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February 4, 2026 — 1:05pm
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Sometimes fresh eyes see things differently. US criminal profiler and psychotherapist John Kelly has profiled America’s most notorious serial killers, from John Wayne Gacy to the Zodiac Killer.
Now, he talks to John Silvester on his Naked City podcast about Mr Cruel, a child kidnapper and killer who terrorised Melbourne in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
“When you’re talking about Mr Cruel, and I can’t think of anybody crueller,” Kelly says. “...because the worst situation a parent can face is not knowing where their child is, especially through stranger abduction.”
Missing Melbourne children from late 1980s and early 1990s who are believed to be victims of Mr Cruel.According to Kelly, Mr Cruel – who had an obsession with cleaning crime scenes – was also Mr Clean. Kelly’s profile of Mr Cruel describes a killer with a high IQ, who is “extremely neat and clean, maybe obsessive, over cleanliness and hygiene. Maybe obsessive-compulsive.”
Police say Mr Cruel planned each crime in advance and knew the houses he was going to enter and knew young girls would be home.
Crime profiler John Kelly has examined the case of Mr Cruel.As Kelly discusses with Silvester on his Naked City podcast, the killer’s meticulous planning, careful cleaning of crime scenes and obsession with staying in control contrasts with how 13-year-old Karmein Chan was killed after being abducted from her Melbourne home in April 1991.
John Silvester is a columnist for The Age. He has covered Melbourne’s crime beat and justice system since the 1970s, winning numerous accolades, including three Walkley Awards and six Melbourne Press Club Quill Awards. He has written or co-authored more than 30 books, including the Underbelly series, which was made into a TV series.
John Silvester lifts the lid on Australia’s criminal underworld. Subscribers can sign up to receive his Naked City newsletter every Thursday.
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