Canberra shooting: Daughter returned to find her father dead, police said

Dale Lee Vella allegedly shot dead her husband Mark near Canberra on Monday night after a family dinner also attended by their daughter and her boyfriend.

A young woman left the dinner table and went out to the granny flat where she lived with her boyfriend, ­unaware that when she returned to the main house her father would be dead from a gunshot wound, allegedly at the hand of her mother.

Dale Lee Vella, 52, has been charged with murdering her husband of more than 20 years, Mark Vella, 52, at their rural property just outside Murrumbateman, south of Yass, on Monday night.

The Daily Telegraph has been told by relatives of Mr Vella that he had spent the night cooking for his wife, daughter Georgia and her partner. But shortly after 10pm, the young woman is understood to have heard a loud noise inside the home.

When she rushed inside she found her father fatally wounded, while her mother was in another room.

Dale Lee Vella is in police custody she allegedly shot dead her husband in the small town of Murrumbateman, north of Canberra. Picture: Facebook

Police and paramedics ­arrived on the scene a short time later, where Mr Vella was pronounced dead.

His wife taken to Yass Police Station and later charged with murder.

“Mark liked to cook and he cooked a nice meal for everybody (last night),” Mr Vella’s uncle George said.

“They all sat down and had dinner, then their daughter went out with her boyfriend and when she came home she walked in to that.

“We don’t really, really know what went on.”

Dressed in white forensic coveralls, Vella sat calmly as she faced Goulburn Local Court on Tuesday, with her lawyer making no application for bail before Magistrate Geraldine Beattie.

The court heard that Vella required urgent psychiatric care and medical treatment for cancer while in custody on remand. Ms Beattie formally granted an interim request by police to collect forensic samples and photos from Vella, including swabs for gunshot residue on her hands.

She also endorsed a warrant for Vella to be provided with “urgent” psychological and psychiatric assistance in custody, as well as approving her to receive treatment for a previously known cancer from Justice Health.

The Vellas had relocated to the state’s south after a number of years living on the central coast. Mr Vella’s relatives said he was a dedicated and loving man, who owned a business in Canberra and worked hard for his family.

“It’s a tragedy, an absolute tragedy,” George Vella said.

“He was one of the best human beings you’ll ever meet. Such a good and caring and compassionate person.

“We see this stuff on the news and you think this sort of stuff doesn’t happen to us, but it’s hit us now.’’

Vella will remain behind bars before reappearing in court on October 6.