EXCLUSIVE
A young woman says she was shocked to find the ‘true gentleman’ she once dated was the deranged mass killer behind the Westfield Bondi Junction stabbing attack.
The Gold Coast woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Daily Mail about her brief relationship with crazed knifeman, Joel Cauchi, 40.
Cauchi was shot dead by lone policewoman, Amy Scott, on Saturday afternoon after stabbing five women and one man to death and injuring at least a dozen more, including a nine-month-old baby girl.
But the woman said she barely recognised the savage killer – who stabbed the infant in her pram – from the man she met on the Badoo dating app in April 2020.
A woman previously in a relationship with Westfield Bondi Junction knifeman Joel Cauchi has revealed he was a ‘true gentleman’ (pictured, a photo Cauchi sent to the woman between 2020 and 2021)
The woman (pictured), who does not wish to be identified, met with Cauchi in 2020 and spent a year messaging with him
‘I struck up a conversation with him for a while then I had a few drinks with him at his house in Brisbane. He lived there with flatmates,’ she said.
‘He was a lovely guy when I met him, definitely quiet and reserved. I’m just very shocked at what has happened.
‘It’s hard to believe he has killed these innocent people.’
She described Cauchi as a ‘true gentleman’ but admitted they only met in person once as he wasn’t her type.
Despite this, the pair continued their relationship into 2021.
‘He was a very nice guy. Well spoken. I only saw him once but we did text for a good year after that,’ she said.
‘He came across a little too nerdy for me to be honest, but we still kept in touch. I live on the Gold Coast and he lived in Brisbane at the time.’
Despite Cauchi’s father previously telling Daily Mail the 40-year-old lived a ‘backpacker’ lifestyle, which involved rotating between sleeping in his car and cheap hostels, the Gold Coast woman didn’t recalled Cauchi having an interest in travel.
‘He never mentioned travelling to me. That’s why I was surprised he was in Bondi,’ she said.
Another woman who claims to have dated Cauchi said she stopped seeing him due to his odd behaviour.
‘We went to church together. I went on a few coffee dates with him, but he had compulsions,’ she said.
‘It was a bit weird so I stopped messaging him, then he said he was moving away. I’m in shock.’
Cauchi (pictured) stabbed six people to death at Westfield Bondi Junction shortly before 4pm on Saturday
The Gold Coast woman said Cauchi was ‘quiet’, ‘reserved’ and ‘nerdy’ (pictured, a photo Cauchi sent the woman between 2020 and 2021)
READ MORE: The terror of the Sydney stabbings is because it took place in the most ordinary of settings. It could have happened to any of us
Since the shocking attack, several people claiming to have known or attended school alongside Cauchi have shared differing accounts of him online.
One person, claiming to be in the knifeman’s ‘close circle of friends’ during high school in Toowoomba in south-east Queensland, gave some background to Cauchi’s reported strange behaviour.
‘He was one of those ones at school that was shy, always a bit on the weird side, but whenever he did something it was always full tilt,’ they wrote.
‘In hindsight he probably didn’t regulate that well.
‘Dropped off the radar after school but to my knowledge he didn’t maintain any friendships with his circle of school mates.’
They believe Cauchi was suffering a mental health episode at the time of Saturday’s Westfield attack which is a theory shared by police and achoed by his distraught parents.
Cauchi was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager and his parents said he had gone off his medication, which had triggered his psychosis.
‘It might seem like misplaced empathy but the Joel that I knew would have not been himself, not in command of his actions while he attacked those people,’ the friend wrote.
‘If there’s a lesson, it’s that mental illness is a b*tch and we shouldn’t muck around with it.
‘We shouldn’t be too tough to get help ourselves when we need to, and when people reach out to us for connection we should see it for what it is and not ignore them.
‘Joel’s surely not the only one struggling.’
Joel Cauchi (pictured) was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager and it’s understood he was unmedicated at the time of the attack
Cauchi’s mother (pictured) and father described Saturday’s stabbing as ‘truly horrific’ and said they have ‘no issues’ with the officer who fatally shot their son
They also shared their sympathy for the loved ones of the six shoppers who were killed and the injured.
‘I know that it’s no comfort for the victims, the whole thing is a bloody tragedy for them and their families, for Joel and his family, and for everyone connected with the event who doesn’t feel as safe to go shopping there now,’ they wrote.
The six people killed in Saturday’s rampage have been identified as mother Ashlee Good, 38, advertising heiress Dawn Singleton, 25, architect Jade Young, 47, artist Pikria Darchia, 55, and security guard Faraz Tahir, 30, and Chinese student Yixuan Cheng, 27.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park on Monday morning confirmed Ashlee Good’s nine-month-old daughter’s condition has eased from ‘critical’ to ‘serious’.
The baby was rushed from Westfield Bondi Junction to Sydney Children’s Hospital after her mother handed her to strangers when they were attacked by Cauchi.
NSW Police do not believe the stabbing was an incident of terrorism, instead pointing to Cauchi’s history of mental illness.
His parents, Andrew and Michele Cauchi, spoke from their family home in Toowoomba on Sunday and called the tragedy ‘truly horrific’.
They admitted their knife-obsessed son was a ‘monster’ who hated women because he was ‘frustrated’ at being unable to find a girlfriend, they said.
‘He wanted a girlfriend and he’s got no social skills,’ said Mr Cauchi. ‘He was frustrated out of his brain.’
It’s understood Cauchi filed a police report against his mother and father (pictured) for ‘stealing’ his collection of knives after he became obsessed
Six people were stabbed to death during Cauchi’s rampage and at least a dozen more were injured, including a nine-month-old baby girl
The family appear to have had a strained relationship with some neighbours claiming they last saw Cauchi banging on his parents’ door, which they refused to open.
Just two months earlier, Cauchi had filed a police report against them for ‘stealing’ his knife collection.
It’s understood his parents had taken his collection over their growing concerns he could be a danger to himself or others.
The close friend of Cauchi also touched on their experience with his family.
‘I played at his house a couple of times in early high school and he played at mine,’ they said.
‘His mum was the sweetest thing ever, dad was prone to outbursts – in the few instances I saw – although it probably wouldn’t have been labelled that way back in the mid 90s.’
Cauchi’s father is known around town for being ‘very religious’ and breeding homing pigeons. He currently cares for about 700 of the birds.
One neighbour told Daily Mail the couple were expecting Cauchi to come home this week as they needed help relocating some of the pigeons due to noise and smell complaints.
The parents reportedly were quick to recognise their son in footage of Saturday’s attack and frantically contacted police to identify him.
The Cauchis said in a statement they have ‘no issues’ with the actions of the officer who fatally shot their son.
Cauchi’s parents said: ‘We are absolutely devastated by the traumatic events that occurred in Sydney’ (pictured, witnesses talking to an officer at the scene)
‘We are absolutely devastated by the traumatic events that occurred in Sydney yesterday,’ they said.
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims and those still undergoing treatment at this time.
‘Joel’s actions were truly horrific, and we are still trying to comprehend what has happened.
‘He has battled with mental health issues since he was a teenager.
‘We are in contact with both the NSW Police Force and Queensland Police Service and have no issues with the Police Officer who shot our son as she was only doing her job to protect others and we hope she is coping alright.’
READ MORE: Furious footy great Alastair Clarkson lashes out at ‘s failure to deal with ‘scourge of society’ he says is behind Bondi stabbing rampage
