Westfield Bondi Junction stabbing: Crazed shopping centre killer Joel Cauchi ... trends now
Mass killer Joel Cauchi dated an 18-year-old girl when he was more than twice her age at 37, as the young woman now gives a chilling insight into their relationship.
Josephine Everson first met Cauchi in mid-2019, around the time of her 18th birthday.
Five years later, Ms Everson was horrified to see her ex-boyfriend gunned down by police after his murderous rampage at Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday.
He fatally stabbed five women and a man and injured 12 more during the crazed killing spree before he was shot dead by lone female police Inspector Amy Scott.
But in 2019, Ms Everson and Cauchi met for the first time through a dating website in their Queensland home town of Toowoomba, 125km west of Brisbane.
Josephine Everson (pictured) began dating Joel Cauchi around her 18th birthday in 2019, despite their almost 20-year age difference
Cauchi (pictured) was shot dead by a lone policewoman after stabbing six innocent shoppers to death and injuring at least a dozen more, including a nine-month-old baby girl
Despite their almost 20-year age gap, the pair met for coffee at Northpoint Shopping Centre and immediately hit it off.
They continued dating for about five months, during which time Ms Everson said he would take her to interesting spots around the region on a series of day trips.
The odd couple trekked to the top of the Toowoomba Range and took another excursion to a place outside nearby Highfields 'with pumpkins on the fence'.
'He was a fun and kind person,' she told the ABC on Wednesday.
Ms Everson wept as she admitted not knowing Cauchi suffered from schizophrenia, with which he was diagnosed at age 17.
'He always had this big smile on his face. He was a joyful person,' she said.
The pair bonded over their love of photography, with Cauchi teaching Ms Everson how to use her camera properly.
She added he was 'always respectful' throughout their relationship and had met her parents.
However, their relationship deteriorated when Cauchi moved to Brisbane in October, 2019, which is when his parents said he began to come off his anti-psychotic drugs.
The couple tried to keep in contact but eventually ended things because of the distance between them.
Cauchi's frightened parents, Michele and Andrew Cauchi, desperately tried to reach the 40-year-old in the lead up to the Westfield Bondi Junction attack.
After losing contact with their son, they ended up contacting his bank just to find out if he was alive and had been using his account.
A moment of relief came just five weeks before the attack when Cauchi sent the couple a selfie from Sydney's eastern suburbs coastline.
'Mum, I just want to show you how beautiful Coogee Beach [is],' he wrote.
But the next time the couple saw their son was on television as news of the Westfield stabbing spread.
Cauchi (pictured) was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 17 years old and was unmedicated at the time of the Westfield Bondi Junction stabbing
Ms Cauchi (pictured) received a selfie of her son at Coogee Beach just five weeks before the attack
'I walked in and my wife said, "It looks like Joe". I said, "It does a bit", but he had his head down,' Mr Cauchi said.
Several other former romantic partners of Cauchi's have come forward since the Bondi stabbing.
One Brisbane woman, who claims she met Cauchi on Tinder in 2020, said she got the impression Cauchi was simply looking to connect with people.
A Gold Coast woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Daily Mail Australia about her brief relationship with crazed knifeman.
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