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Murder of Karmein Chan - Cold Case Files Australia · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: You know, sometimes when we really dig into these true
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  crime stories, we find cases that are practically begging for
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  a deep dive, and today's case is definitely one of those.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's one of those cases that has it all,
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  you know, the meticules planning, the baffling clues, and that
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  lingering question of just how someone could vanish without a trace, and.
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  Speaker 1: Vanish in such a calculated way too, I mean, the
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  level of premeditation and the case we're discussing today is
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  truly chilling.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly, and that's why we're devoting this entire deep dive
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  to unraveling the mystery of mister Kruele.
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  Speaker 1: A name that still sends shivers down the spines of
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  many Australians, and for good reason. Now, for those unfamiliar
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  with this case, we're talking about a string of horrific
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  crimes that plagued Melbourne between nineteen eighty seven and nineteen ninety.
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  Speaker 2: One, right, and it's important to state upfront that this
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  isn't just your run of the mill true crime story.
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  We're dealing with a level of calculated cruelty that is
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  deeply unsettling.
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  Speaker 1: To say the least. So let's start by setting the stage.
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  What were the early days of this investigation, Like, what
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  kind of patterns started to emerge?
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  Speaker 2: Well, from the beginning, it was clear that this was
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  no ordinary predator. We're talking about meticulously planned attacks, always
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  carried out with an almost chilling precision.
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  Speaker 1: And the victims were all young girls, correct.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, all girls between the ages of ten and thirteen,
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  attacked in their own homes, which as another layer of
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  terror to this whole thing.
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  Speaker 1: It's like something straight out of a nightmare. Knowing that
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  someone was out there watching these families, waiting for the
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  perfect moment.
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  Speaker 2: To strike precisely. And it's that awareness that really gets
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  under your skin. The fact that this perpetrator clearly knew
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  these families routines, he knew when they were most vulnerable,
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  like during school holidays for instance.
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  Speaker 1: This sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it.
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  But let's talk about the attacks themselves. You mentioned meticulous planning.
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  What kind of details are we talking about? What made
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  these crimes so different?
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  Speaker 2: It was like he was trying to erase himself from existence.
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  We're talking forensic countermeasures that were practically unheard of at
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  the time. In one case, he brought his own blindfold
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  for the victim.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, it's like he had studied police procedures, knew exactly
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  what not to do.
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  Speaker 2: And he was incredibly careful about leaving any trace evidence.
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  He wore gloves, he made sure his victims couldn't get
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  a good look at him. It's like he was a
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  ghost of phantom.
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  Speaker 1: So we have this terrifying blend of meticulous planning and
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  calculated cruelty. But then we get to this next detail
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  and it throws me for a loop. Every time I
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  read about this, I'm just perplexed because despite the terror
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  he inflicted, mister Krule would clean and feed his victims.
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  He even allowed them to bathe.
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  Speaker 2: It's one of the most unsettling aspects of this case,
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  and it's something that criminologists and psychologists have debated for decades.
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  Why go through the effort of caring for your victims
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  in such way after subjecting them to such horrors.
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  Speaker 1: Right, it seems completely antithetical to the brutality of his crimes.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly, And that's what makes it so difficult to wrap
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  your head around. Some experts believe it was his way
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  of asserting dominance, a means of dehumanizing the victims while
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  simultaneously maintaining a warped sense.
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  Speaker 1: Of control, a twisted form of care almost in a way.
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  Speaker 2: I suppose it's important to remember that we're dealing with
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  a deeply disturbed individual here, someone whose motivations defy easy explanation.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, so we have this terrifying blend of meticulous planning,
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  calculated cruelty, and these almost inexplicable acts of dare I say, consideration,
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  it's enough to make your head spin. But this is
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  just the tip of the iceberg.
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  Speaker 2: And indeed, and we'll unpack those unsettling details and more
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  right after this short break.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome back to our deep dive into the chilling case
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  of mister Kruele. Before the break, we were discussing the
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  meticulous planning and almost paradoxical acts of almost care that
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  this perpetrator exhibited.
