The Gonzales Family Murder

Sef Gonzales is a Philippine-born Australian man who murdered his father, Teddy, mother Mary, and sister, Clodine. The Supreme Court of New South Wales sentenced him to life in prison.

Teddy and Clonidine were a prominent couple in Baguio, Philippines until the 1990 earthquake forced the family to emigrate to Australia. Teddy worked as an immigration lawyer after the move.

From an outsider's perspective, the family appeared to be close-knit. Teddy and Clonidine were strict and stern but held high expectations for their kids. In reality, the couple abused and controlled their children.

Many described Sef as a narcissist and a compulsive liar. He did not mind stretching the truth to impress other people. He often lived in a fantasy world imagining himself as a businessman, a model, and a singer adored by all. He even went as far as to tell friends he was suffering from cancer.

Sef did not perform well in school. His parents already sent his sister to a private school when they disapproved of her boyfriend and her grades dropped. He attempted to cover up his failure, but his parents soon learned he falsified records. They threaten to take away his privileges and forbid him to see his girlfriend.

These threats, along with the promise to inherit the family’s fortune, persuaded Sef to kill his family.

Sef Kills his Family

On July 10, 2001, Gonzales entered his mother’s bedroom where she was studying. Armed with a baseball bat and two kitchen knives, Gonzales immediately attempted to strangle his mother to death and struck her at least six separate times with the bat. He also repeatedly stabbed his mother with at least one of the knives. Clodine sustained five stab wounds to the neck and two stab wounds to the chest. Her death was blunt force trauma, abdominal stab wounds, and neck compression.

Sister Mary Loiva arrived home at about 5:30 p.m. about an hour after the murder. Sef attacked her when she entered the living room, stabbing her several times and cutting her face, neck, chest, and abdomen. Sef also transected her neck.

Teddy arrived home last, about 10 until 7:00 p.m. Sef stabbed Teddy almost immediately after he entered the house. Teddy suffered stab wounds to the neck, chest, back, and abdomen. One of the stab wounds penetrated his heart; one penetrated his lung, and another partially severed his spinal cord.

Sef Attempts to Trick Police

Sef disposed of the knives and bat, removed his clothing and shoes that had a blood stain on them, and threw them in the trash. On one wall of the house, he spray painted “Fuck Off Asians KKK,” a sad attempt to trick police into thinking the murders were part of a hate crime committed by someone outside the home.

He then drove to the home of his friend, Sam Deilio, but did not mention the murders. The two visited Planet Hollywood and a video game center. He dropped his friend off well into the evening and returned home.

Police received a call from a distraught Sef who told them he discovered the dead bodies of his mother, father, and sister after returning home. He also explained that the intruder was still in the home when he returned but he managed to chase them away.

At his parent’s funeral, Sef sang “One Sweet Day.” He made an appearance on TV begging for information about the killers. He also offered a reward of $100,000 for information leading to their whereabouts.

By December, police began to suspect he was involved with the murders. They disproved his first alibi when witnesses told police they saw his car parked in the driveway of the family home. He told police he visited a brothel on the night of the murders but that was not true.

Police found a fabricated email implicating Teddy’s business rival in the murders and staged a burglary and abduction. He placed a deposit on a Lexus as well.

Sef Arrested

On June 13, 2002, police finally had enough evidence to arrest Sef. he was taken into custody and charged with three counts of murder. His trial began in May 2004 and by May 20, the jury found him guilty of all three murders.

In September, the court sentenced Sef to three life terms without the possibility of parole. He is now serving his time at Goulburn Correctional Center.