A coroner’s report has found the murder of a pregnant mother from The Basin followed a well-recognised pattern of intimate partner violence, but warning signs were underestimated due to no prior physical abuse.
The coroner stated the danger was treated as a mental-health issue rather than family violence and that physical abuse is often the last step, not the first.
The victim was murdered in October 2021 by her long-term ex-partner, Benjamin Coman, while she was 12 weeks pregnant.
Coman pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment with a 20-year non-parole period.
In December 2025, the Court of Appeal dismissed his argument for a reduced sentence.
The couple had been in a relationship since 2015 and shared two children, with the third on the way when she was murdered.
The report found the couple had a troubled relationship where Coman had “obsessive jealousy” and repeatedly accused her of infidelity without evidence, controlled finances and decision-making and became rapidly unstable after the relationship had ended.
The coroner found that systems continue to misread danger in coercive and controlling relationships, especially where the perpetrator presents as mentally unwell rather than violent.
A month prior to killing his ex-partner, Coman attempted suicide, which the health services treated as a mental health crisis, not as a red flag for potential fatal family violence.
Additionally, the coroner stated that obsessive jealousy, separation, pregnancy and attempted suicide are identified as fatal warning signs, not peripheral issues.
The coroner found the pregnant mother’s death occurred in the context of family violence and revealed several high-risk indicators recognised in family violence research, including substance misuse, emotional control, mental illness, coercive control, and obsessive jealousy.
No ‘direct causal’ finding was made against health services; however, the coroner identified there were many missed opportunities to recognise and respond to escalating risk.
The coroner made two recommendations: that the Family Safety Victoria review the removal of pregnancy as a specific risk factor under the Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework (MARAM), and that Victorian public hospitals require family violence risk
assessments when patients present with suicidality following relationship breakdown.
Family and domestic violence support services:
If you need help immediately, call emergency services on Triple Zero (000).
1800 Respect National Helpline: 1800 737 732
Women’s Crisis Line: 1800 811 811
Men’s Referral Service: 1300 766 491
The Kids Helpline: 24-hour support on 1800 55 1800
Lifeline: 131 114
