Mr Cruel

The BBQ Pit
1

The early 90s were a difficult time. In Melbourne, parents and their daughters didn’t fear the boogie man. They feared him. He stole three little girls (about 13 years old) from their beds. Abused them. Kept them for days. The first two, he returned. The third he murdered. In the press he was dubbed Mr. Cruel. It was, and still is, one of the biggest and most publicised crimes ever committed. Most Aussie dopers will probably know exactly what I’m talking about.

I remember that time well. Too well.

Two of those little girls went to my school. I knew one of them - our sisters were good friends. I remember the fear - that this Mr. Cruel was out there abducting girls from my school. I remember the press waiting for us at the school gates - filming us as we entered the school, hoping for some good footage of little girls crying. “How does it feel to know that someone is stealing <schoolname> girls from their beds?” they would ask. How were we to respond? I was 12 when that last girl, K, the one I knew, went missing. 13 when her body was found. Memorials attended by the police and press alike. Police escorts on school camp. We never knew the whole story - our parents and the school protected us as best they could. Most of what I know I found out much later.

They never caught Mr. Cruel.

Over the years, I have worked through all that comes with having abducted and murdered schoolmates. The fear, the loss and the grief. Mostly, I don’t think about it much anymore. Until today.

Tonight there was a special on TV - one where they get psychics in to solve the crime. I didn’t want to watch, but I couldn’t not watch either. I cried the whole time. Memories, guilt and fear came pouring back. And anger. Anger at the media who played to our fears back when we were just kids, who hounded us at the gates of our school in the time of our grief and fear. And anger at them now. How dare they trivialise this and make it into entertainment. Because behind it, are very real people, dealing with very real loss and very real fear.

I guess too, there’s some guilt in there. At the time, I had seen something that bothered me. I’ve mulled it over in my head for almost 15 years - more than half my life, wondering if I should say something. It probably isn’t important - just the imagination of a 12 year old kid who saw something that didn’t sit right. I don’t even think it would be useful even if it were pertinent. But I wonder. ANd it churns me up, because I don’t know what to do. And I feel guilty for saying nothing.

So here’s what I want to say: Fuck you channel 10. Fuck you for bring all this up. For treating the sacred loss of a daughter, sister, friend and classmate in a most horrible and violent way as entertainment for the general public. Fuck you Mr. Cruel, whoever the hell you are. I hope you get everything that’s coming to you.

I wish I hadn’t watched that show tonight. :frowning:

2

I saw the listing in the TV guide and it disgusted me too. It’s not the first in that series. I remember seeing a promo for an earlier programme and not even imagining it could be about real cases.

On the guilt thing: almost certainly you saw nothing. But it’s eating at you that maybe you saw something. Do yourself a favour - never mind the slim, slim chance that it will help KC’s memory - and call Crimestoppers. It’s 1800 333 000. It

Tell them you think it’s nothing but you need to tell them anyway.

3

Absolutely tell the authorities. It’s probably nothing, sure, but nothing they can discount. On the off chance that it’s something, it could be a vital piece of the puzzle that will help them find Mr. Cruel and bring him to justice.

4

And please don’t feel guilty for not telling before. You were a traumatized child. We don’t expect children to make grown up decisions, especially ones that are so terrorized and upset.

I’m so sorry for what you have been through. I can’t imagine what it must have been like then or what it is like now to relive it. It’s not too late to let the media know what it did to you as a child. Maybe it will save another child from being emotionally abused by the press.

American television has true crime shows on on a daily basis. Some of them are repeated seemingly endlessly. Many of these are of crimes that have been solved and they are very graphic. I can’t imagine what that does to the families.

In others, they are trying to find the guilty person and are looking for leads. Some of these have been very successful in bringing people to justice. (One man was found in our neighborhood working as a cook in a local restaurant.)

We even have programs on autopsies here. And I do watch them. I don’t know if it is for “entertainment” or education or maybe both.

At any rate, you’ve put a different light on it.

5

The function of television and radio reporters, newspaper men and women, and photographers is something we think too little about. Incidents like this remind us of the bottom line according to which these companies operate. And the monumental power they have.