There are a number of unanswered questions around the horrific incident that saw four people, including two young girls, killed.
Police were called by a member of the public to a property in Costessey, Norfolk, on Friday 19 January around 7am. A previous 999 call had been made by the property at just before 6am, but officers did not respond.
Upon arrival, police had to force their way into the property where they tragically found four bodies. These belonged to Bartlomiej Jakub Kuczynski, 46, seven-year-old Downreuang and Jasmin, 12, and Bartlomiej’s sister-in-law Kanticha Noon, 36.
Police had made previous contact with the address, on December 14 of last year, in relation to a missing person enquiry. The force have now referred themselves to the Independent Office of Police Conduct. Norfolk’s Chief Constable Paul Sanford said: “This is a tragic and horrific incident and my thoughts, and that of the entire constabulary, remain with the family of those involved.
“I’m aware this incident has also caused great upset and shock in Costessey, the wider community and beyond. I know the family and the public will rightly want to know whether there was an ability to prevent this tragedy, and this is a question that must be answered.”
Man who 'killed 4 students' was 'creepy' regular at brewery and 'harassed women'He said there would be an inquest into the incident, and that he welcomed the scrutiny around the force’s actions. But there remains a number of unanswered questions regarding the tragedy as the community reels from what happened.
Why didn’t officers respond to the first 999 call?
A first 999 call was made from the house, believed to be by Bartlomiej, almost an hour before officers responded to a call from a member of the public.
The first emergency call was made from a "man inside the address" just before 6am, but police were not deployed. The force has not explained why this was, and said such answers would come on the back of an IOPC investigation. Questions now hang over the force about whether had they responded to this call, could lives have been saved.
Mr Sandford said: “Following the identification of the earlier 999 call, the constabulary referred itself to the IOPC who will now investigate. It is because of this process that I choose my words carefully; not because I don’t want to be open and honest, but because I have a duty to protect the integrity of any investigation that needs to follow.
“It will be for this investigation to identify and consider the circumstances and to consider if there were any issues with the response.”
What happened in the house?
Whilst it has been said that all four people tragically died, the series of events leading to that are still unclear.
Whilst we know that both Bartlomiej and Kanticha died of stab wounds to the neck, a post-mortem into the girls will take place tomorrow. It isn’t clear who had stabbed whom, or what had taken place that left a father, his sister-in-law and his two kids all dead.
Despite this, following extensive enquiries, police have confirmed that they are looking for nobody else in relation to the incident. Formal identification is yet to take place and the next of kin is being kept informed of developments and supported by specialist officers.
Where’s the mother?
It still isn’t known where the mother is. Kanticha, the mum’s sister, was amongst the four who tragically died, and her friend Naty Wathanakul spoke to the Mirror about the tragedy.
But Naty wasn’t sure where the mother way and little is known about her. Naty said she worked as a caretaker and ran the children’s clothing shop Malishop. Despite this, she thought she was in the UK still, but didn’t know where, or whether she had been living with her family at the time.
Husband and wife enjoy Xmas dinner days before she's charged with his murderWhat was the sister-in-law doing round?
Kanticha had travelled from Thailand to visit her sister’s family, a friend told the Mirror, but it isn’t apparent if there was any meaning behind this trip.
Especially given the mother’s absence, there are all the more questions about Kanticha’s presence. Kanticha's best friend Naty Wathanakul told the Mirror she was due to fly home some point next month after flying out on December 27. The girls' mum was said to work as a caretaker, she said.
Describing her friend, Naty said: "She was very nice and caring to all friends of her, a really big supportive person, she helped everyone. We have been shocked and depressed since we knew about her death. I wasn't expecting that my friend wouldn't be able to come back alive. She was just a petite woman, i cant believe this happened to her. It was too cruel to handle, I was crying."
What, if any, support was put in place after missing person enquiry?
Another key element of the unanswered question relates to the earliest confirmed interaction the family had with police.
On December 14, the police had previous contact with the address in relation to a missing person enquiry. Officers offered no detail on what happened and it remains unclear what exactly happened regarding this incident, and if the family were offered any support afterwards.
How did the children end up getting killed?
On of the hardest questions around this tragic incident is about how the two youngsters, seven-year-old Downreuang and Jasmin, 12, both ended up dead.
It’s know that both adults died of knife wounds, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet who wielded the knife, and how the youngsters ended up dead too. A post-mortem for their both is due to take place on Wednesday which could shed more light.