The daughter of a man who killed two women in his home earlier this year has bravely relived the terrifying cat and mouse game her family played trying to escape her violent father.
Ariel Bombara shared her story in a powerful speech to launch a campaign against family and domestic violence in Perth on Monday.
Her father, Mark Bombara, killed Jennifer Petelczyc and her 18-year-old daughter Gretl in their Floreat home in May when he turned up looking for his wife, who had fled the family home weeks earlier.
Bombara said that moments before his father killed Jennifer and Gretl, he had shared with his mother the “first glimpse of light” after moving into a new rental home.
He said that over the previous two months they had moved several times, dragging their belongings in suitcases and garbage bags trying to survive each day.
“We were giddy and excited as we unpacked the same clothes we’d been wearing for eight weeks, this time knowing we finally had a home again and could start rebuilding our lives,” she said.
While unpacking their belongings, Bombara’s mother received a call from her best friend Jenny and all they could hear was Jenny telling her 18-year-old daughter to hide.
“My father had shown up looking for mom and didn’t believe her when she said mom wasn’t there, so he broke into her house,” she said.
Jennifer Petelcyzc, 59, and her daughter Gretl, 18, (pictured) were murdered by Mark Bombara, who arrived at their home in Floreat looking for his wife.
Ariel Bombara (pictured) said that for eight weeks before her father killed Jennifer and Gretl Petelcyzc they had played a terrifying game of cat and mouse trying to escape him.
“We heard Jenny say, ‘Mark, put the gun away,’ and I remember the cold shot of adrenaline and the sound that escaped my mouth, similar to someone who’s been kicked in the stomach.
“It was the knowledge that after eight weeks of meticulous safety planning, eight weeks of predicting and anticipating their behavior in the scariest game of cat and mouse.”
Bombara said her father was about to do everything she thought he would do to her family, to someone else.
“Those were the last words I heard Jenny say, as I frantically called triple-0 while Mom continued listening to what was happening at Jenny’s house,” he said.
‘While I was talking to the police, I heard mom scream and then she started crying.
‘The last thing mom heard was two gunshots before the phone went off.
‘My father murdered Jenny and Gretl, while Jenny’s other daughter, Liesl, and her boyfriend Blair were in the shops.
“They came back after Gretl texted Liesl to call the police and they heard my father’s last shot as he ended his life.”
Bombara said that for the rest of his life he would question every decision he made, from convincing his mother to leave, because it was not safe to wonder what else he could have done to stop his father.
Mark James Bombara, 63, (pictured) killed two women in Perth before turning the gun on himself.
“I was too good at hiding from him and hating myself for never considering that he would kill other people if he couldn’t find us,” she said.
“It is a heavy burden that women carry, blaming themselves for male violence, a totally unfair and twisted weight that we feel because the system does not protect us and puts the responsibility on women to manage men’s behavior instead of hold perpetrators accountable.”
Bombara said his father was a dictator who constantly used coercive and controlling behaviors at home.
“He was a master manipulator who twisted (Mom’s) words and tricked her until she couldn’t trust her own mind,” she said.
‘It was the nagging, gut-wrenching fear of waiting for when and how he was going to embarrass you that had everyone walking on eggshells, constantly on edge and exhausted from playing his mind games.
“He was openly sexist, racist and homophobic towards anyone who didn’t look like him.
Hundreds of people gathered in Perth on Monday to march against violence against women.
“He thought women were nothing but dog shit, and he made it clear in front of his daughters that he would break your belongings and drive dangerously to scare you.”
Bombara said he fought for eight weeks against every person who tried to convince them they were exaggerating.
“The police who fired us, the people who said, ‘Oh, but he doesn’t rape you or hit you, so it can’t be that bad,'” she said.
‘The only thing I can ask is: do you believe me now?’