Author(s): John Suter Linton

True Crime

The true story of the Wollongong murders. The story behind the grisly murders of former Wollongong mayor and State MP, Frank Arkell, shopkeeper David O'Hearn and ordinary bloke, Jack Van Krevel. What would drive an 18-year-old youth to bash, dismember and mutilate the body of a former lord mayor of Wollongong? Mark Valera stuck tiepins into his victim's eyes and kicked and beat the corpse for several hours before discarding his own clothes for those of the dead man. Two weeks earlier, the body of a 60-year-old shopkeeper had been found in his suburban Wollongong home, his severed head left in the kitchen sink, satanic writings scrawled on the walls. Again, Valera's macabre handiwork. Four months later, Valera walked into Wollongong police station and casually confessed to the murders. At his trial he pleaded childhood sexual abuse and family dysfunction as his defence. But the story didn't end there - in August 2000, Valera's father was murdered, dispatched by a tomahawk, knife and fire poker. This time it was Mark's 19-year-old sister Belinda who was behind the killing, although it was her lover, Keith Schreiber, who landed the blows. This is a bizarre and chilling tale of blood lust, homophobia and manipulation. Focussing on the lives of the murdered and their murderers, John Suter Linton tracks the police investigations and uncovers the dark secrets of three young Australians and their insatiable desire for revenge. Three victims and three perpetrators - all bound by blood.