Michele and Andrew Cauchi said their son went off his mental health medication at about that time with the agreement and aid of his treating doctor. His mother said he had been under the care of doctors for 18 years.
"When he came off [the medication], it was like it had all lifted from him and he wanted to have a life," she said. "After living at home until he was 35, he went to Brisbane, so he wasn't with his doctor anymore."
After leaving home it seems Joel became itinerant/homeless and slept in parks/vehicles/backpackers' hostels. [Homeless outreach charity founder] Tony Hurle
said he understood that Cauchi was sleeping with other rough sleepers at a park near the hospital. "We never had any issues with him. He was always polite," Mr Hurle said. "He was very softly spoken from memory. We only knew him as Joel."
By January of 2023, Cauchi rang his father and said he had lost his unit in Brisbane and was about to be homeless [Perhaps there was no unit, and he was homeless.]. Mr Cauchi brought him home to Toowoomba. But... [he] refused to allow his son's United States Army combat knives in the home. He had found about six of them.
"I said to Joel, 'You can stay here as long as you like but you are not going to have these in my house' and so I took them off him, knowing that there was going to be pandemonium in my house but I was willing to put up with it," Mr Cauchi said. His son called police, complaining that his father had stolen his knives. The next day, Cauchi drove down to Tweed Heads and bought himself another knife.
Mr Cauchi [Senior] said he followed the Pentecostal faith but that his son had told him a year ago that he did not believe in God.