Shortcut: The Wollongong Murders

Summary

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Australian True Crime: Shortcut — The Wollongong Murders

Podcast: Australian True Crime
Host: Meshel Laurie (Bravecasting)
Guest: John Souter Linton (Author of "Bound by Blood")
Release Date: August 10, 2025

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Overview: Darkness in Wollongong's "Normal" Suburbs

This episode explores the infamous Wollongong murders of the late 1990s, focusing on the brutal killings perpetrated by Mark Valera, the subsequent murder of Valera's father, and the tangled web of allegations, family trauma, media speculation, and the community’s reckoning with evil in its midst. True crime author John Souter Linton discusses his research into the case, unpacking the facts versus rumors, the complex motivations behind the crimes, and the devastating impact on the victims' families in a town that thought itself safe and ordinary.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Recap of Events and the Central Murders (04:46 - 05:59)

• The case centers on two especially brutal murders in Wollongong in 1998:
  • Frank Arkell, former Mayor of Wollongong, murdered while awaiting trial for alleged child sexual abuse.
  • David O'Hearn, a local shopkeeper, killed in a similarly savage manner; he also happened to be gay, and unfounded media speculation conflated his murder with abuse allegations.
• Mark Valera, only 19 at the time, confessed to both murders.

"At the time of his death, the man once known as Mr Wollongong stood accused of being a member of a pedophile ring. He was awaiting a court date when he was brutally murdered by 19 year old Mark Valera. It was Valera's second murder in as many weeks." — Host (00:41)

• The episode highlights the damaging assumptions made about the victims, particularly O'Hearn, based on unproven links to Arkell and rumors of a "pedophile ring."

"[The O'Hearn family] suffered terribly, didn't they? From the insinuations that were made in the media ... there were a lot of assumptions about David Ahern being involved in a pedophile ring. And worse than assumptions, there were news stories." — Host (05:04)

2. Motive, Media, and the "Pedophile Ring" Shadow (05:34 - 06:38)

• John discusses the lack of evidence connecting O'Hearn and Arkell, despite widespread public and media acceptance of their supposed ties.
• The case illustrates the harm caused by baseless speculation and the media’s eagerness to connect crimes to salacious rumors.

"There’s been no evidence, no evidence at all to show any connection, any likelihood that O’Hearn and Arkell knew each other." — John Souter Linton (05:59)

3. The Nature of the Crimes and Valera’s Obsession (06:38 - 07:29)

• Linton emphasizes the brutality and almost ritualistic nature of the killings, describing them as “crimes of sadistic pleasure.”
• Valera’s obsession with serial killers and his creation of lists of potential local victims parallels disturbing patterns seen in international cases.

"Mark Valera had an incredible interest, fascination, obsession to call it, with serial killers ... listing them ... presumably who he would eventually go out and murder. And that was his quest." — John Souter Linton (06:38)

4. Police Investigation and Valera’s Confession (07:29 - 09:29)

• Valera confessed calmly to the murders, offering little in the way of a coherent motive beyond vague anger and antipathy.
• His admissions included a lack of personal connection to O’Hearn and a simple dislike for Arkell.

HOST: Is there any reason why you did it?
JOHN: "I was angry that day. But ... No particular reason? No." (08:54–09:05)

HOST: What made you decide to go to [Arkell's] house that afternoon?
JOHN: "I had in my mind that I wanted to kill him because didn’t like him." (09:21)

5. The Abuse Defense and Family Dynamics (09:29 - 10:15, 13:35 - 15:10)

• At trial, Valera’s defense claimed long-term sexual abuse by his father, Jack Van Creville, as a mitigating factor.
• Van Creville’s friends disputed this, recalling Valera as “quite doting on his dad” in childhood.
• Valera’s sister, Belinda, consistently supported her brother’s account, though she later admitted she had no memory of being abused.
• The extent to which these claims shaped perceptions and judicial outcomes is discussed.

"Belinda did believe her brother, irrespective, although she didn’t have any memory of anything that may have happened." — John Souter Linton (13:43)

6. Murder of Jack Van Creville and Role of Belinda (13:43 - 16:08)

• Belinda and her ex-boyfriend (and Valera’s friend) Mark Schreiber conspired—or at least discussed—Van Creville’s death.
• Schreiber murdered Van Creville with inside knowledge of the house; police deduced his involvement almost immediately.
• The questionable extent of Belinda’s involvement meant she was charged with "soliciting to murder" rather than murder itself.

"It took police all of like five minutes to work out that it was [Mark] Schreiber." — John Souter Linton (15:05)

• The attack was meticulously planned: the killer entered through a conveniently unlocked window, and Belinda's daughter was moved from her room that night.

