Man who found his wife and three children dead criticises police for his treatment
WARNING: This story contains content that some readers might find distressing.
The husband of a Melbourne mother who killed their three children in a murder-suicide said his wife should have received better mental health treatment.
Tom Perinovic has asked for a formal apology from Victoria Police over how he was treated in the aftermath of finding the bodies of his wife and three children inside their Tullamarine on January 14, 2021.
His wife Katie, 42, had stabbed their three-year-old son Matthew, seven-year-old daughter Claire and five-year-old daughter Anna before she took her own life when he went out to buy a new television for the family.
He told an inquest into their deaths today that the children had been excited when he left, and that within two hours he returned and they were dead.
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The husband of a Melbourne mother who killed their three children in a murder-suicide has told an inquest his wife should have received better mental health treatment. Supplied
Perinovic said when police arrived on scene he was immediately handcuffed.
He was then yelled at by officers when he was standing on the nature strip but he was in so much shock he couldn't speak.
He needed medical help but he wasn't offered any.
Perinovic was then taken to Broadmeadows Police Station and interviewed by the homicide squad, while detectives worked to corroborate his story by checking CCTV, bank transactions and interviewing 77 witnesses.
Police apologised the following day.
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Thomas Perinovic with his wife Katie and children Matthew, Claire and Anna. Supplied
Perinovic said his wife was a great mum and he can't understand how or why she did such a thing to her own children.
His sister Maria said it took too long for police to clarify publicly that Perinovic was not a guilty man and he had not murdered his entire family.
The inquest heard that in the months prior to the tragedy, friends and family noticed a decline in Katie's mental health.
She was displaying paranoia and had abruptly quit her job as a physiotherapist, where she had worked for 16 years.
The mother had no history of mental illness but she did have a family history of schizophrenia.
She was diagnosed with psychosis and later wanted to reduce her medication against her doctor's advice.
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Flower tributes, notes and drawings were placed outside the Tullamarine home. 9News
In December 2020, she overdosed on her anti-psychotic medication but denied to her husband she had been trying to take her own life.
Staff at North Western Mental Health Service were not told about this incident until after her death.
The Coroner found the care the mother received was sub-optimal and recommended psychiatric guidelines for schizophrenia be changed.
Perinovic told the Coroner wants his wife's phone back which contains family photos.
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
Suicide Callback Service: 1300 659 467
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