Bondi Junction Westfield stabbing: Inside Joel Cauchi’s chilling obsession with knives

A 40-year-old man known to have mental health problems and an obsession with knives is responsible for the shopping center stabbing that left six people dead.

Queensland man Joel Cauchi was shot dead by a lone policewoman after stabbing six people to death and wounding more, including a nine-month-old baby, at Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday afternoon.

Cauchi was named by police during a press conference on Sunday morning, where many disturbing details about his life quickly emerged.

He was known to have a strange obsession with knives, with his parents taking his knives away from him at one point.

On Saturday, he used a 30cm knife to kill five women, including the mother of the injured baby, and a security guard.

Ashlee Good, 38, Dawn Singleton, 25, Jade Young, 47, and Faraz Tahir, 30, have now been identified.

In a disturbing Facebook post (pictured), Cauchi asked to meet “people who shoot guns.”

Cauchi was an avid social media user and was part of several online communities.

In one frightening incident, he asked a group called “Outdoor Adventures – Hikes, Water Sports, Snowboarding, Camping and the like” about meeting people “who shoot guns.”

“Hi, I’m looking for groups of people who shoot guns, including pistols, to meet up with, chat and get to know each other,” he wrote on December 6, 2020.

‘Send me a DM if you can help me! I live in Brisbane by the way.”

Three years ago, Cauchi condemned a Queensland knife company for blunting its knives.

‘Dealing with this company has been a nightmare for me. “I put two knives in it (one of which is quite expensive) to be sharpened and it dulled them both,” he wrote.

‘I made sure I gave all the instructions clearly, repeatedly and correctly when I put them in and he dulled them, then was very unhelpful afterwards as he couldn’t or wouldn’t fix the job, leaving me with two dull knives that are actually useless now.’

It is understood Cauchi was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager and was not taking any medication at the time of the horror attack.

He had moved to NSW a month ago and his social media shows he previously lived in Toowoomba with his parents, Brisbane and Surfers Paradise in Queensland.

Six people – five women and one man – were stabbed to death in Bondi Junction Westfield shortly before 4pm on Saturday.

Just a week before the Westfield stabbing, Cauchi posted that he wanted to meet other surfers in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

“Hi, I’m surfing Bondi this afternoon if anyone wants to meet there and surf,” he wrote.

Cauchi was also part of several photography groups in Queensland and NSW and regularly asked for recommendations for ‘dark sky locations’ for astrophotography.

His Facebook profile shows he worked as an “online English teacher,” but he was listed on at least two escort websites where he offered sexual services to men and women.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said on Sunday that Cauchi was known to police in Queensland and NSW for mental health reasons.

He had a run-in with officers at The Rocks, Sydney Harbour, last June, during which he was stopped and searched before being let go.

“He has no criminal record, but he has come to the attention of law enforcement authorities, in this state and in Queensland, due to mental health issues,” Commissioner Webb said.

Cauchi was involved with the Queensland Health system until 2012, after which his mental health care was provided by his GPs.

“Queensland Health extends our condolences to everyone involved in the tragic incident in NSW,” a spokesperson said.

“We will work with Queensland and NSW Police on any information and assistance we can provide.

“The man was treated by Queensland Health for mental health issues more than a decade ago, but his care was transferred to a private sector psychiatrist in 2012.”

It is understood Cauchi’s distraught family frantically contacted police after seeing footage of the Westfield stabbing as they feared he was involved.

Cauchi’s Facebook profile shows that he worked as an “online English teacher,” but he was listed on at least two escort websites where he offered sexual services to men and women (photo, a photo from one of Cauchi’s escort listings)

Cauchi’s social media shows he attended Harristown State High School and studied at the University of Southern Queensland.

Recently he tried to learn German, Russian and Swedish in exchange for English lessons.

‘Hi, I’m looking for a fluent Swedish speaker for a language exchange! I speak fluent English and can teach it in exchange for Swedish lessons if you are interested,” he posted to a language exchange group in Sydney.