Floreat murders: Peter Collier alleges ‘cover-up’ in police investigation into Mark Bombara warnings

Liberal MP Peter Collier has sensationally claimed the government is engaged in a “cover-up” over events leading to Mark Bombara’s shocking murders of Jennifer and Gretl Petelczyc. The allegation comes after The West Australian revealed WA Police’s ongoing internal investigation into the Floreat homicides found one officer was dismissive of warnings from Bombara’s daughter, Ariel, while another had back-filled notes about their interaction. The report also details two officers chatting with Bombara about his extensive firearm collection while attending his Mosman Park home to protect his ex-wife and daughter as they removed their belongings. That familiarity will likely raise eyebrows but police close to the inquiry told The West Australian the tactic calmed a tense situation. Mr Collier’s concerns centre around “information” he has received about other conduct by police officers during that home escort, which he fears has been omitted from the internal investigation. The veteran Upper House MP refused to detail what the officers had allegedly done but said it was “an issue with regards to Mr Bombara’s weapons, his guns” which he was told had been captured on bodycam footage. Mr Collier revealed the tip-off had been the catalyst for Liberal Leader Libby Mettam’s letter to the Corruption and Crime Commission, sent at the end of May, requesting the watchdog investigate how WA Police handled repeated requests for help from Ariel and her mother in the weeks before the murders. The CCC declined to launch its own probe, instead choosing to oversight the police investigation. Mr Collier raised concerns about some of the findings of that investigation being “leaked out to the media” but said his primary issue was that the information he had received did not appear to have been canvassed. “Now I make no apologies for this, I think it is a cover-up,” he said. “I think the government is covering this thing up. “If we are going to learn from this tragedy, we must provide all information from that tragedy – not bits and pieces.” Mr Collier said he had repeatedly asked questions in Parliament about whether the full findings of the police investigation would be released publicly and had received multiple conflicting answers. “From my perspective, my message is clear,” he said. “I think there has been a cover up. Quite frankly, everything needs to be on the table and publicly available. “I want to know what’s on the bodycam. I want to know (that) if there is anything on that bodycam, it is made public to the people of Western Australia.” “If it’s not, I’ll be satisfied,” he said. “I’ll say thank you very much and I’ll move on. But I’m not going to move on until I get those answers.” Speaking earlier on Thursday, Premier Roger Cook said he understood the WA Police investigation was “yet to be finalised” but that it was clear “police need to continue to learn in relation to all these issues”. “But I note the observations, the general observations from the report, that they understood that the police, by and large, did the right thing and managed the situation as best they could under the circumstances,” Mr Cook added. On the issue of releasing the final report publicly, Mr Cook said that would only occur with the permission of the Bombara and Petelczyc families. Answers provided to Mr Collier in Parliament said the CCC, State Coroner and WA Ombudsman would also need to give the green light before the report was released. Bombara shocked the nation in May when he shot dead Jennifer Petelczyc and her 18-year-old daughter, Gretl, in their western suburbs home. The 63-year-old was hunting his estranged wife and daughter, Ariel, when he forced his way into the Petelczyc home, killing the women before turning the Glock pistol on himself. The spotlight then turned on WA Police after Ariel released a bombshell statement in which she claimed she and her mother had explicitly warned officers that Bombara was dangerous and owned many guns, one of which was missing. Those warnings came weeks before the eventual homicides.

Floreat murders: Peter Collier alleges ‘cover-up’ in police investigation into Mark Bombara warnings

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