Frank Arkell
Frank Arkell | |
|---|---|
| Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Wollongong | |
| In office 24 March 1984 – 3 May 1991 | |
| Preceded by | Eric Ramsay |
| Succeeded by | Gerry Sullivan |
| 8th Lord Mayor of Wollongong | |
| In office 27 September 1974 – September 1991 | |
| Preceded by | John Parker |
| Succeeded by | David Campbell |
| Alderman of the Wollongong City Council | |
| In office 4 December 1965 – September 1991 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 September 1935 Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 26 June 1998 (aged 62) Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia |
| Alma mater | Edmund Rice College |
Francis Neville (Frank) Arkell (13 September 1935 – 26 June 1998) was an Australian politician. Arkell was a long-serving Lord Mayor of Wollongong and an independent member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing Wollongong. In 1998 Arkell was violently murdered in his home, aged 62 years.
Early life
Arkell was born in Port Kembla, New South Wales.
Political career
Between 1974 and 1991, Arkell served as Lord Mayor of Wollongong City Council. He was elected as an independent to represent the seat of Wollongong in the New South Wales Parliament from 1984 until his defeat at the 1991 election.[1]
Later life and death
In October 1996, Franca Arena asked in state parliament whether Arkell was the person known to the Wood Royal Commission as W1 in allegations involving paedophilia.[2][3]
In 1998, seven years after he had left politics, Arkell was murdered at his home in Wollongong by Mark Valera.[4][5] Arkell's head had been smashed in with a bedside lamp, an electric cord was wrapped tightly around his neck, and from his eyes and cheeks tie-pins protruded. According to a subsequently broadcast media report, a police investigator revealed that, at the time of his death, Arkell was "...facing charges which had not gone to court..."[6]
At his trial, Valera said that he and Arkell had been in a sexual relationship for more than a year. Valera also testified that he had been a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of his own father, Jack Van Krevel, from the age of seven. In August 2000, less than two weeks after Valera was convicted of Arkell's murder, Jack Van Krevel was also murdered.
Notes
- ^ "Mr (Frank) Francis Neville Arkell (1935 - 1998)". Members of Parliament. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
- ^ Arena, Franca (31 October 1996). "Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service paedophile investiagation". Hansard. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
- ^ "Parliamentary Disclosures By The Honourable Franca Arena". Hansard. Parliament of New South Wales. 14 November 1996. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
- ^ Kidd, Paul B. "Mark Mala Valera: The Butcher of Wollongong". trutv.com. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
- ^ Crichton, Sarah (13 April 2002). "Terse words from judge dismissing lifer's appeal". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
- ^ Robinson, Gareth (30 August 1998). "Wonderful Wollongong" (transcript). Background Briefing. Australia: ABC Radio National. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
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