Lionel Patea’s texts to Gold Coast mum Tara Brown before her murder

Lionel Patea allegedly recruited Bandidos to bash men he believed Tara Brown was sleeping with and assaulted her while she was 33-weeks pregnant. A Coroner’s findings has also revealed shocking texts sent by the bikie to his ex-girlfriend before her killing.

KILLER bikie Lionel Patea allegedly recruited Bandidos to bash men he believed Tara Brown was sleeping with and tore her dress off during an argument at a service station while she was 33-weeks pregnant in the years before he murdered the Gold Coast mum.
Disturbing details of Patea’s obsessive, violent and degrading acts were this week aired in non-inquest findings into her death, released by the Queensland Coroners Court.

Lionel Patea allegedly recruited Bandidos to bash men he believed Tara Brown was sleeping. Photo: Instagram.

The findings paint a chilling picture of the threats Patea made to kill Ms Brown and her family as he spiralled into a jealous rage after the woman tried to escape, including text messages he sent her that have never been published.
Ms Brown died on September 8, 2015 after being run off the road by Patea and bashed with a water hydrant cover as she lay trapped in her car.

CHAPTER 1: TARA’S EIGHT DAYS OF TERROR ON THE RUN

She had just dropped the pair’s daughter off at daycare.
She sustained shocking head injuries and died in hospital, only days after she went to police for help but was turned away.
Ms Brown and Patea had known each other since they were children, meeting because his aunt lived next door to Ms Brown’s family home.

September 9, 2015: Gold Coast mother-of-one Tara Brown, 24, was beaten to death by her former partner Lionel John Patea, 24. Patea pleaded guilty to her murder. He will be eligible for parole after 30 years have been served.

The pair did not begin dating until 2011 but it did not take Patea long to begin his abuse.
Sadly, the findings show it was not Ms Brown’s first experience with a violent partner.

She was subject to domestic violence growing up and one year before she began dating Patea, Ms Brown was hospitalised after being assaulted by another partner, Deputy State Coroner Jane Bentley wrote.
At age 19, she was pushed over by her then-boyfriend during a drunken argument, hitting her head on the towbar of a parked car and taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital.
“When she was alone with the clinician, Ms Brown stated she did not want the police involved,” Ms Bentley wrote of the 2010 incident.

CHAPTER 2: FROM $250K BIKIE KING TO DEPTHS OF SUICIDE

She said Ms Brown’s relationship with Patea was characterised by an “enduring pattern of coercive control” in which he “perpetrated physical, verbal, emotional and financial abuse and threatened to harm and kill Ms Brown, her family members and himself”.

By 2012, Ms Brown was pregnant with their baby.

In her first antenatal appointment, she denied she had been assaulted in the past year but told the doctor her partner had recently joined the Bandidos, which was causing her some anxiety.

The young mum went into labour in May 2012 and Patea drove her to hospital.
He was present for the birth, despite a domestic violence order now being in place between the pair.

Tara Brown was 24 years old when she died. Picture: Instagram.

At the hospital, he threatened to slit Ms Brown’s mother’s throat, claiming she didn’t say hello to him when she walked into the birthing suite, the findings said.

The midwife overheard this and asked a social worker to attend, but Patea was allowed to stay for the birth despite Ms Brown and her mother telling medical staff the order prevented Mr Patea from having contact with them.

CHAPTER 3: TARA BROWN’S DESPERATE ESCAPE PLAN

“Ms Brown’s mother was fearful of what would happen if he was prevented from staying at the hospital. The hospital staff concluded that: ‘he is the father and he has a right to be here’,” the findings said.

Throughout their relationship Patea controlled all aspects of Ms Brown’s life, the findings said.

Disturbing details of Patea’s obsessive, violent and degrading acts were this week aired in non-inquest findings into her death, released by the Queensland Coroners Court. Picture: Supplied,

“One friend indicated that Patea demanded to know what she was wearing, demanded she send photos of her outfit, called her a slut and accused her of cheating on him,” Ms Bentley said.
“Mr Patea frequently accused Ms Brown of infidelity. He allegedly recruited Bandido prospects to assault a friend of Ms Brown’s as he believed she was sleeping with him.”
The findings also revealed when Ms Brown travelled with her touch football team Patea paid for her to stay at a separate hotel “away from the other team members as they included males”.

CHAPTER 4: TARA WAS ‘EVERYTHING TO ME’: PATEA

After Ms Brown separated from Patea he phoned her 30 times within the space of two hours and sent her 12 text messages including one that said: “If u dnt pick-up Im guns smash d f*** owta our house n kill zuez at least I knw were to go to get ur mum I warned u wat wuld happen” (sic).

Patea also sent another text saying: “U COLD HEARTED DOG U CAN GET F***ED I WANT MY 3 GRAND IM UPLOADING VIDEOS TO FACEBOOK AND SERISLLY IF I DON’T ANSWER UR FONE I WILL TXT AND EMAIL ALL UR WORK MATES VIDEOS OF U … IM LOOSING IT TARA SERISLLY IM A SINGLE DAD IF U WANNA DITCH US IM GUNNA MAKE U FEEL LIKE U WISIH U NEVER HAD UR DAUGHTER YOUR NOT BEING FAIR TARS”.

When she sought a private domestic violence order in 2015, Ms Brown said in the application she believed the bikie enforcer could get a firearm in a “heartbeat”.

“One friend indicated that Patea demanded to know what she was wearing, demanded she send photos of her outfit, called her a slut and accused her of cheating on him,” Ms Bentley said. Photo: Supplied.

“I’m going into a shelter with my daughter until we go to court for a family court order so Mr Patea doesn’t grab her and run away with her. Once he finds out I have a DVO he will come and find us, he will go to my mums, my nans, my mum’s partners my work and thereafter and even hurt them until he finds me, I just want everyone safe,” Ms Brown wrote before her death.

Ms Brown’s boss later saw messages from him that said “he was going to kill himself and if he died someone would come and get her”, the findings said.

CHAPTER 5: THE LITTLE GIRL WITHOUT HER MUMMY

After she separated from Patea, the law firm she worked at introduced a “locked door” policy because Ms Brown was fearful he would come to the office and “get her”.

The findings also reveal an earlier attack in which he drove erratically at her with his car, ripped her dress and pushed her before he threw a bucket at her, spat in her face and called her a “putrid dog mongrel s***” and ripped her dress completely off.
The assault on the 33-week pregnant woman was set off when Ms Brown went into the petrol station to buy a chocolate bar.

Patea ripped her dress and pushed her before he threw a bucket at her, spat in her face and called her a “putrid dog mongrel s***” and ripped her dress completely off. Picture: Supplied.

She told police he had threatened her with a gun and smashed her windscreen.

The findings also detail serious financial control between the pair, in which Patea forced Ms Brown to pay her own living expenses and for their daughter — including paying rent for living in his home.

“ … if Ms Brown did something that Mr Patea disapproved of, he would

transfer money out of her account leaving her with minimal funds (sometimes as little

as $8). Meanwhile, Mr Patea spent large amounts of money on himself, such as the

purchase of a jet ski,” the findings said.