Paul McDonough was released from custody and went straight home to beat his partner to death. Henry Shepherdson killed his child after gaining access despite repeatedly breaching family violence orders. Kumanjayi Dixon had 47 recorded police incidents involving his relationship with his partner but was free to set her alight.
Amid an ongoing national reckoning about family violence deaths and the men responsible, an uncomfortable truth emerges: that police already knew about many of these offenders but either failed to understand – or failed to act on – the risk they posed.
