teacher or didn’t fit profile.
 

less than zero

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Crazy isn’t it.... so odd that information provided to FBI was inaccurate. Definite tunnel vision. Could have really changed things if someone had suspicions about a person, but were not a teacher or didn’t fit profile.
Agree...it seems like a small mistake but it potentially has huge ramifications. Profiling is not an exact science at best, so for the FBI to base their profile on inaccurate information....well not much hope really.

Even in the recent interview with Ron Iddles that Kurve posted, he reiterates this 'fact' and is one of the reasons why the police were so focused on the lecturer from Carlton.
 

johnymac1

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The different colour duct tape/electrical is interesting. With the rest of his kill kit he isnt making out to be an electrician - though he may have got them at Bunnings. Trying to recall if any of the hardware chains sold 3 packs in different colours?

I know they have done in the past.

Another reason may well be trying to disguise a large purchase of white etc

But I think the 3 pack idea is closest
Electrical tape colour selection is strange. solid green is not used in normal electrical istallations, its normally a green with yellow stripe.

As mentioned, it could be a hardware pack, or from a $2 shop!

Normal house wiring use black and red colouring, so you would think If a sparky was involved, he would use that pairing.
The colour blue, is used to indicate a neutral connection, mostly in an appliance. Or for marking a Blue phase in a 3phase , set up.
The Red tape is fairly common, used to mark the active wire in domestic installations and the a Phase in 3phase setups

They could have an old roll of green tape lying around, but the older it is the more likely to pick up hairs and possibly DNA.

The problem with keeping tape around, the sticky sides, pick up all sorts of dirt and hairs. would be a problem for the offender to keep them sterile.

From memory Telecom may use that combination, a solid green, a blue and a red. So we could be looking at a telecom tech.
 

JWS2019

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Electrical tape colour selection is strange. solid green is not used in normal electrical istallations, its normally a green with yellow stripe.

As mentioned, it could be a hardware pack, or from a $2 shop!

Normal house wiring use black and red colouring, so you would think If a sparky was involved, he would use that pairing.
The colour blue, is used to indicate a neutral connection, mostly in an appliance. Or for marking a Blue phase in a 3phase , set up.
The Red tape is fairly common, used to mark the active wire in domestic installations and the a Phase in 3phase setups

They could have an old roll of green tape lying around, but the older it is the more likely to pick up hairs and possibly DNA.

The problem with keeping tape around, the sticky sides, pick up all sorts of dirt and hairs. would be a problem for the offender to keep them sterile.

From memory Telecom may use that combination, a solid green, a blue and a red. So we could be looking at a telecom tech.
Please not another telecom tech... must say they definitely had freedom of working hours and not overly suspicious getting around the neighbourhood.
 

JWS2019

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It plays somewhat with this information:


During the original investigation, a detective was contacted by two judges and two barristers, who asked to remain anonymous, supplying information on who they thought was Mr Cruel.

This was uncovered in the wake of the Lawyer X scandal - ie reviews of whether legal figures have overstepped the mark in terms of also informing on their clients.

Which would follow that the person/s they spoke about would have been a criminal/s known to police.

Interesting in that a judge is free to perhaps suggest someone that could fit whom they have seen in public court?

Are you thinking perhaps that it was closed court or related to similar to lawyer x that caused “close to crossing the line?”
 
The Chan's restaurant in Eltham was at 561 Main Road.
 

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