HOST: "The window was left open. It seems very much like they’d worked this plan out together."
JOHN: "That’s certainly what it looks like. But police were only able to prove that Mark did it himself." (15:24–15:33)

7. Legal Outcomes and Aftermath (10:23 - 10:55, 16:08 - 18:53)

• Valera was sentenced to life without parole—making him one of the youngest in NSW to receive such a sentence.
• Schreiber confessed without resistance; the crime was seen as born from loyalty and rage against abuse rather than self-interest.
• Belinda was never convicted of the murder itself but faced charges for soliciting.

"He made no contest, you know, not even an exception to the contest. Like with Mark Valera, the reason he went to trial was because he had a defense. ... Whereas Schreiber is like, nah, I did it simple." — John Souter Linton (18:13)

HOST: "I just did it."
JOHN: "Yep, I just did it. And you know, I'm a bad guy and you can put me away." (18:33–18:34)

8. The "Normal" Family and Community Responses (19:33 - End)

• Linton’s book "Bound by Blood" is praised for its humane portrayal of the case and its exploration of how "normal" families encounter and reckon with profound tragedy and violence.
• The community’s shock and the enduring pain for victims’ families are foregrounded.

"Everybody considers themselves that way." — Host (19:28), referring to the universal belief in being a "normal" family prior to tragedy.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Media Damage:
  "It was just horrendous. No, distressing. Seems like an understatement."
  — Host and John Souter Linton, on rumors affecting the O’Hearn family (05:52–05:56)

• On Motive:
  "I had in my mind that I wanted to kill him because didn’t like him."
  — Mark Valera, quoted by Host (09:21)

• On Obsession:
  "Mark Valera had an incredible interest ... with serial killers, and had a book ... about American serial killers ... and in that book Valera had actually made lists ... presumably who he would eventually go out and murder."
  — John Souter Linton (06:38)

• On Community Perception:
  "Everyone says, oh, we’re just a normal family. How could this happen to us?"
  — Host (19:28)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 04:46–05:59: Rumors and media damage to O'Hearn family
• 06:38–07:29: The sadistic nature of the crimes and Valera's serial killer obsession
• 07:29–09:29: Police investigation, confession, and Valera’s motives
• 13:35–16:08: The murder of Jack Van Creville, family roles, Belinda’s involvement
• 16:08–18:53: Legal aftermath for Schreiber and Belinda
• 19:28–19:37: Reflections on the "normal" family narrative
• Throughout: John Souter Linton’s analysis and perspectives

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Tone and Language

The discussion is deeply empathetic, straightforward, and at times blunt. The host and guest refrain from sensationalizing, instead focusing on the real pain of families and the broad societal implications of these crimes occurring in ordinary suburbs. Quotations and exchanges reflect candid exploration punctuated by moments of disbelief and sadness.

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Summary prepared for listeners seeking an in-depth, structured understanding of the episode’s core themes and discussions.

Transcript

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

Before we begin today's episode of Australian True Crime, I want to tell you about a new project we've been working on behind the scenes. It's called she Matters. It's a new podcast from award winning journalist and femicide researcher Sherrelle Moody. Each week, Sherrelle speaks with families of women and children killed in Australia, sharing who they were, the joy they brought, and the love they left behind. She Matters isn't a true crime podcast, but it's about lives lived, lives loved, and lives lost. She Matters is produced by Dash made Podcasts in association with bravecasting Media. She Matters is available wherever you get your podcasts. The following podcast contains accounts of child sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised. Several weeks ago, we published an episode about the 1998 murder of former Wollongong Mayor Frank Arkell. At the time of his death, the man once known as Mr. Wollongong stood accused of being a member of a pedophile ring. He was awaiting a court date when he was brutally murdered by 19 year old Mark Valera. It was Valera's second murder in as many weeks. He confessed to the murders, but he still fronted a judge two years later where his defense team offered what they claimed were mitigating circumstances that should be taken into account during sentencing. Valera, they claimed, had been subjected to many years of sexual abuse at the hands of his father, Jack Van Creville. This accusation set in motion an equally brutal second act. Author John Souter Linton investigated the story and wrote a book about it called Bound by Blood. He joins us on Australian True Crime to talk about it. This is Australian True Crime, which we acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this podcast is created. The Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation.

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[John Souter Linton]

With the Valera story, there was a big issue, big contentious thing about the fact. Was there a pedophile ring? Was Valera really the victim in this? Was he trying to avenge what had happened to him, his sister?

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

Because at least one of the families of his victims, the o' Hearn family, suffered terribly, didn't they, from the insinuations that were made in the media because Frank Arkel, the former politician, had been named in a royal commission to do with a pedophile ring. So when it Became clear that the same offender had murdered him and murdered shopkeeper David o', Hearn, who also happened to be gay. There were a lot of assumptions about David Ahern being involved in a paedophile ring. And worse than assumptions, there were news stories.

