EXCLUSIVE
A tenant, 25, is said to have murdered his landlord before stumbling into a pharmacy with blood and cuts on his hands and calling an ambulance from a phone box.
Emergency services were called to a house on Lakes Drive in Tweed Heads West, on the NSW-Queensland border, about 5.50pm on Wednesday after neighbors became concerned for the owner’s welfare.
Police arrived at the property and found the body of 63-year-old Donna Baraket inside. She could not be revived and died on the spot.
Connor Bulluss was subsequently charged with murder.
Neighbors told Daily Mail Australia the property was a known drug house and Ms Baraket had struggled with addiction and had been in and out of rehab for years.
A tenant, 25, allegedly murdered his landlord Donna Baraket (pictured) before stumbling into a pharmacy with cuts and blood all over his hands and calling an ambulance from a phone box
A neighbor, Hannah, said Mr. Bulluss had been renting from Ms. Baraket for about two weeks before she kicked him out on Monday and threw his belongings on the front lawn.
Hannah’s husband Luke was the pharmacist on duty when the alleged killer ran into his shop about ten minutes away, covered in blood.
“He came in with his hands all cut up and my husband thinks it may have been self-defense,” she said.
“It looked like he grabbed a knife or something.”
She said Mr Bulluss walked into the pharmacy with serious injuries to his hands, before leaving and calling an ambulance from a phone box.
It was this confrontational scene that prompted her husband to call the police and ask them to conduct a welfare check on the home.
Connor Bulluss (pictured) has been charged with murder after being taken to hospital
Neighbors said the property was a known drug house and Ms Baraket struggled with addiction and had been in and out of rehab for years. (Photo: police on site)
When police arrived at the pharmacy, they found Mr Bulluss in the gutter with serious hand injuries.
Hannah said people often hung around the house and that she heard an argument breaking out at the address, but she heard nothing on Wednesday.
“Usually I hear people shouting ‘f**k you’ and stuff like that,” she said.
“But I was at home yesterday with my seven-month-old son and I saw her walking around the house an hour beforehand, but I didn’t hear anything.”
She didn’t know what sparked the altercation Wednesday, but said, “I think it might have been that she kicked him out and they both could have done something (drugs) and it could have gotten out of hand.”
She described Mr Bulluss as ‘quiet’ and was surprised he was arrested and charged with murder.
On Wednesday evening, Mr Bulluss was taken to Tweed Heads Hospital under police guard.
He was then taken to Tweed Heads police station and charged with murder. He appeared before Tweed Heads Local Court on Thursday.
The court heard he could not appear because he was in hospital and had surgery on his hands.
The case will be heard again on Friday.