The Myth of the Forensic Mastermind
For years, Victoria Police and even Dr David Wells—the force’s forensic examiner—framed Mr Cruel as a man with advanced forensic knowledge. The bathing rituals were interpreted as deliberate attempts to destroy evidence, and at one point investigators even wondered if the offender might be connected to police.
Crime Insiders Podcast David Wells
But once you line up the details of each attack, the picture is much clearer: he wasn’t a forensic expert. He was a highly organised, ritualistic offender acting out the fantasies in his head, and his understanding of forensics came straight from public knowledge of the
Fantasy Not Forensics
The Lower Plenty attack is the clearest evidence of this. The sequence is impossible to explain through a forensic lens: the victim was assaulted, then made to bathe and brush her teeth, then assaulted again—and he left without a final clean-up. If he truly understood DNA or trace evidence, leaving a fresh assault unwashed makes no sense. What it does reveal is a compulsive script.
The same pattern appears in the Sharon Wills and Nicola Lynas cases. Both girls were made to bathe and brush their teeth on arrival and again before each assault, exactly like Lower Plenty. This wasn’t about evidence; it was about control, order, and the fantasy he needed to enact. Everything about these rituals is fantasy driven, not forensically logical.
Public Knowledge of DNA
His actual forensic awareness shows up only at the end of captivity. At the time of the Mr Cruel attacks, semen testing was limited—before the Kaufman (1989) and Pitchfork (1988) cases, it could only match blood types. Those two cases changed the public understanding of DNA forever. Pitchfork became the first person convicted of murder using DNA, and the Kaufman investigation was heavily reported across Australia. Anyone following crime news at the time would have learned that semen could now identify you personally, and Mr Cruel almost certainly paid attention.
(Kaufman Case 1989): Publicized as a landmark in forensic DNA profiling in Australia, changing how sexual assault evidence was interpreted.
(Pitchfork Case 1988): First murder conviction in the world using DNA evidence; widely reported and influential on public understanding of forensic science.
If he truly understood forensics, he would also have understood fibre transfer—the very thing that brought down the UK Railway Rapist case through microscopic fibre comparison. Yet Mr Cruel showed no awareness of this risk. Using the Lynas family car to transport Nicola was reckless for someone supposedly focused on trace evidence, any offender with true forensic expertise would avoid a vehicle entirely.
The garbage-bag theory around Sharon Wills also falls apart under scrutiny. Some claim he wrapped her in garbage bags to reduce trace evidence, but the far more obvious explanation is the correct one: he was disguising her as rubbish so she wouldn’t be noticed on the street. The proof is simple—he didn’t do this with Nicola. A genuine forensic tactic would have been consistent; this was purely practical camouflage.
The Ritualistic Offender Pattern
Once we strip away the idea of a “forensic genius,” the truth is obvious: Mr Cruel was a ritualistic offender. These offenders are highly organised, plan their crimes in detail, and select victims very specifically to fit the fantasy they want to act out
(The sexually violent offender: Impulsive or ritualistic? PDF).
Next Level Planning
His planning was next level. He didn’t just pick a house—he watched his victims, learned their routines, and carried out surveillance long before he ever stepped inside. When he struck, he controlled entire households, held parents at bay, and abducted his victims with precision. Getaway routes were mapped, cars ready, weapons and ligatures prepared, and break-and-entry methods clearly practised. He hid his identity with masks, gloves, and layered clothing. Nothing was left to chance—every inch of the crime was planned.
Pseudo-Relationship Fantasy
With Nicola Lynas, he acted as though they were in a boyfriend-girlfriend or husband-wife relationship, flattering her, telling her she was pretty, and creating the illusion of a partnership. This is classic ritualistic offender behavior, where a pseudo-relationship is central.
A case described in the research illustrates this pattern clearly:
A case study showing the same fantasy-driven, pseudo-romantic script echoed in the Lynas attack.
This mirrors the pseudo-relationship, flattery, and control seen with Nicola: the offender frames the encounter as a shared, almost romantic experience, using psychological manipulation and ritualized behavior to enforce his fantasy.
Staging Pornography and Rituals
Ritualistic offenders often create their own pornography to act out and preserve their fantasies, and Mr Cruel did the same. Sharon Wills’ account gives a glimpse of this: she noticed something at the end of the bed that looked like a tripod and camera. He was clearly staging the scene to bring his fantasy to life, capturing it for himself.
Even the bathing routines were part of that fantasy, not some forensic measure. For him, making the girls bathe and brush their teeth reinforced the story he was acting out, giving him control and order in line with his inner narrative.
The Shattered Fantasy
He killed Karmein, so we’ll never know exactly what happene. But she fit the same victim profile: taken from her home, planned entry, planned exit. The difference was her reaction. Her mother said she was a fighter, and that kind of resistance would smash his script if she wasn’t compliant, she didn’t play along with the fantasy, and the whole thing collapsed. That’s why she never made it home.
The Radio Consistency
A small but consistent detail across the other attacks—the radio left on in the house during detention—also speaks to his ritualistic style. In Lower Plenty, Nicola Lynas, and Sharon Wills’ cases, the radio was reportedly on while he held the girls. It may have had no practical purpose, but its repeated presence demonstrates his need for consistency and structure within the fantasy he was enacting.
Conclusion
Taken together, his meticulous planning, the staged pseudo-relationship, the creation of pornography, the repeated rituals, and even minor details like the radio make it clear: Mr Cruel was a ritualistic offender, and everything he did was about enacting his fantasy, not outsmarting the police.