In the quiet of a Sunday morning in Kuta, Bali, a mother's interrupted phone call — a child's cry, then silence — set in motion the discovery of a father and his two young children found dead in the home they had shared for four years. Indonesian authorities are investigating the deaths of 56-year-old Damien John Shaw and his six and four-year-old children as a suspected murder-suicide, a tragedy that has drawn grief from both Australian officials and the close communities of expatriate life abroad. In the space between a dropped call and a forced-open door, three lives came to an end, leaving
Australian man and two children found dead in Bali in suspected murder-suicide
Three deaths: an Australian man aged 56 and his two children aged 6 and 4 years old.
The call dropped and Shaw stopped answering.
Mark
What made the wife suspicious enough to call the neighbour instead of just waiting for her husband to call back?
Mimi
She heard her child crying during their phone call, and then the line went dead. That's not normal. That's the kind of thing that makes a parent's instinct scream that something is wrong.
Luke
We don't actually know what she heard or how she interpreted it. The police statement says she heard a child cry and the call disconnected, but we're not told whether she immediately panicked or whether there was a delay before she decided to reach out.
Mark
The neighbour and community head forced the door open. That's a significant act—breaking into someone's home. Did they have reason to believe there was an emergency?
Mimi
The wife had called them saying her husband was unreachable after the line dropped. In a community, that kind of alert from a family member carries weight. They weren't breaking in on a whim.
Luke
True, but we should note that the police statement doesn't tell us how much time passed between the wife's call and when they forced the door. Minutes? Hours? That matters for understanding the urgency.
Mark
The family had been there since 2022. Four years. Were they integrated into the community, or were they isolated?
Mimi
The fact that the wife had a neighbour she could call, and that there was a community head who responded, suggests some level of connection. But we don't know how deep those relationships ran.
Luke
We really don't. We know they lived there. We don't know if they had friends, if they were involved in local life, if anyone had noticed problems. That's all absent from the reporting.
Mark
What happens next? How long will the investigation take?
Mimi
Autopsies will help establish cause of death. That's the immediate next step. After that, it depends on what the evidence shows and how complex the investigation becomes.
Luke
The police said autopsies "may" be conducted—not that they definitely will be. And we don't know the timeline. Indonesian investigations can move at different speeds depending on the circumstances and the resources available.
The Pulse
- A mother in Jakarta heard her child cry through the phone — then the line went dead and her husband stopped answering, triggering an urgent chain of alarm.
- Neighbours forced open the bungalow door to find all three family members dead, turning a welfare check into a crime scene.
- Indonesian police have transported the bodies to a Denpasar hospital and are weighing autopsies to determine the precise cause of death in what they suspect was a murder-suicide.
- Western Australian Premier Roger Cook called the situation 'horrific' and 'very confronting,' while the Australian government confirmed consular support for surviving family members.
- The family's four years of established life in Kuta has made the discovery especially jarring for those in the area who knew them, amplifying the shock beyond official channels.
In the quiet of a Sunday morning in Kuta, Bali, a mother's interrupted phone call — a child's cry, then silence — set in motion the discovery of a father and his two young children found dead in the home they had shared for four years. Indonesian authorities are investigating the deaths of 56-year-old Damien John Shaw and his six and four-year-old children as a suspected murder-suicide, a tragedy that has drawn grief from both Australian officials and the close communities of expatriate life abroad. In the space between a dropped call and a forced-open door, three lives came to an end, leaving behind questions that investigators are only beginning to pursue.
Indonesian police are investigating a suspected murder-suicide after the bodies of 56-year-old Australian man Damien John Shaw and his two young children — a six-year-old son and four-year-old daughter — were found inside their rented bungalow in Kuta, Bali, on Sunday morning. Shaw, originally from Fremantle, Western Australia, had been leasing the property with his family since 2022.
The discovery unfolded after Shaw's wife, who had recently travelled to Jakarta, grew alarmed during a phone call with her husband. She heard one of their children crying in the background before the call suddenly disconnected. Unable to reach Shaw again, she contacted a neighbour and asked them to check on the family. When Shaw remained unreachable, the neighbour alerted the local community head, and together they forced open the bungalow door — finding the bodies of both children and Shaw inside.
The three were taken to a hospital in Denpasar, where autopsies may be conducted to confirm the cause of death. A police report was filed the same day, and the investigation remains ongoing. Indonesian authorities have not yet released findings on how the deaths occurred.
Western Australian Premier Roger Cook described the circumstances as 'horrific' and 'very confronting,' expressing hope that investigators would move quickly toward answers. Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it is providing consular assistance to surviving family members, offering condolences while citing privacy obligations. The family's four years in the Kuta community has made the loss felt beyond official statements, as those who knew them grapple with the weight of what was found behind a forced-open door.
Indonesian police are investigating what appears to be a murder-suicide after discovering the bodies of an Australian man and his two young children inside their rented bungalow in Kuta, Bali, on Sunday morning. The dead were identified as 56-year-old Damien John Shaw, his six-year-old son, and his four-year-old daughter. Shaw was born in Fremantle, Western Australia, and the family had been leasing the property since 2022.
The discovery came after an urgent call from Shaw's wife, who had recently traveled to Jakarta. While speaking with her husband by phone, she heard one of their children crying in the background. During the conversation, the call dropped and Shaw stopped answering. Alarmed, she contacted a neighbour and asked them to check on the family. When Shaw remained unreachable, the neighbour alerted the community head, and together they forced open the bungalow door. Inside, they found the bodies of both children and Shaw.
According to a statement from Badung Regency police, the neighbour's intervention came after the wife's distress call made clear something was wrong. The sequence of events—the child's cry, the disconnected line, the silence that followed—set in motion the discovery that would confirm the family's deaths.
The three bodies were transported to a hospital in Denpasar, where police may conduct autopsies to establish the precise cause of death. A police report was filed on Sunday, and the investigation is ongoing. Indonesian authorities have not yet released findings about how the deaths occurred, though the case is being treated as a suspected murder-suicide.
Western Australian Premier Roger Cook responded to the news by calling it a "horrific situation" and describing the circumstances as "very confronting" and "very sad." He expressed hope that investigators would quickly determine what happened. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was providing consular assistance to the family members of the three deceased Australians, offering condolences while citing privacy obligations that prevent further public comment.
The case has drawn attention both in Australia and in Bali, where foreign residents and tourists live in close-knit communities. The family's four-year tenure in the Kuta bungalow suggests they had established some roots in the area, making the discovery all the more striking to those who knew them. As police continue their investigation, the focus remains on understanding the events that led to the deaths of a man and his two young children in what authorities believe was a single, tragic incident.
Notable Quotes
We know there is a very confronting situation there. This is a very sad situation; our hearts go out to everyone involved.— Western Australian Premier Roger Cook
We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time.— Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson
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Crime & Justice