[John Souter Linton]

That's right. I mean, the whole story was that basically people believed that o' Hearn and Arkel knew each other and that they're all part of this massive pedophile ring that was allegedly going on in Wollongong at the time. And it was for the o' Hearn family. It was incredibly.

I can't even think of the words to describe it. It was just horrendous.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

No, distressing. Seems like an understatement.

[John Souter Linton]

And there's been no evidence, no evidence at all to show any connection, any likelihood that o' Hearn and Arkel knew each other.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

But the other thing was that the nature of the crime, the nature of the murder of Ahern was so brutal. And it seemed to police and to the public, to anyone who started to hear whispers about what had happened in that house, it seemed like a crime of anger, fury, revenge, didn't it? It seemed impossible that a stranger could have committed this brutal attack on Ahern. I mean, we're talking about unbelievable violence, correct?

[John Souter Linton]

I mean, it was, it was mutilation, really, but it was also just a crime of sadistic pleasure. Mark Valera had an incredible interest, fascination, obsession to call it, with serial killers, and had a book which was very poorly written, I might add, about American serial killers, listing them, I mean, going into brief detail about who they were, their crimes. And so it was totally written for reasons of gratification. The book dealt with all these serial killers from America. And in that book, Valera had actually made lists of people, identities within Wollongong, people he knew at the back and through the book as to presumably who he would eventually go out and murder. And that was his quest. That was what he wanted to do.

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Early this morning, police were called to.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

A home in North Wollongong by an.

[Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Elderly friend of Frank Arkell. Inside a flat at the back of the house, they found the badly beaten body of the 60, 27 year old man.

[John Souter Linton]

He was found in casual clothing and suffering apparently from head injuries, possibly from a blunt object.

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The attack comes just weeks after the decapitation murder of another Wollongong man rumored to be associated with a satanic cult. Police would not rule out a connection.

[John Souter Linton]

He was staying at a kind of like a halfway house, I suppose you'd call it in. Willongo Valera decided to go back to his karate coach, who he admired and really was probably about the only person that had some positive influence on Valera in his life at that time and spoke to him. And then he convinced Valera that probably he should go and talk to the police about what he'd done. So he did. He turned up at Wollongong police station, much to the surprise of all the police. Homicide then came down from Sydney across to Oxford, Joe Casser, and interviewed him. Russell Oxford was the primary. Mark admitted to everything again, very calmly, very straightforward, no hesitation, no sense of trying to hide what he'd done, which is, you know, pretty bizarre. Is there any reason why you did it? Why I killed David?

I was like.

Not really, no. I mean, I was angry that day, but.

No particular reason? No. Okay, now, do you know, did you know Frank o' Kill prior to this? I knew of him.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

What did you know of him?

[John Souter Linton]

I knew that he was a convicted pedophile.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

And what made you decide to go to his house that afternoon?

[John Souter Linton]

I had in my mind that I wanted to kill him because.

Didn'T like him.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

How did it go down in the trial when he started talking about childhood abuse as perhaps a mitigating factor?

[John Souter Linton]

As far as the, as far as the friends of Jack Van Crevill went, they were horrified because they, to them, they'd spent the majority of the kids lives were with them, the friends, because Jack was always out working, earning money. So they were like puzzled, horrified, physically. They could not see how it could happen. And also the fact that, you know, Mark seemed to be quite doting on his dad when he was a lot younger. Belinda, certainly she was very much daddy's girl.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

And Belinda was still living with her dad, wasn't she?

[John Souter Linton]

Belinda and Mark lived with their father the whole time as children and as adults.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

Though Belinda was an adult by this.

[John Souter Linton]

Stage, as adults, she still remained with her dad. In fact, she became pregnant and had a child and dad took her in.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

Well, with the allegations as part of the whole trial, Mark Valera still was convicted of the two murders and in fact is one of the few people in New South Wales history, Australian history, who have been imprisoned for a life sentence without parole. In fact, he was the third youngest, I think, who's ever been sentenced to life without parole.

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[Host (Australian True Crime)]

Did Belinda support his claims during the trial that he'd been molested by his dad in childhood? What was the dynamic going on there at that time?

[John Souter Linton]

Belinda did believe that her brother, irrespective although she didn't have any memory of anything that may have happened. Okay, she admitted to that later. But she did believe that Mark was telling the truth. Likewise, Mark's best friend and Belinda's former boyfriend, Mark Schreiber, also believed without doubt that what Mark Valero was saying was totally true. And in that instance Belinda was still at school. In fact, when she asked, just out loud, would anyone like to kill my father? Mark Schreiber, being Mark Valera's good friend and believing the whole story and being Belinda's ex boyfriend, decided, yes, I'll do the job. But apparently he didn't tell Belinda this directly, but he turned up one night, grabbed a knife from the kitchen, walked into Jack's bedroom and stabbed him to death.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

I mean, clearly it would have taken the police long to realise that whomever committed this crime knew the layout of the house pretty well. Right, because he knew where the weapons were located around the house. He also grabbed a tomahawk from the back shed, grabbed a bucket from behind the house to climb up through a window. The offender clearly knew his way around the house.

