WARNING: This article discusses suicide and may be distressing for some readers.
An Australian expat has revealed the final conversation he had with Damien John Shaw in Bali just days before the Perth-raised father allegedly smothered his two young children to death and ended his own life.
The murder-suicide at the Arca Bungalow complex in Legian unfolded on Sunday morning after Mr Shaw’s wife received a phone call from her 56-year-old husband.
In the background, she could hear her terrified four-year-old daughter crying and begging, “stop Daddy”.
When bungalow staff and neighbours later forced open the door, they discovered the lifeless bodies of the four-year-old girl and her six-year-old brother stacked on top of one another on the floor, alongside their father.
A close friend of the former seaman has recounted what was said during his unsettling and final face-to-face encounter with Mr Shaw, just one week before the alleged double murder-suicide.
The friend told The West Australian their final conversation was all about Mr Shaw’s financial, marital and mental troubles.
The conversation took a turn as the father began detailing the financial and marital stress he was under, suggesting a recent overseas venture had cost him $140,000.
Mr Shaw’s friend believes these pressures led him to spiral into a fatal mental health crisis.
Their father died when Mr Shaw was 15, they lost a brother and their mother recently died after an illness.
If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, phone 1800 RESPECT or the Crisis Care Helpline on 1800 199 008.