Floreat Murder-Suicide Inquest Hears Triple Zero Calls and Family Warnings
A Western Australia inquest into the Floreat double murder-suicide has heard recorded emergency calls and evidence that family members warned police and doctors about Mark Bombara before he killed Jennifer and Gretl Petelczyc and then himself on May 24, 2024.
Desperate triple zero calls were played at the Western Australia Coroner's Court this week during an inquest into the Floreat double murder-suicide, in which Mark Bombara shot dead Jennifer Petelczyc and her daughter Gretl before killing himself on May 24, 2024.
The court is examining all three deaths. It wants to determine whether responses from police and healthcare professionals in the lead-up were adequate.
Warnings before the shootings
The inquest heard that several family members raised concerns about Mr Bombara with healthcare providers and police. His wife, Rowena, had left him about a month before the killings.
Ms Young told the court he had been fixated on the separation and was in disbelief that the marriage had ended. She said he suffered a stroke in January 2024 and appeared "angrier" and "unhinged" to his wife and daughter Ariel.
His other daughter, Candice, said her father had anger problems that worsened from about mid-2023 and again after the stroke. Other relatives described him as "very moody" or doing things "out of character".
In January 2024, Ariel texted her siblings that she no longer felt safe at the Floreat home. "I'm not taking mum home until all the guns are out of the house. He will crack one day and become physically violent; he's done it before and he will do it again," the text read.
Contact with police
Ariel and Rowena made a family violence complaint about Mr Bombara at Mirrabooka Police Station in April 2024. They told police he owned guns and was capable of killing them.
Rowena was told the grounds to make a police order were not met. She was advised to seek a family violence restraining order.
Ariel later phoned Perth police station from Mirrabooka at about 1.16am on Easter Sunday. She was asked why she was calling when she was already at another police station.
She told the officer about her father's firearms and her concerns for his mental health. The officer was empathetic, she said, but told her no one in the family violence division was available to speak with her.
When Ariel called back later that day, she was told to go to court on April 2 and apply for a restraining order. She decided against it out of fear of how he would react.
The women collected their belongings from the family home with police present. Officers noted that Mr Bombara appeared calm and compliant.
Rowena told him she wanted a divorce and travelled interstate on April 3. She returned to Perth later that month to stay with a friend.
The day of the killings
Mr Bombara suffered a second stroke in May and was hospitalized. Candice told medical staff he was very distressed and upset.
After his release, he travelled to the Boyup Brook farm with a friend. CCTV showed him gathering two Glock pistols, ammunition and a shotgun.
He also set himself calendar reminders about a protective raincoat, zip ties, a small hammer and a pocketknife.
On the morning of the killings, he printed several copies of a typed note at the farm and packed them in a briefcase. Ms Young read from it to the court: "In that note, he described how he felt blindsided by the divorce, expressed concern about the financial impact upon him of the divorce and his health issues."
The note, she said, described him as "medically damaged" since his stroke, with "a large area of [his] brain that no longer functions."
He bought cable ties and a grey raincoat in Bunbury, then continued to the Fremantle Sailing Club. There he swapped cars with his son and took the two Glock pistols, ammunition and copies of the note.
Mr Bombara arrived at the Petelczyc home in Floreat at about 4.14pm. He was looking for Rowena, who was not there. Ms Petelczyc had been her best friend for two decades.
