Bali Provincial Police said the bodies of 56-year-old Damien John Shaw, his six-year-old son and four-year-old daughter were found inside their bungalow in the popular tourist resort of Kuta on Sunday morning, after neighbours and a community head forced the door open.
The dead were discovered only after the machinery of concern kicked in from below. Police said the man's wife, who had recently arrived in Jakarta, called a neighbour after hearing her child cry while she was on the phone to Mr Shaw. She told the neighbour the call was disconnected and her husband became unreachable. The neighbour contacted others and then, along with the community head, forced the door to the Kuta bungalow open. Inside, they found the bodies of the children and Mr Shaw.
Who Found Them First
The family had leased the bungalow in Kuta since 2022, Bali Provincial Police said. That detail matters because it places the scene inside a rented space, a private arrangement now turned into a police case and a hospital matter. The three bodies were taken to Sanglah Hospital for further examination, while the Australian Consulate was contacted.
Indonesian police are treating the deaths as a double murder-suicide. That’s the frame the authorities have put on the case, and they’re moving through the familiar rituals of institutional control: forensic processing of the crime scene, reviewing CCTV footage from inside and outside the property, and interviewing witnesses.
What the Authorities Say
"Kuta Police have spoken with the victim's wife, but progress was limited as she remains in deep shock and grief," Denpasar City Police First Police Inspector I Gede Adi Saputra Jaya said. The line is plain enough. The person closest to the dead is not being treated as a source of clarity but as someone too shattered to help the investigation move faster.
"Kuta Police are continuing their investigation, including forensic processing of the crime scene, reviewing CCTV footage from inside and outside the property, and interviewing witnesses," he said. The apparatus keeps working. Cameras, witnesses, evidence handling. The state’s preferred language of order.
Bali Provincial Police said Mr Shaw was born in Fremantle, Western Australia. WA Premier Roger Cook described the news as a "horrific situation". "We know there is a very confronting situation there," he said. "This is a very sad situation; our hearts go out to everyone involved. We hope we can get to the bottom of what's gone on as soon as possible."
Those are the words of a premier speaking from a distance, after the fact, when the damage is already done and the family is already dead. The language is soft, but the hierarchy is clear: officials express concern while police and hospitals handle the aftermath.
Consular Care, Bureaucratic Limits
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to the family of the three Australians who died. "We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time," they said. "Owing to our privacy obligations, we are unable to provide further comment".
That’s the polished edge of institutional help. Assistance is offered, condolences are issued, and then the curtain drops behind privacy obligations. The family gets managed through channels. The public gets very little. The dead remain in Sanglah Hospital for further examination, the investigation continues, and the people closest to the loss are left inside a system that speaks in procedures, not answers.
The Australian Consulate has been contacted. Police are still working the scene. The wife remains in deep shock and grief. And the official response, as usual, moves at the pace of institutions that arrive after the rupture, then claim the right to explain it.