Sydney Siege Inquest: Man Haron Monis Killed Lindt Café Manager Tori Johnson Execution Style, Katrina Dawson Died From Ricocheted Police Bullet

Sydney Siege victim Tori Johnson was forced to kneel on the floor before gunman Man Horan Monis killed him execution style, an inquest into the tragedy has heard Thursday. It was also learnt that fellow victim Katrina Dawson was killed by ricocheted bullets fired by the police during the final standoff at the Lindt Chocolate Café on Martin Place.

The timeline of the events on December 15 to 16 was revealed during the first day of coronial inquest, in which the Glebe Coroner’s Court was told how Monis managed to take 18 customers and staff of the café hostage for 16 hours. Lawyer Jeremy Gormly, who assists the coroner, told the court in Sydney that the 50-year-old self-styled sheik entered the establishment around 8:30 am on the 15^th and ordered a chocolate cake and tea.

He ate his order before moving to a table with a view of the whole café. He then asked to speak to the manager, who was Johnson. According to the staff, Johnson appeared stressed while talking to Monis. The 34-year-old café manager then told a staff to lock the doors and tell everyone to be calm.

Only when the doors were locked did Monis, who put on his vest and bandanna, produce his gun and declared to the people inside that he had a bomb. He told his hostages to move to the northern wall of the café. Some were told to hold a flag up to the windows, while the others were forced to record an online video outlining his demands.

Johnson, following the gunman’s orders, called Triple Zero to tell the operator that Australia was under attack by the Islamic State. Monis claimed he had radio bombs planted in Martin Place, Circular Quay and George Street, but those were proved to be untrue.

Some of the hostages were able to escape in the afternoon. Around 2:14 am the next day, Monis forced Johnson to kneel on the floor before shooting him in the back of his head. It is believed that Johnson died immediately. The killing was witnessed by a police marksman, prompting the police force to storm inside the café. They used stun grenades as they went in. Two officers fired 22 shots at Monis, who returned fire. Monis was killed by at least two bullets or fragments to the head and 11 others to his body.

Dawson, a 38-year-old barrister and mother of three, was also killed by six fragments of a police bullet or bullets that ricocheted from hard surfaces into her body. “I will not detail the damage done to Ms Dawson other than to say that one fragment struck a major blood vessel. She lost consciousness quickly and died shortly afterwards,” Gormly said.

The lawyer reiterated that the accounting of the events was still preliminary and based on his interpretation of evidence. The inquest aims to determine how the victims and Monis died, and whether the events could have been prevented. A date has yet to be set for the next hearing.