Westfield Bondi Junction attack: Old flame of crazed knifeman Joel Cauchi gives harrowing insight into savage killer’s psyche
A young woman says she was shocked to find the ‘real gentleman’ she once dated was the deranged mass murderer behind the Westfield Bondi Junction knife attack.
The Gold Coast woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, has told TheWSTNews Australia about her brief relationship with crazy knifeman Joel Cauchi, 40.
Cauchi was shot and killed by lone policewoman Amy Scott on Saturday afternoon after stabbing to death five women and a man and injuring at least a dozen more, including a nine-month-old baby girl.
But the woman said she barely recognized the savage killer – who stabbed the infant in her pram – from the man she met on the Badoo dating app in April 2020.
A woman previously in a relationship with Westfield Bondi Junction knifeman Joel Cauchi has revealed he was a ‘true gentleman’ (pictured, a photo Cauchi sent to the woman between 2020 and 2021)
The woman (pictured), who does not want to be identified, met Cauchi in 2020 and spent a year texting him
‘I chatted to him for a while and then had a few drinks with him at his house in Brisbane. He lived there with flatmates,” she said.
‘He was a lovely guy when I met him, definitely quiet and reserved. I am just very shocked by what has happened.
‘It’s hard to believe that he killed these innocent people.’
She described Cauchi as a “true gentleman” but admitted they only met in person once as he was not her type.
Despite this, the couple continued their relationship into 2021.
‘He was a very nice guy. Well said. I only saw him once but we texted for a good year after that,’ she said.
‘He came across a bit too geeky for me to be honest, but we still kept in touch. I live on the Gold Coast and he was living in Brisbane at the time.’
Despite Cauchi’s father previously telling TheWSTNews Australia that the 40-year-old lived a ‘backpacker’ lifestyle, which involved switching between sleeping in his car and cheap hostels, the Gold Coast woman did not remember Cauchi was interested in traveling.
‘He never mentioned traveling to me. That’s why I was surprised he was in Bondi,” she said.
Another woman who claims to have dated Cauchi said she stopped dating him because of his strange behavior.
‘We went to church together. I went on a couple of coffee dates with him, but he had compulsions, she said.
‘It was a bit weird so I stopped messaging him then he said he was going away. I am in Chok.’
Cauchi (pictured) stabbed six people to death at Westfield Bondi Junction shortly before 4pm on Saturday
The Gold Coast woman said Cauchi was ‘quiet’, ‘reserved’ and ‘nerdy’ (pictured, a photo Cauchi sent the woman between 2020 and 2021)
Since the shocking attack, several people who claim to have known or gone to school with Cauchi have shared different accounts of him online.
A person who claimed to be in the knifeman’s ‘close circle of friends’ during high school in Toowoomba, south-east Queensland, provided some background to Cauchi’s reported strange behaviour.
“He was one of those at school who was shy, always a little on the odd side, but when he did something it was always full tilt,” they wrote.
“Looking back, he probably didn’t regulate that well.
‘Got off the radar after school, but as far as I know he didn’t maintain any friendships with his circle of schoolmates.’
They believe Cauchi was suffering from a mental health episode at the time of Saturday’s Westfield attack, a theory shared by police and suffered by his distraught parents.
Cauchi was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager, and his parents said he had gone off his medication, triggering his psychosis.
“It may seem like misplaced empathy, but the Joel that I knew would not have been himself, not in command of his actions while attacking these people,” the friend wrote.
‘If there’s a lesson, it’s that mental illness is absurd and we shouldn’t mess with it.
‘We shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves to get help when we need it, and when people reach out to us for connection, we should see it for what it is and not ignore them.
“Joel is definitely not the only one struggling.”
Joel Cauchi (pictured) was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager and is understood to have been unmedicated at the time of the attack
Cauchi’s mother (pictured) and father described Saturday’s stabbing as ‘truly horrific’ and said they have ‘no problem’ with the officer who fatally shot their son
They also shared their sympathies with the loved ones of the six shoppers who were killed and those injured.
‘I know it’s no comfort to the victims, it’s all a bloody tragedy for them and their families, for Joel and his family, and for everyone associated with the event who doesn’t feel so safe shopping there now,’ they wrote.
The six people killed in Saturday’s vandalism have been identified as mother Ashlee Good, 38, advertising heiress Dawn Singleton, 25, architect Jade Young, 47, artist Pikria Darchia, 55, and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30, and Chinese student Yixuan Cheng, 27.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park confirmed on Monday morning that Ashlee Good’s nine-month-old daughter’s condition has been eased from “critical” to “serious”.
The baby was rushed from Westfield Bondi Junction to Sydney Children’s Hospital after her mother handed her over to strangers when they were attacked by Cauchi.
NSW Police do not believe the stabbing was a terrorist incident, pointing instead to Cauchi’s history of mental illness.
Speaking from their family home in Toowoomba on Sunday, his parents, Andrew and Michele Cauchi, called the tragedy ‘truly horrific’.
They admitted their knife-obsessed son was a ‘monster’ who hated women because he was ‘frustrated’ at not being able to find a girlfriend, they said.
“He wanted a girlfriend and he has no social skills,” Mr Cauchi said. ‘He was frustrated out of his mind.’
It is understood Cauchi filed a police report against his mother and father (pictured) for “stealing” his collection of knives after he became possessed
Six people were stabbed to death during Cauchi’s rampage and at least a dozen more were injured, including a nine-month-old baby girl
The family appears to have had a strained relationship with some neighbors and claim they last saw Cauchi knocking on his parents’ door, which they refused to open.
Just two months earlier, Cauchi had filed a police complaint against them for ‘stealing’ his knife collection.
It is understood his parents had taken his collection over their growing concern that he could be a danger to himself or others.
Cauchi’s close friend also touched on their experience with his family.
“I played at his house a few times in early high school and he played at mine,” they said.
“His mum was the sweetest thing ever, dad was prone to outbursts – in the few cases I saw – although it probably wouldn’t have been labeled that way back in the mid-90s.”
Cauchi’s father is known around town for being ‘very religious’ and breeding homing pigeons. He currently looks after around 700 of the birds.
A neighbor told TheWSTNews Australia the couple expected Cauchi to return home this week as they needed help relocating some of the pigeons due to noise and smell complaints.
The parents were reportedly quick to recognize their son in footage of Saturday’s attack and frantically contacted police to identify him.
The Cauchis said in a statement that they had ‘no problem’ with the actions of the officer who fatally shot their son.
Cauchi’s parents said: ‘We are completely devastated by the traumatic events that took place in Sydney’ (pictured, witnesses speak to an officer at the scene)
“We are completely devastated by the traumatic events that took place in Sydney yesterday,” they said.
‘Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of the victims and those still undergoing treatment at this time.
“Joel’s actions were truly horrific and we are still trying to understand what happened.
‘He has struggled with mental health issues since he was a teenager.
“We are in contact with both the NSW Police Force and the Queensland Police Service and have no problem with the police officer who shot our son as she was only doing her job to protect others and we hope she is doing well.”