Finding into death of Marilyn June Burdon

70y · Female·Gunshot wounds to the head and chest

Marilyn June Burdon, aged 70, was fatally shot by her intimate partner Charles Bisucci on 21 August 2017 in Kew, Victoria. Bisucci subsequently took his own life. Critical systemic failures enabled this preventable intimate partner homicide: (1) Firearms regulation failures allowed Bisucci, a prohibited person since 2004, to maintain illegal access to firearms through friends and associates despite a cancelled firearms licence; (2) A 2014 police investigation into missing firearms was inadequate, with insufficient follow-up enquiries and failure to escalate to firearms licensing authorities; (3) Bisucci's psychiatrist did not receive family violence training and was unaware of his violent history and ongoing illegal firearms access, limiting risk assessment capabilities; (4) Victoria Police lacked systemic checks linking prohibited persons to firearm permit applications. Multiple interventions—robust 2014 investigation, enhanced firearms licensing controls, and mandatory family violence training for psychiatrists—could have prevented this death. The coroner emphasised systemic gaps rather than individual clinician error regarding psychiatric care.