Heart-wrenching new details have emerged about the moments after a Melbourne man returned home to discover that his wife had killed their three children in a murder-suicide.
Warning: This story contains details that may distress some readers.
It comes as grieving father and husband, Tom Perinovic, took a swipe at Victoria Police for how they treated him in the immediate aftermath of the harrowing incident, which he says included being handcuffed and yelled at.
His comments were today aired in impact statements before the coroner, Audrey Jamieson, who has been investigating whether the deaths of Mr Perinovic's wife and children were preventable.
Katica Perinovic, who was called Katie, was suffering from first episode psychosis when she fatally stabbed her children and then herself at their home in Tullamarine early last year.
The coroner found the care the 42-year-old physiotherapist received was "sub-optimal" and recommended that psychiatric guidelines for schizophrenia be changed.
But she was unable to say whether Ms Perinovic's death could have been prevented.
"This is indeed a tragedy, for all the family," she said.
Mr Perinovic walked out of the courtroom as the coroner made her formal findings.
Father, husband asks police for formal apology
In January 2021, Mr Perinovic returned home from buying a new television to find his three-year-old, Matthew, bleeding heavily on the floor of the rear living room.
He carried Matthew to the front lounge room and called emergency services who arrived just minutes later.
While paramedics were assessing Matthew, he went back into the rear living room and stumbled on the bodies of his Ms Perinovic, five-year-old Anna and seven-year-old Claire.
"They're all dead," he yelled.
The family was declared dead and a short time later, police arrived.
Mr Perinovic took Victoria Police to task for how he was treated, telling the coroner he was grilled on the nature strip in front of his neighbours.
"The police treated me unfairly and I was immediately handcuffed," Mr Perinovic said through his lawyer.
"I can even recall one police woman yelling at me.
"I would like a formal written apology."
His sister, Maria, said she was not allowed to see Mr Perinovic.
"They gave me the impression he did it," she told the coroner.
"Everyone thought he was a guilty man who murdered his family."
The coroner was told that police officers apologised to Mr Perinovic the following day.
Mr Perinovic is now pleading with investigators to return his wife's phone so that he can have the photos and videos it held.
For the first time, has has also revealed how much the harrowing incident devastated him.
"I went out that day to buy my family a TV ... the kids were so excited," he said.
"I came home to find my family all deceased."
A Victoria Police spokesperson declined to comment.
Inquest heard of mother's deteriorating mental health
He told the coroner that it was a "huge shame" his wife did not get the same level of care that she gave her own patients.
"Katica Peronovic was a great mum," he said.
"I still can't believe my wife would do this to our lovely, beautiful kids."
Mr Perinovic also pleaded with members of the public to stop leaving "bizarre" handwritten notes on the tombstones of his wife and children.
"I've begged people to stop doing this," he said.
The coroner was told that Ms Perinovic's mental health started deteriorating in late 2020, when loved ones noticed she was paranoid and talking to herself.
She quit her physiotherapy job suddenly, severing ties within a clinic she had worked at for 16 years.
She was then referred to the NorthWestern Mental Health Service and was prescribed anti-psychotic medication, on which she overdosed a few weeks later.
But the inquest was told she denied wanting to kill herself and that NorthWestern Mental Health only found out about the incident after she died.
The coroner was also told she missed a psychiatric appointment just days before she died.
