Lukasz and Chelsea’s alleged murderer unmasked: Pawel Klosowski identified as shooting accused after suppression lapses
This is the man accused of shooting dead his son and his son’s girlfriend during a family gathering. He can now be identified after a temporary suppression order expired.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Chelsea was always giving – until her life was snatched away
- ‘Fly high, Wu’: Mates mourn Lukasz’s lost potential
The man accused of murdering his son and his son’s girlfriend in the horrific double shooting in the state’s South-East can now be unmasked after a temporary suppression order lapsed.
Pawel Klosowski, 46, of Mount McIntyre – near Kalangadoo and Millicent – was arrested on Saturday night and charged with the murder of his son Lukasz Klosowski and Chelsea Ireland, both 19.
Klosowski – who spelled his first name as Paul on social media – has been part of the Kalangadoo community for about four years and is described by locals as a quiet man who kept to himself.
A Kalangadoo woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said Klosowski would often be found at the Kalangadoo Football Club on weekends and said he watched a game with Lukasz at the club just hours before he allegedly shot him dead.
The woman said Klosowski did not have close friends in the town, but was known to the community as he attended the local hotel where his wife, Monica, worked.
The Advertiser understands Klosowski married his wife in 2017.
He has three stepchildren under the age of 14.
Kalangadoo Football Club and the hotel declined to comment.
Klosowski was previously an employee at a Mount Gambier forestry company.
Posts on social media indicate he was a truck driver and Harley Davidson enthusiast.
Posts also verify he was pro-guns.
When he wasn’t driving trucks, he spent much of his time on the property at Mount McIntyre with his family.
Lukasz and his long-term girlfriend Chelsea were known to have visited the property on multiple occasions. Friends said Lukasz had only reconnected with his father in recent years.
Klosowski allegedly shot the couple at his property during a family gathering around 11.30pm on Saturday night.
In the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court on Monday, defence lawyer Dylan Walsh applied to have Klosowski’s identity suppressed.
Magistrate Maria Panagiotidis said she did not believe Klosowski’s stepchildren would be exposed to undue hardship if his identity was revealed.
“How does it protect the children now, if everyone in the town already knows?” Ms Panagiotidis said.
“It is too late, the information has been in the public arena ... it serves no utility in this circumstance.”
She gave Mr Walsh 72 hours to appeal her decision to reject the secrecy order, granting an interim suppression order that lapsed at 2.30pm on Thursday.
In court, the accused murderer sat slouched and wore a face mask.
A police prosecutor told the court that two of Klosowski’s stepchildren had witnessed the shooting.
Kalangadoo general store owner and owner of the local logging company, Tim Krieger, said he often saw Klosowski at the football club.
“They were both a nice couple as far as I knew,” Mr Krieger said of Klosowski and his wife.
“You would never think anything like that (would happen).
“It’s pretty sad for the community, and a real sad thing to see so close to town.”
Klosowski did not apply for bail, and will face court again in December.
Chelsea attended St Mary’s College and had just started studying a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering at Adelaide University this year, while Lukasz was a Christian Brothers College graduate studying journalism at UniSA’s Magill campus.
Tributes for the pair flowed on social media in the days following the incident.
Mates said they both loved burritos, leading to Lukasz posting this review on YouTube in 2019.
Friends of Chelsea said the incident was “devastating”, as she had a bright future ahead of her.
Lukasz’s mates said they could not have asked for a nicer, funnier, or more caring friend.
“It feels impossible to find words to express how much you both made an impact on people’s lives. RIP Chelsea Ireland and Lukasz Klosowski,” one post read.
Both schools were shattered by the news.
“The staff community remembers Chelsea as a bright and engaged young woman who was connected with her community and embraced all elements of school life,” said St Mary’s principal Clare Nocka.
Christian Brothers College principal Daniel Lynch said his school community and graduates from the class of 2018 had “rallied together to support each other as they grieve over the loss of their brother”.