According to reports, a guy who is accused of dousing a woman with accelerant and using a blowtorch to ignite her did so because his neighbors were playing loud music.
Michael Gauci’s attorney proposed that the incident might have been a self-defense maneuver in a bail request.
Shortly before midnight on December 27, 2018, Gauci’s wife allegedly addressed the neighbours, requesting that they stop playing music in a townhouse courtyard that backs onto their Werribee South property.
Prosecutors told Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday that shortly after the group left and went to the beach, the music was turned back on.
By the time Gauci got back home, the power to his home security system had been cut twice: once at two in the morning, after a blow torch and knife were left on the kitchen bench, and once for thirty minutes. Gauci allegedly addressed the neighbors over the fence about who had earlier spoken to his wife.
Detective Senior Constable Matthew Wick stated that Gauci challenged the claimed victim to come and fight his wife in the street when she admitted it was her. The ladies got into a violent confrontation in the driveway where the group gathered, and Gauci is accused of throwing a liter of petroleum distillate, PrepWash, over the other woman.
Detwick remarked The woman was engulfed in flames as Gauci lit a blowtorch, causing her entire upper body to catch fire.As her friends and housemates hurried to put out the fire, she let out a cry and collapsed to the ground.
The woman was given a 30% chance of survival after suffering complete thickness burns to 70% of her body, including her face, chest, and upper limbs. In addition to receiving in-home care twice a week, she spent seven months in the hospital before being moved to a rehabilitation center for two months. She currently makes three weekly trips to the hospital for speech and physiotherapy.
She will require several surgery over the course of the next year or so to improve her range of motion, and cosmetic procedures to heal scar tissue will come next.
Additionally, two of her pals required medical attention due to burns. Gauci faces charges of attempted murder, conduct endangering life, and willfully and recklessly causing serious damage.
Gauci’s wife contacted triple zero and gave their address, according to Det Wick, but Gauci urged her to hang up. Before rescue personnel could reach the site, the couple and their two kids hopped into their car and left.
Following the car to the Werribee Police Station, police who had been called to the incident claimed that Gauci had essentially turned himself in, according to his attorney Gideon Boas. In his car was a sawed-off shotgun with a caliber of.22.
Although Gauci had driven to the police station, Magistrate Jarrod Williams stated that it was unclear whether that was his original plan when he left his house.
“Well, he did go there,” Dr. Boas corrected. Dr. Boas suggested Gauci satisfied the bail requirements, despite police worries that he would contact witnesses for the prosecution or continue to pose a risk to the community.
He cited several reasons, such as the possibility of a two-and-a-half-year wait for a trial and the fact that he still needs treatment for a number of medical and psychiatric conditions.
Williams expressed concern at the discovery that he is prone to mood swings, pointing out that the person who filed the complaint against him was supposedly “completely blindsided by anger and completely unable to control their desire for some sort of retribution”.
In the event that Gauci is granted bail, his parents have offered to guarantee their home. Williams will announce his choice on Monday of next week.