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  Speaker 2: Right a truly perplexing combination, to say the least.
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  Speaker 1: Now we need to turn our attention to a case that,
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  while sharing some similarities with the previous abductions, also introduce
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  some terrifying new elements to this mystery. The disappearance of
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  thirteen year old Carmine Chin.
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  Speaker 2: Carmine's case was a turning point in the investigation and
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  It really captured the attention of the entire nation. I mean,
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  here was this bright young girl, a student in one
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  of the most prestige schools in Melbourne, with dreams of
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  becoming a barrister.
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  Speaker 1: Can you imagine having those kind of aspirations at just thirteen.
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  It speaks volumes about her character, her ambition, and the
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  bright future that was so tragically cut short.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and it's that contrast between the ordinariness of her
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  life and the horror that befell her that makes her
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  story all the more heartbreaking.
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  Speaker 1: I agree. So let's talk about the day she disappeared.
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  April twenty seventh, nineteen ninety one. It started like any
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  other day for Carmine, didn't it.
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  Speaker 2: It did. She went to tennis lessons, had breakfast with
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  her family, even helped out at her parents' restaurant, just
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  a normal Saturday for a teenager.
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  Speaker 1: And then sometime after eight thirty pm, while her parents
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  were busy with the restaurant, a man wearing a balaklava
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  forced his way into the Chan home.
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  Speaker 2: Witnesses described him as fit and well spoken, eerily similar
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  to the descriptions given by previous victims.
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  Speaker 1: So right away investigators had to be thinking this could
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  be the work of mister Krule. But then, as you
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  alluded to earlier, Carmine's case takes a sinister turn that
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  sets it apart from the previous abductions.
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  Speaker 2: Right, this time there was no release. Carmine vanished without
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  a trace, leaving behind a family desperate for answers and
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  a city on edge.
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  Speaker 1: And adding to the mystery were those bizarre clues left
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  at the scene this time.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, the graffiti sprayed on the family car, it's just straight,
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  I mean Asian drug dealer payback. It just felt like
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  a deliberate attempt to mislead investigators, maybe even to incite
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  racial tensions.
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  Speaker 1: It's like whoever was responsible wanted to create chaos so discord.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly, and it definitely muddied the waters early on in
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  the investigation.
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  Speaker 1: And then there's the detail that always sends chills down
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  my spine. The scent dogs. Right, they pick up carmine
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  scent tracket for a few hundred meters and then poof nothing,
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  It's like she vanished into thin air.
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  Speaker 2: It's a detail that speaks volumes about the perpetrator's meticulous
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  planning and understanding of police procedures. It suggests a vehicle
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  was likely used, further minimizing the risk of leaving traceable evidence.
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  Speaker 1: So we have this terrifying escalation in mister kruel'sm this
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  deliberate misdirection, and a community paralyzed by fear. It's against
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  this backdrop that the FBI was called in to assist
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  with the investigation, and they developed a profile of mister
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  Krule that, in retrospect, was eerily accurate.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. The profile pained a picture of a
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  highly organized individual, likely living or working near the victims,
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  someone who could easily blend in. They even suggested he
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  might be employed in a field that brought him into
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  contact with children, maybe a school, childcare facility or something
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  like that.
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  Speaker 1: And they even speculated that he might be in a
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  relationship with a partner who was completely oblivious to the
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  horrors he was capable of.
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  Speaker 2: It's a chilling thought, isn't it, the idea that this
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  monster could be living a seemingly normal life right under
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  everyone's noses.
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  Speaker 1: It really is, And it speaks to the duality of
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  human nature. How someone can harbor such darkness beneath a
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  veneer of normalcy. But despite this profile, despite the largest
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  manhunt in Victoria's history, mister Krule was never apprehended.
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  Speaker 2: No, he wasn't, and the year after a disappearance, Carmain's
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  remains were discovered in a shallow grave.
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  Speaker 1: That would only deepen the mystery surrounding this case. It's
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  hard to imagine the anguish Carmine's family must have felt
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  during that year of agonizing uncertainty.
