Frequently Asked Questions
The murder of John Kreppold in 2007
This event is nearly 20 years old, and I have recently read claims about the event that were, to be honest, so far from the truth of what happened that I thought I should record this before the eye-witnesses to the background are no longer with us.
I have spoken to several people with some knowledge of it, but my main informant is a person I have known more than 20 years, who has stayed in my own home some months, and who I have the highest regard for. There is no particular need to add her name here, but she was intimately involved in these events as the reader will see.
John Kreppold was the operator of a very popular cactus garden in Caponi Road, Barragup, a suburb south of Perth, Western Australia. I think it was called BARRAGUP BOTANICAL. We don’t know if he or his parents were the legal owners, but he had registered for the ABN. It was a wedding venue, had a cafe and sold lots of plants to landscapers. However John was having difficulty making ends meet. R.D. (my informant) was staying in John’s house while assisting A.J. Miller to get his public sessions going.
While staying in the house located in the gardens, she did accounting bookwork for John, handled the payroll and cleaned the cafe. She found John an absolute delight. A.J. was very keen to get control of that beautiful site and tried to do so, going as far as to draw up a contract of sale. However both John and his parents would not have a bar of it. His parents knew A.J. well, having known him since he was a child. I guess they were all J.W’s and that was the initial connection for A.J to move from Victor Harbour to Perth.
While John was anointed as an “apostle” as far as we know he was not specifically named, as A.J. was at that stage still finding “apostles”. However, in later years it is believed A.J. called him Apostle John. John was gay. Tommy Vivian Metcalfe, 55, from Gidgegannup, was absolutely not a follower of A.J. He just seemed to be attracted to John, and we don’t really know if that was motivated by a desire to get control of the beautiful gardens or whether it was truly a gay thing. His background was dubious as his two sons were believed to be in a motorcycle gang and Tom was believed to abuse his wife. John was scared of Tom, and when R.D. announced that she needed to return to the U.S., John was even more concerned about what Tom might do while he was alone in the gardens.
Indeed one night, while R.D. was away, Tom tried to force himself on John. When he was rebuffed, he grabbed a corkscrew and stabbed John in the stomach. He also set fire to the home even though he knew that there were lots of freshwater turtles living in tanks in the house. They all died in the inferno, yet Tom had been involved in the sourcing of them with John. Tom left and hid in the garden in a turtle pond. Meanwhile John dragged himself naked through the cactus garden to a neighbour. Before losing consciousness he was able to tell them who his assailant had been. Then he collapsed and died some days later in hospital, never regaining consciousness. A.J. went to hospital to see John, but obviously he was unable to speak with him.
R.D. was a witness in the trial, but appeared via video link and so could not see any court proceedings. Tom was found guilty of murder.
Public References