Joel Cauchi schizophrenia and self destruction: where was the help he needed? How the Bondi Westfield suspect’s descent into violence is an indictment on society and what ills many.
In the days ahead in an attempt to understand the mindset and psychology of the Bondi Westfield killer, investigators will be focusing on Joel Cauchi’s movements leading up to Saturday’s mass stabbing that claimed the lives of six and the wounding of another twelve.
Social media posts shared by the assailant revealed Cauchi in the days and months prior seeking out friends on Facebook, whether surfing or astronomy clubs along with joining gun clubs. Cauchi also frequented strip clubs and had found himself living the double life of a male escort – which may have fostered an apparent hate towards females – given the fact that the majority of his victims were almost all females.
But Joel Cachi’s descent into the maniacal and diabolical didn’t just begin a month ago when he moved from Queensland to Sydney. It began years ago when he was diagnosed with a mental health illness – and whether he was afforded the necessary help he needed to overcome his condition if he was to be a productive and sane member of society.
Bondi Westfield killer hated women cause he couldn’t get a girlfriend & refused to give up knives
Joel Cauchi’s parents disconnected relationship with their son
Living on the margins of society
In the days leading up to Saturday’s mass stabbing, Cauchi had been rough-shedding it, with his family stating their son was sleeping in a car and at backpacker hostels.
Their son was also struggling with schizophrenia (a chronic brain disorder which presents itself with delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, trouble with thinking and lack of motivation).
Queensland Health Authorities revealed Cauchi being diagnosed with the disease in 2000, the year he graduated from Harristown State High School at the age of 17.
What remained unclear is to what degree of ongoing treatment did Cauchi receive, if any, at all or seldomly and if not- why?
Reflected Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Roger Lowe asked during a media conference on Sunday, ‘What’s changed from a person who’s 40 and has for a number of years functioned in society to commit such a horrific crime?’
But had Cauchi really functioned in society? It did not appear he held a steady job, either cause he did not want to or was unable to. Neither did he live a particularly stable life and appeared to exist on the fringes and diabolical and could be described as a ticking time bomb that society prefers to side-step.
A cry for help
If only as some wondered was he was afforded mental health care and the structure of support to find his way.
Opined one commentator that caught this author’s attention on social media:
‘Everyone is going on about how mental health failed him but here is the thing……mental health services are designed in such a way that they look out for and treat symptoms.
There is a heavy emphasis on everything else but causatives. Concentration is on a CHECKLIST of symptoms rather than CONTEXT….what childhood did he have and how is it that in the last few months of his life he lived out of a back pack? In the land of of milk and honey? The lucky country! Where was social services?? Why did he end up homeless?
This is a culmination of a lot of socio economic failures. A capitalist system that pushes people to the brink, keeps people enslaved to debt whilst politicians line their pockets and lie to the masses with a straight face. Mental health has is fast become the biggest health epidemic in the developing world.
People aren’t coping out there and drugs aren’t necessary going to fix that. Until we stop the greed and the control of wealth by few powerful individuals, we gonna keep seeing more and more of this.’
Since 2020, police were in contact with Cauchi primarily because of mental health issues but never arrested him. His last contact with Queensland police was a ‘street check’ on the Gold Coast in December.
His family, who contacted police after recognising their son in videos of the Bondi attack, had limited contact with him in recent years, aside from his mother receiving a periodic text reply. Their last contact with him was in March.
In the months leading up to the murders, Cauchi joined several online social groups, including a singles group for people in NSW and the ACT.
His posts show repeated attempts to meet friends, inviting people to be part of learning exchanges to study Russian, German or Swedish or to teach him surfing.
In December, he reached out to online groups to find someone to ‘tag along with’ to learn astrophotography and in January called out for backpackers to ‘rideshare with, pay for some fuel and stay at some interesting places reasonably close to Sydney together’.
It seemed there were no takers.
Five days before the murder, Cauchi posted on a beginner surfing group that ‘I am surfing Bondi this afternoon if anyone wants to meet there for a surf!’
As with the other posts, he received no public responses. And the fuse on his ticking time bomb inside his deteriorating mind and heart was about to self collide…