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  Speaker 2: It's every parent's worst nightmare, and the fact that they
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  had no answers, no closure for such a long time
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  just amplifies the tragedy of it all absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: And then, on April ninth, nineteen ninety two, almost exactly
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  a year after she vanished, Carmine's remains were found in
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  a wooded area in Thomastown, Yeah, a suburb.
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  Speaker 2: About fifteen kilometers from where she was last seen.
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  Speaker 1: A discovery that shifted the focus of the investigation from
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  a missing person's case to a murder inquiry. What did
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  this tell investigators? Did it bring them any closer to
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  finding Carmine's killer?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it provided some clues, but it also readsed more questions.
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  The location itself was significant, a secluded area, suggesting a
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  level of familiarity with the surroundings.
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  Speaker 1: Right, like the perpetrator knew exactly where to take her exactly.
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  Speaker 2: And then there was the cause of death, three gunshot
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  wounds to the back of the head. This cold blooded,
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  execution style killing pointed to a premedita that felt different
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  from the calculated yet non lethal attacks we'd seen before.
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  Speaker 1: You know, it's at this point in the story that
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  I always find myself wondering was this truly the work
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  of mister Krule, who, as we've established, had never fatally
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  harmed a victim before, or were investigators now dealing with
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  a copycat, someone seizing on the pervasive fear that had
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  gripped Melbourne.
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  Speaker 2: It's the million dollar question, isn't it, And unfortunately there's
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  no easy answer. Some investigators believe the cause of death,
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  coupled with the prolonged period Carmo was held captive, suggest
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  a different perpetrator altogether, maybe someone with a personal vendetta
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  against the family.
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  Speaker 1: Or perhaps someone involved in organized crime, a theory that
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  was fueled by that misleading graffiti found at the Chan
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  home right exactly.
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  Speaker 2: It's like all of these possibilities are swirling around, making
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  it even harder to pinpoint who was truly responsible for
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  this horrific act.
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  Speaker 1: So we have this incredibly complex investigation with multiple potential
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  leads and a cloud of uncertainty hanging over everything. And
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  to make matters even more difficult, the forensic evidence collected
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  at the site where Carmine's remains were found offered little
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  in the way of concrete answers.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, despite their best efforts, investigators were unable to find
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  any DNA or fingerprints that could definitively link anyone to
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  the crime.
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  Speaker 1: It's like whoever was responsible for this was a ghost
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  of phantom who knew exactly how to cover.
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  Speaker 2: Their track exactly. And when you factor in the deliberate
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  attempts to mislead the investigation early on, it just creates
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  this almost insurmountable challenge for law enforcement.
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  Speaker 1: It's a stark reminder that even with the best intentions
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  and countless hours devoted to cracking a case, some mysteries
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  remain unsolved.
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  Speaker 2: It is, and it's a difficult pill to swallow, especially
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  when you're dealing with the case as heartbreaking as Carmines.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, so, where does that leave us? Mister Krule was
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  never definitively linked to Carmine's death, and he seemingly vanished
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  after her disappearance.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like he just melted away into the shadows,
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  leaving behind a trail of unanswered questions and shattered lives.
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  Speaker 1: This case, with its haunting detail and unanswered questions, serves
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  as a chilling reminder that some monsters do exist, lurking
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  in the shadows, capable of unspeakable acts.
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  Speaker 2: It forces us to confront an unsettling truth about the world.
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  We live in a world where evil can lurk beneath
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  the surface of everyday life.
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  Speaker 1: It's a sobering thought and it underscores the importance of vigilance,
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  of staying informed, and of never taking our safety for granted.
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  Speaker 2: It's a reminder that we all have a role to
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  play in keeping our community safe.
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  Speaker 1: And on that note, we come to the end of
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  another deep dive. We've explored the dark and twisted case
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  of mister Krule, a case that continues to haunt Australia
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  to this day. But as always, we encourage you to
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  do your own research, delve deeper into the source material
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  and draw your own conclusions.
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  Speaker 2: And if you have any theories or insights of your own,
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  we'd love to hear them.
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  Speaker 1: Until next time, stay curious, stay informed, and most importantly,
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  stay safe.