Bondi Junction attacker searched for serial killers online, sought access to guns

The man behind the deadly Westfield Bondi Junction stabbing attack searched online for articles about serial killers, “cop killers” and mass stabbings shortly before he killed six people and injured 10 more while his severe mental illness was untreated, a court has heard.

Joel Cauchi had also attempted to access guns in 2021, counsel assisting the Bondi Junction inquest, Peggy Dwyer, SC, said in her opening address in Sydney on Monday.

Joel Cauchi had serious mental health issues for more than 20 years, the court heard.Credit: Facebook

Cauchi, 40, was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager but was “effectively unmedicated” and unmonitored for about five years before his death, Dwyer said on the first day of the five-week inquest.

Ashlee Good, 38, Dawn Singleton, 25, Jade Young, 47, Yixuan Cheng, 27, Faraz Tahir, 30, and Pikria Darchia, 55, were killed during Cauchi’s three-minute knife attack before he was shot dead by NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott. Scott is slated to give evidence on Tuesday.

State Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan told the families of victims that, while the inquest was a formal process, “we’re all human, and we all have hearts, and our hearts go out to you”.

The inquest is examining the circumstances surrounding all seven deaths. Dwyer said the Coroners Court would consider “apparent gaps” in the mental health system that Cauchi “fell through”.

NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott (centre) outside the inquest on Monday.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Police had reviewed voluminous records from Cauchi’s phones, she said, including his web browsing and messages. The “distressing” records showed he was “extremely unwell” and was “preoccupied with weapons, with violence, and with mass killing” from at least 2022.

At the time of the killings, Cauchi was homeless and had moved from Queensland to Sydney. He had been treated in both the public and private health systems in Queensland. His medication had been reduced before being stopped entirely in 2019.

Dwyer said there was evidence Cauchi’s actions followed “rudimentary planning”, but no motive was apparent. In the years before 2024, Cauchi had bought several knives. He bought the knife ultimately used in the attack in south-west Sydney on February 24.

On January 25, he made a note on his phone: “Call knife sharpener and confirm it doesn’t need sharpening for mall use.” Less than a month later, he made a note to “check out malls and also where to run”.

Dwyer said other notes in January and February “all suggest that he was planning a strike or attack”.

The brothers (left and centre) of murdered security guard Faraz Tahir arrive at the NSW Coroner’s Court.Credit: Kate Geraghty

This was “very different to how Mr Cauchi presented or behaved or appeared to think when he was medicated”, Dwyer said.

The inquest heard Cauchi had searched for an article about the neuroscience of serial killers’ brains, bands loved by serial killers, the most recent mass stabbing in Australia, “cop killer”, and: “What do people regret while dying?”

On the morning of the stabbing, Cauchi searched for the Columbine High School massacre.

Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Marks, the officer in charge of the Bondi Junction investigation and the first witness at the inquest, said Cauchi was an isolated person with darkening fixations, but there was no evidence suggesting he was targeting women.

“I just believed whoever was in his way, when he was running, was who he attacked,” Marks said.

The inquest heard that a security officer, watching CCTV in Westfield’s control room, had stepped out for a bathroom break for less than two minutes. In that time, Cauchi had begun stabbing people. His rampage lasted just over three minutes before he was shot dead.

Marks lauded the bravery of security guards, one of whom died confronting Cauchi, and Young’s partner who warned other shoppers off while rushing to her side in those frantic moments.

But the composure of the veteran detective seemed to break when describing Good, who died saving her child from Cauchi’s attack.

Peggy Dwyer, SC, (left) outside the Coroners Court in Lidcombe on Monday.Credit: Kate Geraghty

“I think Ms Good should be posthumously awarded a valour award for what she did,” Marks said, with tears in his eyes.

The inquest watched a computerised rendering of the path taken by Scott as she chased Cauchi through the shopping centre, ending near the air bridge on the fifth floor.

Marks revealed Scott, face to face with the armed killer, had told everyone to stay behind her as she drew her weapon.

Scott ordered women with prams, who were sheltering in pot plants behind Cauchi, to flee before he began running towards the officer.

He was just 6.5 metres from Scott when her two rounds struck him in the upper torso and neck. A third round flew across the air bridge and hit a pot plant.

Scott’s “textbook” actions and care saved their lives and many others, Marks said.

“The investigation found that Inspector Scott discharged her firearm lawfully and within all policies and procedure; she acted bravely and professionally,” he said.

Floral tributes mark the one year anniversary of Bondi Junction Westfield stabbing earlier this month.Credit: Edwina Pickles

Dwyer said the evidence unequivocally showed Cauchi was a man who was “seriously unwell”, “far from home and far from the watchful eye of his parents”, who had previously kept him connected with health services.

“The expert psychiatric evidence is clear and unanimous that Mr Joel Cauchi was floridly psychotic on the 13th of April,” Dwyer said.

“Expert toxicology evidence suggests that Mr Cauchi had been using cannabis … in the days preceding his death. The use of marijuana also preceded Mr Cauchi’s initial diagnosis of schizophrenia in 2001.

“I expect the court will hear expert psychiatric evidence that use of cannabis would likely have exacerbated the psychotic symptoms that Mr Cauchi was experiencing around the 13th of April, but, conversely, expert evidence is also likely to shed light on the fact that use of cannabis may be a symptom of schizophrenia or psychosis.”

Dwyer said Cauchi had displayed an interest in guns in 2021, and a psychiatrist provided a report to the “Queensland Police Service weapons licensing branch … in which he confirmed that Mr Cauchi was at that stage, in his view, a fit and proper person to be issued with a weapons licence”.

“The available evidence suggests that Mr Cauchi did not follow through with a gun licence and that is very, very fortunate.”

He was reported to Crime Stoppers in 2022 after attempting to watch a school swimming carnival in Toowoomba, Dwyer said.

“The school took swift action, and he was not permitted to attend,” she said.

The court was not seeking to stigmatise those living with complex and chronic mental illness, Dwyer said, and most people living with schizophrenia will never commit any form of violent attack.

Cauchi’s parents loved and cared for him all his life, and they were shocked he had committed these terrible acts of violence, she said.

If you or anyone you know needs help, call SANE on 1800 187 263 (and see sane.org), Lifeline on 13 11 14 (and see lifeline.org.au) or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 (and see beyondblue.org.au).

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.