Australian Man Who Killed His Two Children Then Hanged Himself in Bali Suffered from Anxiety Disorder

Police have revealed that the Australian man with the initials SDJ (56), who allegedly killed his two children before taking his own life by hanging, suffered from an anxiety disorder. The mental illness had afflicted him for a considerable time and recurred periodically, but was never treated medically.

This was based on the testimony of the victim’s wife, TY (32), to the police. The couple had quarrelled in 2022.

“From the wife’s statement, they quarrelled in 2022 and her husband suffered from a high level of anxiety,” said the Chief of the Denpasar Police, Commissioner Leonardo Simatupang, as quoted by detikBali on Tuesday (15/9/2026).

The couple also nearly divorced in 2022. However, because of the anxiety suffered by her husband, the Indonesian woman ultimately did not proceed with the divorce, so as not to trigger a relapse of his condition. The anxiety had driven SDJ to threaten to take his own life.

SDJ even attempted suicide about a month before the incident. At the time, the man born in Fremantle, Australia, tried to end his life by tying an iron’s cable around his neck. The attempt failed.

“Last month, his wife reported that her husband had attempted suicide by locking himself in a room and tying a rope or an iron’s cable around his neck,” he said.

Because of this, the couple, who had been married for more than six years, frequently experienced domestic discord. However, in the period leading up to the incident, they had never been involved in any quarrels.