Photo via The Guardian

Indonesian police investigate deaths of Australian man and two children in Bali as suspected murder-suicide

Read the original at The Guardian ↗
Cite

Cassidy, C. (2026, September 14). Indonesian police investigate deaths of Australian man and two children in Bali as suspected murder-suicide. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/14/indonesian-police-deaths-of-australian-man-and-two-children-ntwnfb

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-09-14 · by Caitlin Cassidy
Content note This article describes suicide or self-harm and abuse of a child.

Quick Summary

Police in Bali are investigating the deaths of an Australian man, 57, and his two Indonesian children, aged seven and four, suspected to be a murder-suicide that occurred over the weekend in Kuta. A witness contacted local authorities after receiving a call from the victim’s wife who was unable to reach her family. Upon entering the bungalow, residents found all three individuals deceased; initial examinations suggest the children died of violent acts while the man is believed to have taken his own life by hanging. The investigation includes reviewing CCTV footage and questioning witnesses.
Written by AI on 2026-09-14, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Damien John Shaw, a 56-year-old Australian man from Fremantle, was found dead alongside his two young Indonesian-born children—Archie, 6 years old, and Laura, 4 years old—in their bungalow in Kuta, Bali on Sunday morning. The discovery occurred after the family's neighbor, Nur Khamid, received a call from Shaw’s wife, who was in Jakarta, unable to reach her husband or children. She had asked Khamid to check on them.

Police are treating it as a suspected murder-suicide and have reviewed CCTV footage showing Shaw removing cameras inside their home and chasing his daughter before the tragic events unfolded. The mother returned from Jakarta three days later after noticing unusual activity via remote CCTV monitoring, prompting her to alert local authorities. An autopsy was not performed on the children at the request of their mother.

Local Bali residents described Archie and Laura as happy and kind, with staff at their school, Blue Dolphin Playskool in Kuta, remembering them fondly. The community is struggling to come to terms with the shocking crime.

Written for “Bali Murder Suicide Investigation” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 5 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Bali Murder Suicide Investigation
Crime & Law · 6 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Friends of Australian man shocked he killed his kids in Bali Same event
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 3 of 29 claims Outlet record 68/100
Bali police investigating death of Australian man found alongside bodies of young children Same event
The Independent
Hedges 1 of 20 claims Outlet record 59/100
‘Very kindly, very cute’: Bali locals mourn the two children murdered by their Australian father Same event
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 5 of 59 claims Outlet record 61/100
The awful final moments of Bali murder-suicide revealed in chilling CCTV footage - as young daughter fled her Aussie killer father and screamed: 'I love you, daddy' Different event
Daily Mail
Hedges 5 of 43 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different individuals and details; ARTICLE A mentions a 57-year-old Australian man with two Indonesian children, while ARTICLE B specifies a 56-year-old West Australian father with two differently named children.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
6
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-14 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 2688 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)
2026-10-19
Mother assessed as posing no immediate risk to others three weeks before Elizabeth Struhs’ manslaughter, inquest hears
2026-10-14
Rachel Smith will turn 39 in prison. The high court says she could freeze her eggs from behind bars
2026-10-03
Tennessee’s top prison official resigning after botched execution of Christa Pike
2026-10-01
Tennessee governor suspends all executions after Christa Pike’s lethal injections fail
2026-09-28
Extra 1,000 prison beds announced in NSW as union warns against arresting ‘our way out of domestic violence’
2026-09-05
Australia’s housing prices are trending down. See which suburbs have had the biggest falls

