‘I’m going to have PTSD’: Woman traumatised after thugs use her car for brutal machete murder

A woman on holiday has had her car stolen and found covered in blood after a group of machete wielding men used it to flee a brutal murder scene.

A woman who was on holiday celebrating her wedding anniversary while a group of thugs used her stolen car to flee a brutal machete murder says she will be forever traumatised.

Bonnie Koffman had been visiting loved ones in Brisbane and the Whitsundays last week when a group of young men stole her white Hyundai Kona from the Cardinia Life sporting complex, where her son had driven it to play basketball, on March 10.

It is understood that four days later, the same suspected group of machete wielding killers fled the Marriott Waters Shopping Centre in Lyndhurst in Ms Koffman’s blood-spattered car after stabbing 24-year-old Timothy in a targeted gang-linked attack.

One avenue of inquiry being probed by detectives is whether the same group used Ms Koffman’s car in a violent armed robbery at a Boronia supermarket.

A group of machete-wielding young men robbed a Boronia supermarket just hours before Timothy’s death. Picture: Supplied

Speaking exclusively to the Herald Sun, Ms Koffman said: “I’m going to have PTSD”.

“I don’t want the car back … When they (police) found the car, they also found blood on it,” she said through tears.

“The involvement and the crimes that it’s (car) been used in is disgusting, it’s my only family car.

“How could they do that? It was horrific.”

Ms Koffman’s son immediately reported the stolen car when he discovered it missing after a game about 4.30pm on March 10.

Eagle-eyed members of the public on social media reported sightings of the car speeding erratically through the southeastern suburbs before the holdup and murder on March 14.

Scene of a fatal stabbing at Marriott Waters shopping centre in Lyndhurst. Picture: David Crosling

The Hyundai Kona was later found dumped with damage to its driver’s side door.

Timothy’s killers have remained on the run since.

A fight broke out between Timothy and up to 10 other men about 8.30pm on Friday night before the group chased him down and stabbed him.

Timothy was rushed to hospital, where he died from his injuries.

His devastated family have remembered him as a kind young man with an “infectious sense of humour”.

Ms Koffman said she was now linked to Timothy’s violent death, which shouldn’t have been allowed to happen by Victoria’s lax knife and bail laws.

“I don’t care whether it was a former gang member. He was still someone’s son,” she said.

“I’ve got three boys. No matter what damage they do, I’ve still got three boys.”

24-year-old Timothy was stabbed to death in Lyndhurst on Friday night. Picture: Supplied

Ms Koffman said changes to the bail laws prompted by the Herald Sun’s Suburbs Under Siege campaign came too late to stop her being caught up in Saturday’s tragedy.

As a result of mounting pressure from victims of crime and terrifying home invasions, Premier Jacinta Allan last week announced new laws would be introduced that would make it harder for repeat offenders to be bailed, as well as a ban on machetes in Victoria.

“Some of these changes aren’t going through until September and they used machetes,” Ms Koffman said.

“Australia is becoming the way America is with guns, but with knives.

“Why do these people use them? Why do they think they have a right?”

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said detectives were investigating links between Ms Koffman’s stolen Kona and the spate of incidents between March 10 and 14.

Originally published as ‘I’m going to have PTSD’: Woman traumatised after thugs use her car for brutal machete murder