PHOTO: Coroner Michael Brett said John Clements deliberately shot his victims and intended to kill them. (Supplied)
MAP: Devonport 7310
A coroner has found the actions of a man who killed another man and critically injured a woman before killing himself in Devonport, Tasmania, in 2011 cannot be explained rationally.
Coroner Michael Brett found 46-year-old John William Clements shot and killed Benjamin Mark Aherne when Mr Aherne went to the aid of Clements' former partner at a house in Devonport.
Clements then shot and critically injured Mr Aherne's partner, Christine Rowlands, before turning the rifle on himself.
Mr Brett found Clements was disappointed and angry because a sexual encounter he was anticipating did not eventuate and he indicated he intended to harm or kill his ex-partner, Kylie Hales.
Mr Brett praised Mr Aherne's courage saying his actions likely saved Ms Hale's life.
He also acknowledged Ms Rowlands' selflessness.
Mr Brett found Clements deliberately shot both Mr Aherne and Ms Rowlands and intended to kill both of them.
He said Clements' reaction "could not reasonably have been anticipated by any person concerned" and that it was "impossible to explain his conduct in any rational way".
Killer was planning group sex before shootings
Mr Brett established that the day before the shootings, Clements had been exchanging text messages with Ms Hales and another woman, Helen Scott, which suggested the three should have sex together.
The coroner concluded Clements formed the view that he would have group sex with the women the next day after he finished work.
That night the women had sex with Ms Scott's ex-husband, police officer Timothy Scott.
Mr Scott left Ms Hale's house before Clements arrived the next morning, but Mr Brett said the evidence indicated Mr Clements may have realised a sexual encounter with someone else had taken place.
Mr Scott was convicted in 2014 of making a false statement to police about when he had been at the house and was sacked from the police force.
Mr Brett said Clements was agitated when he arrived at the house and "brutally assaulted" Ms Hales while shouting abuse at her and saying he intended to harm or kill her.
Clements then returned to his own home and collected a .44 calibre rifle with a loaded magazine and extra ammunition, before he went back to Ms Hale's house.*
At Ms Hale's house he encountered Mr Aherne and Ms Rowlands, who had arrived to assist Ms Hales.
Clements shot Ms Rowlands twice while she sat in her car in the driveway of the property.
He then shot Mr Aherne three times before killing himself.
No history of mental illness or family violence
Mr Brett recommended a review of the existing system under which police remove firearms from persons accused of family violence.
"If Mr Clements had not had access to a firearm, then it is unlikely that his death or the death of Mr Aherne would have occurred," he said.
But he acknowledged that Clements had no history of mental illness or family violence, and said police would not have had time to confiscate his firearms.
Mr Brett said he endorsed the current system but thought it timely that a review be considered.
The rifle that Clements used on the day of the shootings was registered to him and he had an appropriate firearms licence.
Clements also had three other firearms at his residence in Ulverstone.
Mr Brett said one of those firearms was not registered and all were not correctly stored.
"Short of removing firearms completely from society, there seems little more that could have been done," he said.
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