The father of the Bondi Junction murderer, who killed six people in a stabbing rampage at the busy shopping centre, said he “can’t believe” the son he knew was behind such a “horrendous” attack.
Joel Cauchi was shot dead by police after fatally stabbing and injuring shoppers, most of whom were women, at Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday afternoon.
His father Andrew Cauchi said he dedicated his life to helping his son after he was diagnosed with mental illness at 17, but had “no idea” what prompted the massacre.
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Andrew, who had only periodic contact with Cauchi, said his son was once a “beautiful boy”.
“He’s my son, and I’m loving a monster,” he said outside his Toowoomba home on Monday.
“To you, he’s a monster. To me, he was a very sick boy.”
The devastated father said there was nothing he could say to bring back the dead, but he was “heartbroken” for all the victims and their loved ones.
His wife Michele apologised for her son’s actions, saying the family was pained by the atrocities.
“If he was in his right mind, he would be absolutely devastated by what he’s done,” she said.
“We are just ordinary people who brought up our son as best we could.
“We did what we could for him.”
Speaking in depth about his mental illness, Michele said Cauchi lived at home until he was 35 and decided to come off his medication before he moved to Brisbane, where his communication became sporadic.
“Anyone who’s got a relative with a mental illness will understand that medication doesn’t make you feel very well,” she said.
“There’s a condition with mental illness … where the brain is damaged and it doesn’t tell you you’re sick.
“If you don’t know you’re sick, why would you take medication?”
Michele said Cauchi was “obviously not in his right mind” during the attack.
“This is a parent’s absolute worst nightmare, when they have a child with a mental illness, that something like this would happen,” she said.
“My heart goes out to the people our son has hurt.
“He somehow had been triggered into psychosis and he lost touch with reality.”
Asked why Cauchi mainly targeted women in the attack, Andrew said: “He wanted a girlfriend, he’s got no social skills and he was frustrated by his brain.”
“He let himself down,” he said.
“He was taken off medication because he was doing so well, but then he took off to Brisbane.”
Cauchi lived in Brisbane for years before the attack and moved to Sydney from Queensland in March, when he rented a small Kennard’s storage unit in Waterloo.
It is believed he was living rough, sleeping in a car and backpacker hostels.
The 40-year-old is believed to have had a fascination with knives.
Andrew said he once confiscated a set of combat knives from Cauchi, causing his son to become “really angry” and call the police.
The distraught couple contacted police on Saturday after recognising their son in the footage of the incident on television.
“I’m looking at these pictures and I can’t believe it’s my son,” Andrew said of the confronting videos.
In a statement on Sunday afternoon, they slammed their son’s actions as “truly horrific” and said they were absolutely devastated by the traumatic events.
They said they were in contact with NSW and Queensland police and had “no issues with the police officer who shot our son”.
“She was only doing her job to protect others and we hope she is coping alright,” the family said.
Neighbours of the family said Cauchi suffered from schizophrenia and had an estranged relationship with his parents.
Queensland Police had no contact with Cauchi since December, when he was street-checked on the Gold Coast.
Assistant Commissioner Roger Lowe said police had mostly been in contact with Cauchi in the past four to five years and indicated Cauchi’s mental health had declined.
“The man has never been arrested by police in Queensland nor has he been charged with any criminal offence,” he said.
Cauchi had no record of being subject to a domestic violence order, despite most of his victims being women.
A Queensland Health spokesperson confirmed Cauchi had been “treated for mental health issues more than a decade ago but his care was transferred to a psychiatrist in the private sector in 2012”.