Bourke Street killer Hassan Ali’s wife’s won’t reveal what she spoke to him about moments before attack

The Bourke Street terrorist’s wife could possibly shed light on the “trigger” for the deadly attack that killed Sisto Malaspina.

The wife of the Bourke Street killer has still not told police what she spoke to her husband about in the moments before he committed “an act of terror” in the heart of Melbourne.

The inquest into the 2018 attack also heard revelations Beyza Eren likely disposed of the phone she used to speak to Hassan Khalif Shire Ali during his final moments on November 9.

Knowing what was spoken about would provide insight into Shire Ali’s state of mind, and possibly shed light on the “trigger” for the deadly attack, the inquest heard on Monday.

Shire Ali, 30, spoke to his wife for 60 seconds from Bourke Street just before he set a car full of gas cylinders on fire and stabbed to death cafe identity Sisto Malaspina, 74, and wounded two others.

A senior AFP officer, known only as JCCT Officer B, said the phone had never been recovered. “We’ve never had any co-operation from her in relation to that phone. I do believe it was deliberately disposed of.”

Officer B said investigators from the Joint Counter Terrorism Team, comprising state and federal agencies, attempted to track the phone.

Sisto Malaspina, co-owner of Pellegrini's Espresso Bar, was killed by lone terrorist Hassan Khalif Shire Ali in Bourke St.

“We applied for phone intercepts in relation to that phone … on three occasions it pinged close to her family home,” he told counsel assisting the coroner, Catherine Fitzgerald. “We’ve never got to the bottom of what that’s about or what they spoke about. The explanation for his actions resulting in his own death remain unclear.”

Police examined text messages between the couple.

Officer B said he saw “a lot in common between him and his wife, particularly around Islamic material … they shared a lot of material like sermons from radical preachers … a lot of the terrorism offenders we investigate tend to listen to them.”

Ms Eren was initially arrested on suspicion of aiding the attack, but has never been charged. She is expected to give evidence later this week.

Officer B said there was nothing from the messages that showed she had prior knowledge. He revealed in the final days of Shire Ali’s life they had discussed taking a holiday and booking a cabin for two days after the attack.

He had also spoken of wanting to find work.

The JCCT considered the attack an act of terrorism because of the “mixed mode” of the attack using gas bottles and knives “and the utterances of the offender”, Officer B said.

When on his stabbing rampage he was heard to repeatedly scream “Allahu Akbar”.

The inquest continues.