Mr Cruel child killer case: $1 million reward announced in Karmein Chan case

VICTORIA Police have used the 25th anniversary of the abduction of schoolgirl Karmein Chan to increase the reward in the case to $1 million.

• NEW DETAILS: Uni lecturer is prime Mr Cruel suspect
• SPECIAL REPORT: The dossier on Mr Cruel suspects
• NEVER FORGOTTEN: Mr Cruel case haunts detective

VICTORIA Police have used the 25th anniversary of the abduction of schoolgirl Karmein Chan to increase the reward in the case to $1 million.

Police believe Karmein, 13, was taken from her Templestowe home about 8.40pm on April 13, 1991, by an unidentified man the media dubbed Mr Cruel.

EX-TEACHERS IN FRAME IN MR CRUEL CASE

Her body was found in a shallow grave at Thomastown just under a year later.

An autopsy revealed she had been shot at least three times in the head.

Mr Cruel was also responsible for an attack on an 11-year-old girl in her Lower Plenty home in 1987, the abduction of Sharon Wills, 10, in 1988 and the kidnap of Nicola Lynas, 13, in 1991.

Sharon was held captive for 18 hours and Nicola was Mr Cruel’s prisoner for 50 hours.

Victoria Police assistant commissioner Stephen Fontana, who is one of the former heads of taskforce Spectrum, which was set up to catch Mr Cruel four weeks after Karmein was abducted, today announced the $1 million bounty.

He repeated the long held view of taskforce members that while they are as confident as they can be the same person was responsible for the earlier attacks on the 11-year-old Lower Plenty girl and the Wills and Lynas abductions, they are not as confident Mr Cruel went on to kidnap and kill Karmein Chan.

THE SUSPECTS: MR CRUEL INTERACTIVE MAP

Mr Fontana said the murder of Karmein was a horrific crime that continues to haunt him.

“That’s probably, when you think about it, every parent’s nightmare, to find that one of your children have been abducted and ultimately murdered,” he said.

“This particular inquiry sparked an enormous investigation at the time. The Spectrum taskforce was set up for a number of years.

“During this period we believe we linked this offence to a number of other unsolved abductions, where children were ultimately returned home.

“The offender or suspect in these matters was dubbed Mr Cruel.

“Whether all those offences are linked or not is still subject to determination.

“Certainly the earlier offences we are pretty confident are, though we have always kept an open mind that the abduction of Karmein may not have been linked.

“But all the indications are that it most likely was.

“We have always maintained that there will be someone in the community who is an associate, or knows the offender in this case, who will have information that is relevant to this investigation.

“We are putting out an appeal to that person, or those persons, who may have that information to please contact Crime Stoppers and provide that information to us.

“This crime, series of crimes, had significant impact on the community.

“I know even with my own family, the impact on my children at the time. A lot of children were worried.

“We interviewed thousands of persons of interest but, ultimately, we didn’t catch or identify the offender.

“Not to solve the case has always lingered on my mind personally.”

The Herald Sun last week revealed new evidence in the Mr Cruel case and provided details of the seven Mr Cruel suspects police were unable to eliminate.

It revealed one of those seven was the prime suspect and that when police raided his home they found a balaclava and a knife hidden in his roof.

Mr Cruel used a balaclava and a knife during his series of attacks.

The former Melbourne University lecturer is now aged 75 and still lives in the house where detectives discovered his disguise and weapon of choice.

Today’s increasing of the reward to capture Mr Cruel follows the Herald Sun revealing in 2014 that Victoria Police intends progressively increasing all previously offered murder rewards to $1 million.

All new murder rewards will also be for $1 million.

A 2014 Herald Sun article quoting the brother of missing schoolboy Terry Floyd moved the then police chief commissioner, Ken Lay, to order a review of the rewards system.

Daryl Floyd and Peter MacDiarmid, the father of murder victim Sarah MacDiarmid, were quoted in the Herald Sun arguing it was unfair that some cases attracted $1 million rewards, others were set at $100,000, and some didn’t have rewards at all.

Mr Lay told the Herald Sun in June 2014 he had read the article and agreed that the rewards system was unfair and that he had ordered a review of the rewards system.

His review resulted in the current force policy of linking all rewards to the relevant maximum penalty.

All new rewards to solve crimes with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, which includes murder, are now set at $1 million.

Rewards for less serious crimes range from $50,000 to $500,000.

The Herald Sun revealed the first cold case to have the reward increased to $1 million was the 1994 bashing murder of Leah Buck, 79.

Several other old unsolved murder cases have since had their rewards increased to $1 million, with the hunt for Mr Cruel being the latest.

The Herald Sun revealed last Wednesday that Victoria Police was about to increase the Mr Cruel reward.

Anybody with information about Mr Cruel, or any of the crimes attributed to him, should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or provide information online through www.crimestoppersvic.com.au

[e-mail]