Adelaide NCA bombing witnesses recall frantic attempts to save police officer Geoffrey Bowen

Eyewitnesses to the 1994 NCA bombing have described staff’s frantic, yet futile attempts to save the police officer slain in the explosion. WARNING: Graphic content

** WARNING: This story contains graphic details of injuries that some readers may find upsetting **

Staff who were working in the NCA building on the day of the infamous 1994 bombing have described their frantic, futile efforts to save Geoffrey Bowen – and the trauma sustained by lawyer Peter Wallis.

On Tuesday, former NCA personnel officer Joanne Taskas told the Supreme Court that she had just poured a coffee, and was chatting with colleagues, when the parcel bomb exploded on March 2.

“We heard and felt a loud, hollow bang and all just started running toward it... (male workmates) were pushing on the door to Peter’s office... we could hear Peter screaming,” she said.

“I could see that the office was on fire... Peter was burned from the waist up, it was mostly open wounds.

“He was unrecognisable, I couldn’t determine anything about his face except his mouth, because it was moving.

“Peter was asking me about ‘Bowie’, he kept asking ‘is Bowie okay?’... he said ‘a bomb, a bomb’ a number of times.

“He complained that he had a pain in his stomach – it was the belt buckle of his pants, it had embedded in his stomach.”

Former NCA personnel officer Joanne Taskas, right, and a supporter leave the Supreme Court following her evidence in the trial of Domenic Perre. Picture: Sean Fewster.

Domenic Perre, 63, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Detective Sergeant Bowen and attempting to murder Mr Wallis.

Prosecutors allege that, motivated by “festering hatred”, Perre built and sent a parcel bomb to the NCA’s Adelaide office.

They allege almost three decades worth of police investigations prove Perre’s guilt.

His counsel, however, say the case is based on “folklore” not forensics and the testimony of self-interested, so-called informants seeking to claim the $1 million reward.

Also on Tuesday, the court heard from a former Australia Post worker who had handled the parcel bomb that morning, before it was picked up by the NCA’s mail courier.

Domenic Perre being led into Adelaide Magistrates Court. Picture: Nine News

She said that, a week before the bombing, she had been questioned by an “Italian or Greek” man at her desk.

“He asked me if the NCA’s mail had gone... it was probably after 7.30am, because it had already gone,” she said.

However, having seen photos of Perre since the bombing, she said she was unsure whether or not he was the man who approached her.

“There’s similarities but I can’t be sure... I’m not saying it was, and I’m not saying it wasn’t,” she said.

Former police officer Michael Schultz, who had befriended Detective Sergeant Bowen and carpooled with him, was one of the men who made it into the burning office.

After rescuing Mr Wallis, he went back in because he “could hear a quiet, dull intermittent moan sound”.

“There was a large piece of debris in the corner... we removed the piece of debris and found Geoff slumped over in the foetal position in the corner,” he said.

“I was hoping he was alive and I was trying to talk to him and reassure him and encourage him to hang in there.”

After observing their friend’s severe injuries, Mr Scultz and his colleagues tried to discern a way to move him to safety.

“We found a piece of metal – it was probably a ceiling panel – and we tried to use it as a stretcher,” he said.

“Geoff was too heavy... when I got my arms under his stomach, it just felt like loose flesh... there was no way we could move him.

“The flames had increased so we grabbed items and tried to build a barricade, grabbed a desk to try and shield Geoff from some of the heat.

“A short time after, the fire officers came into the room and escorted us out.”

The trial, before Justice Kevin Nicholson and in the absence of a jury, continues.