Coroner David Day found that McCulloch died between 10.04pm and 11.48pm on July 28, 2017, at Olinda as a result of a gunshot wound inflicted by William Stafford. And that Stafford died between 1am and 9.30am the next morning at Lue as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The same firearm, an unregistered .22 calibre magnum rifle, was used in both deaths.

At the time Stafford was on bail to appear in Rylstone Local Court for assaulting McCulloch, to reside in Portland and an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order was in place.

Police Advocate Assisting, Durand Welsh, said the incident was “particularly horrific” and pointed to Stafford’s actions as “controlling, abusive, jealous” which “culminated in the murder of Ms McCulloch”.

Read more

He submitted that the pair had been in a defacto relationship for about 25 years, during which there was a history of domestic violence. This escalated in 2017, when it was brought to police attention and the ADVO was put in place.

Detective Senior Constable Guyren Atkinson, officer-in-charge of the investigation into both deaths, said there was evidence of premeditation by Stafford including during his phone call to police following McCulloch’s death when he said “you will find a dead man in the morning”.

When executing a search warrant of Stafford’s Portland residence they recovered notes to relatives with messages such as “miss you” and “sorry”, as well as evidence of large withdrawals of money left to relatives, including one of $37,000.

He said that Stafford never held a firearms licence and that there was no evidence of where he obtained the gun used in the incident. The firearms that were known about were seized when the ADVO was put in place.

Detective Atkinson also pointed to a “significant history of domestic violence”, which McCulloch appeared reluctant to report. And added that Stafford was a “very controlling person” and being bailed to reside away from her likely tipped him over the edge.

In presenting his findings, Coroner David Day said, “I am satisfied on the evidence that Margaret McCulloch died at the hands of William Stafford, who thereafter killed himself”.

“Suicide is a preventable death. There are many services and agencies which assist people in crisis,” he said. “Whilst murder is a much more difficult death to prevent, domestic violence can be managed with early intervention. However, this requires involvement of police and others as a result of reporting.

“The years of unreported violence against Margaret has in my view resulted in this tragedy.”