The killer who killed a mother and her teenage daughter before taking his own life had a 10cm cyst on his brain and had behaved ‘aggressively’ towards hospital staff in the weeks before the tragedy, a medical worker has claimed.
New details about Mark Bombara’s health have emerged after he stormed the home of Jennifer Petelczyc, 53, in Floreat, Perth, on the afternoon of May 24.
He was looking for his ex-wife who was staying at Ms Petelczyc’s house, but when he couldn’t find her he fatally shot the 53-year-old and her daughter Gretl, 18, before turning the gun on himself.
A health worker, who chose to remain anonymous, has since claimed that Bombara would likely not have been discharged from hospital if staff had known about his large weapons collection at home, given the change in his behavior in recent months.
An anonymous health worker from Perth claimed that 63-year-old double murderer Mark Bombara (left with his ex-wife) had a 10 centimeter cyst on his brain and was behaving aggressively.
Following his discharge, Bombara fatally shot Jennifer Petelczyc, 53, and her daughter Gretl, 18, (pictured) at their Floreat home in Perth before turning the gun on himself at around 4.30pm on May 24.
“If they had sent someone home with 13 guns, with a cyst that big and exhibited that behavior … there would have been an argument with the police,” they said. WA Today.
The health worker claimed Bombara’s behavior became so bad that staff recommended his driver’s license be revoked on medical grounds.
“He looked volatile, which could be evidence of brain damage. That had only been discovered in recent months and things like this were piling up over time. He was a very sick man,” they continued.
The worker said Bombara also suffered two mini-strokes in January.
Bombara was hospitalized after the first stroke, known as a transient ischemic attack, before returning weeks later after suffering another stroke.
The employee claimed that other health care workers and family members had raised concerns about Bombara’s increasingly aggressive and erratic behavior in recent months.
They said health care workers should be able to check online databases to see if patients engaging in risky behavior are licensed gun holders.
“We need mandatory reporting and a better ability to assess risk – we need to know if people have firearms,” they said.
The North Metropolitan Health Service, which cared for Bombara, said his mental health was assessed at the time and there were ‘no signs’ of reduced mental capacity [or] aggression’ found.
“Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital treated Mr Bombara for a series of minor strokes in early May,” acting chief executive of health services Joel Gurr said.
‘While he was in our care, the treatment team assessed his mental health and determined that there were no signs of diminished mental capacity, aggression or suicide risk.
‘Mental health clinicians routinely refer to police when they are concerned that a patient is being assessed as aggressive or in danger to others, but in this case the patient did not exhibit any behavior that could trigger this process.’
Bombara’s daughter, Ariel, released her own statement on Tuesday, blaming WA Police for dismissing her family’s concerns about his behavior in the lead-up to the murder-suicide.
The health worker said Bombara suffered two mini-strokes in early May
Ariel Bombara (pictured) released a statement on Tuesday blaming WA Police, who she says ignored her family’s concerns about Bombara’s behaviour.
Bombara was known to the police, but had no history of violence and was not under surveillance.
She said she spoke to police three times between March 30 and April 2, after she and her mother fled the family home on March 28 “in fear for our lives.”
“Each time, I alerted officers to my father’s weapons and told them that my mother and I felt there was a real and imminent threat to our lives,” she wrote.
“I specifically said there was a Glock pistol that was not reported. I understand that this would ultimately be one of the weapons my father used to kill two innocent women.”
Ariel also asked the police for a temporary 72-hour protective order, but that was denied.
“We were told no and there was nothing the police could do about the situation at that time,” she said.
Bombara owned 11 guns under a recreational shooter’s license and two pistols under a collector’s license, one of which was used to kill Ms Petelczyc and her daughter.
Police Minister Paul Papalia said Bombara had no previous convictions or any evidence of a violence ban against him.
Mr Papalia said Bombara became known to police after his ex-wife asked if officers could be present at the house while she packed up her belongings due to “family domestic violence”. [FDV] related matters’.
“But none of these cases had been reported to police and he was not known to police in any way other than her approaching them at the time,” Papalia said.
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