05-08-2025
Coronial inquest findings handed down into murder of Perth woman Lynn Cannon
Police failed to act quickly enough on the escalating risk posed by an estranged husband to his wife Lynn Cannon, who he brutally stabbed to death after she went to his Perth home to sign some papers, a coronial inquest has found.
Paul Cannon stabbed the mother-of-two to death in Landsdale, north of Perth, in December 2022, a day after he found out she had a new partner.
A coronial inquest into the 51-year-old's death did not find any individual police officer's conduct caused or contributed directly to Ms Cannon's death, but rather that staff involved in the case failed to recognise the risk Cannon posed to her safety.
If you need help immediately call emergency services on 000.
"I acknowledge that the staff were working in a high pressure, stressful environment with many competing demands," Acting State Coroner Sarah Linton said.
"There were key indicators that Lynn's safety was at imminent risk at the time leading up to her death, noting Paul Cannon's coercive and controlling behaviour was clearly escalating in the final days of Lynn's life.
"There seems little doubt, with the benefit of hindsight, the individual officers involved would have reacted differently and made different decisions if they had fully understood the seriousness of the situation unfolding at Paul Cannon's house."
Ms Cannon was murdered a day after celebrating her 51st birthday.
She was visiting Cannon's home to drop off paperwork, but family became concerned when they couldn't contact her for hours.
Ms Cannon's sister Christine Holmes alerted police at 7.30pm that night.
By the time officers arrived more than an hour later, Ms Cannon had been stabbed several times with a kitchen knife and was unresponsive.
Cannon is serving a term of life imprisonment for murder.
