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Bassam Raad allegedly killed his wife and assaulted his children

A MELBOURNE man who allegedly murdered his wife and assaulted his three children says he’s a loving father who desperately wants to see his kids.

Bassam Raad allegedly murdered his wife and three children.
Bassam Raad allegedly murdered his wife and three children.

A MELBOURNE man who allegedly murdered his wife and assaulted his three young children says he’s a loving father who desperately wants to see his kids.

Bassam Raad, 34, briefly faced an out-of-sessions court hearing on Wednesday night accused of murdering his wife Zeinab Taleb and intentionally causing serious injury to three children aged two, four and six.

Dressed in a blue police-issued jumpsuit and black thongs, a clean-shaved Raad told the bail justice he feared for his safety while in custody and was a loving father who just wanted to see his kids.

“I am a loving father. My heart is breaking. I want to see my kids,” an unrepresented Raad told the bail justice.

Surrounded by nine homicide detectives, Raad also told the hearing police had refused to give him his thyroid medication, a shower or clean clothes to wear during his two days in custody. Without the medication, he was prone to fainting and almost did so while being interviewed at Broadmeadows Police Station, he said.

He also added that he had not been violent towards police officers during his arrest or his time in custody.

The woman wrapped in a quilt and dumped in a car park in Broadmeadows. Picture: Victoria Police
The woman wrapped in a quilt and dumped in a car park in Broadmeadows. Picture: Victoria Police

Raad was arrested on Monday night after his three children were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Homicide detectives soon linked him to the murder of a then-unidentified 27-year-old woman whose battered body was found dumped in a car park about 2km from the family’s home in Broadmeadows, north of Melbourne’s CBD.

The body was wrapped in a quilt and discovered by a passing jogger on June 17.

During the hearing Detective Senior Constable Miranda Stubbs said forensic officers found a “considerable amount of blood” inside the home leading them to believe Raad had killed his wife there.

He was refused bail and will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Raad was acquitted in a high-profile terror trial in 2008 when he was among 12 men accused of planning terror attacks in Melbourne.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/courts-law/bassam-raad-allegedly-killed-his-wife-and-assaulted-his-children/news-story/4d9c248a2720faf9d4ef17b37f94ec21