There is new information revealed about the Mr Cruel case! The big scoops from the interview are the following.
1. Iddles revealed that the offender’s lair “in the lounge room had a chunky pine lounge suite”. This is significant as previously no information about the lounge room of Mr Cruel’s lair had been revealed by police or journalists.
2. He stated that, in the bathroom of the lair, “the basin was very close to the toilet”. This contradicts previous information from published accounts of Mr Cruel’s bathroom as they all stated the bathroom did not contain a toilet, but that the toilet was located in a different room next to the bathroom (it is unclear what the reason for this contradiction is).
3. In relation to his Eltham suspect, who he talked about on the Australian True Crime podcast in July 2020, he stated that the person who told him about his Eltham suspect was a “well-known criminal” and “well-known to police” who told Iddles this information when he was dying of cancer in “about 2000 or 2001” (ie not Chopper Read as some had speculated as the latter died in 2013). The year he received this tipoff was not revealed in the ATC interview.
4. He stated that the Eltham suspect died in 1992, (this was not revealed in the ATC interview).
5. He described the Eltham suspect as “someone who from time to time crossdressed”, (this was not revealed in the ATC interview).
6. The photo of the Eltham suspect “was shown to Karmein Chan’s mum and the father, but they couldn’t identify him”, (this was not revealed in the ATC interview).
7. The suspect “ran his own business which he was very successful in”, (this was not revealed in the ATC interview).
8. He mentions other attacks that were atrributed to Mr Cruel in “southern Melbourne, down around Sandringam, Brighton”. He said there were 12 attacks in total and that in these other 8 attacks the perpetrator was “always wearing a black balaclava”. “So, there were probably 12 that you might attribute to him, but definitely the last 4”, (these attacks have been written about previously by journalists such as Keith Moor and John Silvester, but the suburb of Sandringham wasn’t mentioned – of course he doesn’t actually state that an attack occurred in Sandringham).
9. He stated about one of these earlier attacks that “it’s a vacant house that’s up for sale. There was no forced entry so how did he get access? And there were questions about could he be a real estate agent, but the way in which he cleaned up, the MO was nearly identical, so that is why all of those cases were put in…a basket. He might have started in 1985 and you’re looking at about every 6 or 8 months for an attack…they were very, very similar”. (This may refer to the Hampton sexual assault of a 14 year old girl which has been written about previously by Keith Moor and John Silvester. However, the information about the house being a vacant house up for sale is new. It is probably the same attack as what Keith Moor describes in his 13 April 2013 article for the Herald Sun in which he stated: “”One of these suspected attacks was on a 14-year-old girl who was abducted from her Hampton home in Melbourne’s southern suburbs in 1985. She was tied, gagged and blindfolded before being driven to a vacant building site and assaulted. The scared and scarred schoolgirl was dumped at the nearby Moorabbin Bowl on the Nepean Highway at 2:10am, nearly five hours after being kidnapped.”
Thank you to Matt Dunlop of Matt Dunlop Media for providing me with the video.
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About this Mr. Cruel Person who ever he was i believe that he did do these thin to the children that he kidnapped except Karmen Chan, i believe that it was the Chinese Mafia that was trying to get the family to pay a protection money and when they refused they kidnapped Karmen and killed her in retaliation for not paying protection money.
A lot of people I have spoken to, some police included, have the same opinion Darren. I just don’t know!
[…] Mr Cruel – Ron Iddles interview […]
[…] Mr Cruel – Ron Iddles interview […]
I wonder, has a suspect that lived in Eltham 1984-1994, on Ryan’s Rd, used all the colloquialisms suggested by victims, matches the sketch shown in the 9 plagiarism piece, dined in Phyllis’s Eltham restaurant regularly, is suspected to have interest in school-aged girls Inc allegations against him re his two young stepdaughters (whom were young teens at the same time period of 1990, allegations investigated by police in 92-94, which may have shocked him/scarred him into not re-offending in same manner) that also had access to property in Brunswick and Glenroy (right opposite ESS airport) and is same height, build of desc given — ever been reviewed by police? This man’s family were also regularly away, he was also known to be aloof and would go ‘walkabout’ regularly acc to his children. Ran his own business ie his own hrs, and whose son has said consistently he was for unknown reasons always fearful his father would be arrested, due to something his father told him – but that he cannot recall specifically but has stated this fear was permanent in his childhood aged 5-9 years (1989-1993). His initials are PW.
Hi J. I haven’t heard about him. Please email me on melbinmarvels@gmail.com to let me know more.
[…] Mr Cruel – Ron Iddles interview […]