Who wrote this

Caitlin Cassidy
8 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 On Thursday he was charged with being armed in a way that may cause fear, making unlawful threats and cannabis possession.
2026-10-22 · assertive framing · Man arrested for allegedly making threats at Hannah Beazley’s electorate office while armed with nunchucks
🔮 But the AFP and Victoria police insist they had no intelligence to suggest 43-year-old Brendan Nugent would go on to allegedly drive a Toyota LandCruiser into the independent MP Helen Haines in a targeted attack.
2026-10-21 · assertive framing · No bail for alleged Helen Haines attacker as police chief warns of Australia’s ‘febrile’ political environment
🔮 Following the Bondi beach terror attack, the state government introduced new legislation to undertake Australia’s biggest gun buyback in 30 years, with the scheme set to begin on 2 November this year.
2026-09-22 · assertive framing · Political fight over gun buyback after boy, 11, shot in the face and neck in Sydney apartment
🔮 At a Sydney shopping centre on a balmy Sunday evening, hundreds of people gathered to watch a concert that, according to its host, Richard Wilkins, would set a new livestreaming record for Australian cinemas.
2026-09-21 · assertive framing · John Farnham tribute: Céline Dion, Chris Martin and Hugh Jackman honour ‘living legend’ at livestreamed concert
🔮 Burke said 100 new compliance officers would be hired to round up overstayers, and an additional 250 beds would be freed, as well as potentially repurposing a 100-bed quarantine facility in Victoria.
2026-09-18 · assertive framing · Labor’s plans for visa overstayer detention centres branded a ‘Donald Trump twist’ on immigration
🔮 The independent senator David Pocock said the compromise would throw protections for creatives and copyright holders “under the bus” in pursuit of datacentre funding.
2026-09-15 · assertive framing · Labor accused of throwing creatives ‘under the bus’ with proposal to ease copyright protections for AI giants
🔮 On Tuesday evening, Canterbury-Bankstown voted overwhelmingly in favour of banning the tech at its pools, with its mayor, Bilal El-Hayek, describing them as “pervert glasses”.
2026-09-15 · assertive framing · One of Sydney’s largest councils joins ban on ‘pervert’ glasses at local swimming pools
Also by Caitlin Cassidy
Man arrested for allegedly making threats at Hannah Beazley’s electorate office while armed with nunchucks
2026-10-22 · The Guardian
No bail for alleged Helen Haines attacker as police chief warns of Australia’s ‘febrile’ political environment
2026-10-21 · The Guardian
Political fight over gun buyback after boy, 11, shot in the face and neck in Sydney apartment
2026-09-22 · The Guardian
John Farnham tribute: Céline Dion, Chris Martin and Hugh Jackman honour ‘living legend’ at livestreamed concert
2026-09-21 · The Guardian
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 8 articles by Caitlin Cassidy →

Topics

Australians Bali Denpasar Indonesian Kuta

Subjects

Denpasar GPE · 3× Kuta GPE · 3× Australians NORP · 2× Indonesian NORP · 2× Khamid PERSON · 2× Bali GPE · 1× Jakarta GPE · 1× Kelian Lingkungan PERSON · 1× Nur Khamid PERSON · 1× the Denpasar Police Identification Team ORG · 1×

Narrative

“Investigators are still conducting inquiries, including crime scene processing, examining CCTV footage at the scene, and questioning witnesses – including the victim’s wife – to determine the cause of death,” he said.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-14
2026-09-14 · The Guardian
Indonesian police investigate deaths of Australian man and two children in Bali as suspected murder-suicide · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 1 hedged)

Indonesian police are investigating the deaths of three Australians who died in Bali over the weekend, with initial reports suggesting a father killed his two young children before taking his own life. asserted
father → investigate → life
The man, 57, and his two children, seven and four, who are also Indonesian citizens, were discovered deceased in a bungalow in Kuta on Sunday morning. asserted
who → discover → morning
According to Denpasar police, a witness, 51-year-old Nur Khamid, received a phone call from someone claiming to be the victim’s wife at about 8.30am on Sunday. uncertain
witness → accord → Sunday
She was in Jakarta, and asked Khamid to check on the condition of her husband and family, who she had been unable to reach. asserted
she → ask → who
Khamid went to their bungalow and tried to look inside through a window, but “no activity or people were visible inside”, Denpasar police said in its statement. asserted
police → go → statement
The witness then met the bungalow owner and both returned to perform a check before contacting the “neighbourhood head”, Kelian Lingkungan. asserted
both → meet → head
Residents “knocked and pounded” on the door before it was forcibly opened, and the three bodies were located. asserted
bodies → knock → door
“Police officers arriving at the scene conducted a crime scene investigation and preliminary examination alongside the Denpasar Police Identification Team,” the statement read. asserted
statement → arrive → Team
“From the initial external examination of the three victims, it is suspected that the two children died as a result of acts of violence, while [the father] is suspected to have died by hanging.” asserted
father → suspect → hanging
The Denpasar police chief, senior commissioner Leonardo D Simatupang, said Kuta police officers were investigating the incident. asserted
officers → say → incident
“Investigators are still conducting inquiries, including crime scene processing, examining CCTV footage at the scene, and questioning witnesses – including the victim’s wife – to determine the cause of death,” he said. asserted
he → conduct → death
Simatupang said Kuta police had taken a statement from the man’s wife and reviewed CCTV footage. asserted
police → say → footage
They had also coordinated with the Australian consulate. asserted
They → coordinate → consulate
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was providing consular assistance to the family of the three Australians. asserted
it → confirm → Australians
“We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time. asserted
We → send → time
Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment,” they said in a statement. asserted
they → owe → statement
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support
Terms · Privacy · beta v2.0.0
Articles to 30 Oct 2026