The daughter of the man who murdered a mother and her teenager in Perth before shooting himself repeatedly tried to warn police about him.
On Friday afternoon, Mark James Bombara, 63, shot dead Jennifer Petelczyc, 59, and her daughter Gretl, 18, after turning up at their home in Floreat, west of Perth, looking for from his ex-wife, a good friend of the older woman. .
Ariel Bombara has revealed that he contacted the police on three separate occasions to warn them of the threat posed by his father.
Mark James Bombara, 63, murdered a mother and daughter in Perth before turning the gun on himself.
When Bombara couldn’t find his ex, he tied up the mother and daughter and made several threatening phone calls, The West Australian reported, before shooting them both and then taking his own life.
Bombara’s wife had left him weeks ago and he was staying with Mrs. Petelczyc.
Bombara was known to police, but he had no history of violence and was not being monitored.
Petelczyc and Bombara died at the Berkeley Crescent care home, while Gretl was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital, where she died on Saturday morning.
His daughter, Ariel Bombara, has revealed that she contacted the police on three separate occasions to warn them of the threat her father posed.
Mark Bombara, 63, broke into Jennifer Petelczyc’s home in Floreat, in Perth’s western suburbs, about 4.30pm on Friday, looking for his ex-wife Rowena. Unable to find her, Bombara fatally shot her friend Jennifer Petelczyc, 53, and her daughter Gretl, 18, (pictured together) before turning the gun on himself.
Mark James Bombara had been searching for his former partner, Rowena, who had been staying with Ms Petelczyc after their bitter divorce (Bombara and Rowena are pictured together)
“My mother and I made it clear that our lives were at risk – we were repeatedly ignored and failed,” he told ABC.
“I did everything I could to protect my mother; when my father couldn’t find us, he murdered his best friend and his best friend’s daughter,” she said.
He said that while his father should be held responsible for his actions, there were authorities who should have helped them stop him.
Bombara owned 11 guns with a recreational shooter permit and two guns with a collector’s license, one of which was used to kill Jennifer and Gretl.
Police Minister Paul Papalia said Bombara had no previous convictions or history of restraining orders for violence against him.
Papalia said Bombara became known to police after his ex-wife requested that officers be present at the house while she was packing her belongings due to “family domestic violence (FDV) issues.”
“But none of them had been reported to the police and the police didn’t know about it other than her approaching them at that time,” Papalia said.
Ariel said she and her mother fled the family home on March 28 because they feared for their lives. Between March 30 and April 2, they spoke to police three times to express their concerns about Bombara.
He said each time he alerted officers to his father’s weapons and told them he felt they were a “real and imminent threat” to their lives.
After his initial conversation with police about his fears, he found the officer’s response lacking. Dissatisfied, she asked another police station for help.
‘I specifically mentioned that there was a Glock pistol that was missing. (My) understanding is that ultimately this would be one of the weapons my father used to take the lives of two innocent women.’
Gretl, who recently obtained her P plates, was just starting out in life after graduating from high school and beginning a sports degree at the University of WA. Her mother had been deliberating about telling her daughters about the threat Bombara posed.
Mark and Rowena’s adult children are (from left) Isaac, Eden, Candice and Ariel Bombara.
She asked police if the couple could get a protection order, but was told there was “nothing the police could do about the situation at that time.”
On April 2, when police officers accompanied them to retrieve their belongings from their family home, Ms. Bombara once again expressed concern about the presence of weapons.
A little more than seven weeks later, on May 24, Bombara went to the Petelczyc residence looking for his ex-wife. Frustrated at not being able to locate her, he resorted to opening fire.
Killer’s gun would have been illegal under new laws
Bombara would not have had access to the murder weapon under Australia’s stricter gun laws, which are being debated in WA parliament.
Papalia said WA’s proposed laws would be the strictest in the country; that they would have prevented Bombara from obtaining a collector’s license; and that he would have limited himself to possessing five weapons.
“This individual, unfortunately, was a proper and proper person, up until the time he committed that act, and was a law-abiding firearms owner until he wasn’t,” he said Monday.
“With the current law that is what happens and that is why we want to make the laws stricter.”
Bombara would also have been forced to undergo a medical check-up with a mental health component.
The government will now consider new measures to strengthen the legislation, including giving police the power to confiscate weapons following incidents of family and domestic violence.
Gun control expert Charles Watson said WA’s proposed gun laws were extraordinary and advanced.
“Overall, it will easily be the best set of gun legislation in the world, much better than other states here – I think other states will be forced to look at what WA has done,” Professor Watson told AAP.
