Police: Australian man in Bali killed his two children before taking his own life

An Australian citizen residing in Bali was found dead together with his two children in what police described as an apparent murder-suicide, following a final telephone conversation with his wife in which their daughter could be heard shouting "stop daddy." Damien John Shaw, 56, strangled his 6-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter before hanging himself inside their bungalow in Kuta on September 13, 2026, according to police. His wife, who was about 600 miles away in Jakarta at the time, contacted a neighbor to check on the family after hearing her frightened daughter crying and saying "stop daddy." Local residents in Bali found Shaw hanging from a rope, with his children's bodies placed on top of one another, police said. Surveillance video captured a disturbing series of events: the son was heard screaming from inside the bungalow, and the daughter ran outside before Shaw pulled her back inside, according to police statements reported by Bali Eyewitness News. Kuta Police have interviewed the victims' wife, but investigators said progress was limited because she remains in deep shock and grief, Denpasar city police official I Gede Adi Saputra Jaya told reporters. The couple's marriage had been troubled for years, and Shaw's wife told police she had gone to her parents' home two weeks before the deaths. Neighbors in Shaw's hometown of Perth, where the family had previously lived, described them as a private but peaceful family, The Australian reported. "He was very private but never caused any trouble, we always exchanged pleasantries," a neighbor told the newspaper. About a month before the deaths, Shaw had attempted suicide, police said. His wife intervened, but the family did not seek psychiatric treatment, according to police.