[John Souter Linton]

Of course he did. And in fact, it took police all of like, five minutes to work out that it was Shriver.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

I find it hard to believe that Belinda didn't know what was going to happen because Schreiber came into the house through Belinda's daughter's bedroom. But that night the daughter was in another bedroom with Belinda.

[John Souter Linton]

She was with Belinda?

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

Yes. The window was left open. It seems very much like they'd worked this plan out together.

[John Souter Linton]

Yes, that's certainly what it looks like. But police were only able to prove that Mark did it himself. There was no evidence to show any direct collusion between Mark Schreiber and Belinda, which is why Belinda was eventually charged with soliciting to murder and not murder. Police could never prove whether she knew if anyone actually would.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

Like.

[John Souter Linton]

She didn't know any particular person.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

She didn't know that someone had taken up the job.

[John Souter Linton]

Correct.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

She and her toddler daughter heard the attack, certainly, didn't they? I mean, Jack didn't go down easily. He really fought for his life.

[John Souter Linton]

Yeah, well, Jack was a. Was a. Was a big guy. He was bigger than Mark Schreiber and obviously, being a builder, he was pretty solid. But I mean, the whole thing was. Because it was, it was total act of surprise. Now, Jack Van Creville was asleep. He was in a deep sleep and certainly Mark, you know, was able to commence the assault well before Jack could come to consciousness. And by that time he was probably, yeah, not in a fit state to really fight back in any proper way. She took herself to the police station and she, you know, in a kind of a frantic way, said that something horrible has happened at her house. Her dad's been killed, I believe, and, yeah, just tried to get them there. Now, what happened was the Police went around there, found Jack's body and the beginnings of the investigation began. Joe Cassa, who was involved with the apprehension of Mark Valera along with Russell Oxford, who was also involved, got the call from Wollongong to say, jack Van Creville's been killed, you better come down. And when Russell was talking to Joe over the phone, they both agreed immediately that it had to be Mark Shriver because of the fact that, you know, Shriver was in court. In fact, I think he may have even been asked to leave at one point because he was being obnoxious in, in court when Valera was giving his defense. And they both agreed it had to be Mark Schreiber. So calls went out to try and find Mark. Mark was eventually found at a train station near, near Wollongong, was apprehended there. I believe he still had the blood stained shirt that he was wearing and admitted to it straight away what he'd done and why he'd done it because he believed that Mark had been abused by his dad. And Mark wouldn't be in prison if it wasn't for his dad. So, you know, his dad needed to die. I'm told him this is for Mark. Pedal foreign bastard, you'll never molest another kid again. He made no contest, you know, not even an exception to the contest. Like with Mark Valera. The reason he went to trial was because he had had a defense.

So he was arguing, yes, I did all this, yes, I admitted to doing all this, but it was for this reason. Whereas Schreiber's like, nah, I did it.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

Simple, I just did it.

[John Souter Linton]

Yep, I just did it. And you know, I'm a bad guy and you can put me away. So went straight pretty much to sentencing. There's no reason for a trial. He never said anything about, as far as I'm aware. Never said anything about Belinda asking for it to happen, but certainly said he did it for Mark.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

It's a great book. Bound by Blood. It's a story that I couldn't find once I realized there was this whole side story to the Frank Kell story murder, of course I went looking everywhere and I struggled to find a lot of detail until I found your book. So I know it was published in 2004, I believe. Well, no one's bettered it, mate, I can tell you that because it's still, it's still thoroughly researched and very humane telling of this story about people who all describe themselves as normal. That's another, another fascinating aspect of your, of your book is just that yeah, everyone says, oh, we're just a normal family. How could this happen to us? Everybody considers themselves that way.

[John Souter Linton]

Exactly. You're not wrong.

[Host (Australian True Crime)]

Thank you to our guest today, John Souter Linton. If you need support after listening to this podcast, you can call Lifeline on 131114 or contact 1-800-Respect on 1-800-737-732 or 1-800-Respect. Org AU. Indigenous Australians can contact 13Yarn on 139276 or 13yarn.org AU.

[John Souter Linton]

The producers of this podcast recognize the traditional owners of the land on which it's recorded.

They pay respect to the Aboriginal elders, past, present and those emerging.

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[Host (Australian True Crime)]

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