Ariel Bombara relives harrowing moment her evil father killed two women

The daughter of a man who murdered two women in their home earlier this year has bravely relived the terrifying cat-and-mouse game her family played as they tried to escape their abusive father.

Ariel Bombara shared her story in a powerful speech to launch a campaign against family and domestic violence in Perth on Monday.

Her father Mark Bombara killed Jennifer Petelczyc and her 18-year-old daughter Gretl at their home in Floreat in May as he went looking for his wife who had fled the family home weeks earlier.

Ms Bombara said that just before her father killed Jennifer and Gretl, she had shared with her mother the “first glimpse of light” after moving into a new rental house.

She said they had moved several times in the past two months, dragging their belongings around in suitcases and garbage bags in an attempt to get through the day.

“We were giddy and excited as we unpacked the same clothes we had been wearing for eight weeks, this time knowing that we finally had a home again and could start rebuilding our lives,” she said.

As they were unpacking, Ms. Bombara’s mother received a call from her best friend Jenny and all they could hear was Jenny telling her 18-year-old daughter to hide.

“My dad was looking for Mom, and he didn’t believe her when she said Mom wasn’t there, so he forced his way into their house,” she said.

“We heard Jenny say, ‘Mark, put the gun away,’ and I remember the icy rush of adrenaline and the sound that escaped my mouth, similar to someone being kicked in the stomach.

“It was knowing that after eight weeks of meticulous safety planning, eight weeks of predicting and staying on top of his behavior, he was in the most terrifying game of cat and mouse.”

Ms Bombara said her father was about to do everything she thought he would do to her family, to someone else.

“Those were the last words I heard Jenny say as I frantically called triple-0 while mum continued to listen to what was happening in Jenny’s house,” she said.

‘While I was speaking to the police I heard my mother screaming and then she started wailing.

“The last thing Mom heard was two gunshots before the phone went dead.

“My father killed Jenny and Gretl, while Jenny’s other daughter Liesl and her boyfriend Blair were down the road in the store.

“They came back after Gretl texted Liesl to call the police and heard my father’s last shot as he took his life.”

Ms Bombara said she would spend the rest of her life questioning every decision she made to convince her mother to leave, because it was not safe to wonder what else she could have done to oppose her father keep.

“I was too good at hiding from him and hating myself because I never thought about him killing other people if he couldn’t find us,” she said.

‘It’s a heavy burden that women carry, blaming themselves for men’s violence, a completely unfair, twisted weight that we feel because the system doesn’t protect us and puts the onus on women to control men’s behavior instead of the perpetrators to account.’

Ms Bombara said her father was a dictator who constantly used coercive and controlling behavior at home.

“He was a master manipulator who twisted (mom’s) words and tricked her until she could no longer trust her own thoughts,” she said.

“It was the lingering, gut-wrenching fear waiting for when and how he would disgrace you that left everyone walking on eggshells, constantly on edge and exhausted from playing his mind games.

“He was openly sexist, racist and homophobic to anyone who didn’t look like him.

“He thought women were less than dog shit, and he made it clear in front of his daughters that he would destroy your property and drive dangerously to scare you.”

Ms Bombara said she spent eight weeks fighting anyone who tried to convince them they were overreacting.

“The police who fired us, the people who said, ‘Oh, but he doesn’t rape you or beat you, so it can’t be that bad,’” she said.

“All I can ask is, do you believe me now?”