Police officer’s chilling words to wife of suicide victim John Frederick Schulte heard at day three of coronial inquest

After suffering murder suicide threats, the wife of domestic abuser and suicide victim John Schulte was left with empty words from a police officer tasked with helping her.

The comments were revealed during evidence on day three of the coronial inquest into the Christmas Day 2018 suicide of John Fredrick Schulte during a police siege in Townsville.

Mr Schulte’s estranged wife Samantha spoke with the former Townsville-based domestic violence liaison officer (DVLO) after he threatened to take away their children during a visit on Christmas Eve.

In video evidence played to the court, Ms Schulte told the officer that Mr Schulte had previously threatened to shoot her and himself, harm their children, freeze her bank accounts, was mentally unwell and had physically abused her.

She also told the officer Mr Schulte owned several weapons.

But the officer – who knew about two recent reports made by Ms Schulte about her husband’s domestic violence – told Ms Schulte that because there were no family law orders in place, officers could not remove the children.

She told Ms Schulte the children would be placed in the care of the Department of Child Safety, before later telling her “what doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger”.

The interview was later logged as a ‘street check’.

When asked why no further action had been taken, the officer said she had thought Ms Schulte only wanted help regarding custody of the children, and that she had not seen evidence to corroborate her claims.

“ … I just wasn’t 100 per cent sure of her motives,” the officer said.

“I recognise the importance of victims needing to be believed … but for police, part of the job is not to just believe anything that is said – we are an evidence-based organisation.”

The officer agreed in hindsight they should have “further investigated” the claims.

The inquest heard that officers undertaking a DVLO role were not required to undertake mandatory training, and that the officer had since been reprimanded and returned to the same role at another location.

Sergeant Alaistair Rhodes, a domestic violence officer from the Moreton district, conducted reviews into the three reports Ms Schulte gave to police.

Sergeant Rhodes said he believed an “urgent” domestic violence application should have been applied after Ms Schulte’s interview.

When asked by Coroner Terry Ryan if first-year constables were equipped to deal with domestic violence situations, he said the current training was not enough.

He said while there had been an increase in DV training since 2018, previous training had been lacking, and that more face-to-face training needed to be done.

Former assistant police commissioner for the Northern Region Clement O’Regan told the inquest that police were not “experts in domestic violence”, but suggested police undergo scenario-based training which involved non-government organisations and victims of domestic violence.

Mr O’Regan agreed to a suggestion from Coroner Ryan that “community expectations” around domestic violence was “beyond the capacity” of the Queensland Police Service to deliver.

Senior Sergeant Joe Matheson told the inquest that domestic violence legislation allowed offenders a “free shot” at an aggrieved.

The inquest continues.

Originally published as Police officer’s chilling words to wife of suicide victim John Frederick Schulte heard at day three of coronial inquest