Coming up on 60 Minutes. I think about you every single second of the day. >> A brave survivor’s incredible mission. >> It was creepy and it was scary. >> To protect other victims. >> He was just stabbing me. Horrendous. He was trying to kill me >> from domestic violence. >> He’s going to go on and do it again.
>> The campaign to give women the right to know. >> We could not warn anybody. >> Their partner’s dark pasts. >> If I’d have had that disclosure, I may have left sooner. That’s next on 60 Minutes. >> Anthony Montilleone is a truly contemptable, vicious human being. Single mom of three boys, Maria is the exact opposite, kind and caring.
When the two first met, he fooled her into believing he was a good man. But weeks into their relationship, Maria realized the truth when Montilone tried to stab her to death. Thankfully, he failed. But what this incredibly brave woman subsequently discovered was that the man who attacked her had a violent past.
Of course, if she’d known about it, she never would have gone anywhere near him. Now though, because of her near-death experience, Maria is trying to protect other women by campaigning to have the abusive histories of domestic violence perpetrators made public. >> Hey, I have not stopped thinking about you since the minute I left.
When Maria agreed to go on a date with Anthony Montilone, she had no idea of the danger she was in. >> I miss you so much and I love you to the moon and back. >> Hearing his voice in these messages, it’s easy to think he’s a doting man in love. >> Good morning, Maria. I love you and I miss you so so so so much.
>> Monte Leone though is anything but. In reality, he’s a predatory stalker who revealed his true sinister self when he didn’t get what he desired. I don’t want to hurt anyone. Not your family as well. I promise. Just give me that. I’m hurting here. I’m a big mature man. I’m hurting here, bud. I didn’t want any of this.
>> Maria quickly realized she didn’t want any of it either. But by now, it was too late. >> And all I could feel was bang, bang, bang. And then he was just stabbing me. And I just kept repeating in my head, I’m not going to die. I’m not going to die. I’m not going to die. Remarkably, Maria’s strength endured under vicious attack.
Injured, yes, but not defeated. She’s now determined justice will prevail. What’s hard for you today? >> Facing him and just knowing what he did to me. >> We’re heading to court where she’ll confront the man who tried to kill her. Anthony Montilleone. >> You really feel a sense of responsibility, don’t you? I really do. I really do.
>> I have that responsibility. Um, I survived it and I’m one of the lucky ones. How can I stay silent? This brave mom wants the world to know something she didn’t when she met Montleion. She wasn’t his first victim. This man had a DV history and a criminal record. Maria is lucky to be alive. But her case isn’t a one-off.
As you’ll see, statistics reveal a staggering number of domestic violence perpetrators are repeat offenders. And after what she’s been through, Maria believes everyone should have the right to know if their potential partner has a violent past. >> Maria, if you had have known that, >> would you have looked at him twice? No, definitely not.
100% not Maria’s ordeal is the stuff of nightmares. Even today, in these quiet moments, she can’t help but think how close she came to leaving her three young boys without a mom. >> It’s a blessing. I’m just blessed and I don’t take that for granted. Back in 2024, she was happily single and building a successful personal training business.
But Maria’s love of helping people stay fit and healthy was also how Anthony Montilion first found her. >> Um, so he messaged me on my fitness page that I had. Um, I received a DM from him. Um, and I remember ignoring it and then a couple of days later he sent me another one and the surname was very familiar.
Um, so I thought, “Oh, do I know him?” And that’s how we got chatting on um, Instagram. And what were those early days like between the two of you? >> It it did feel beautiful. >> Yeah. What would he say to you? Um, oh, he would give me compliments. Um, you know, every he would say everything right, you know, tell me how beautiful and wonderful I am.
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But the love bombing wouldn’t last. Just 6 weeks into their fleeting relationship, Maria called it quits after finding messages from Monte Leone to other women on his mobile phone. So, I just said, “It’s not for me. Leave.” That’s it. Nice to meet you. >> How was he when he left that day? >> Not happy. >> I just thought, “Okay, give him a couple of days to get over it. That’s it.
You know, he’ll get over it.” But he never did. Instead, the rejection triggered a misfounded sense of entitlement, and Montleion couldn’t help but show his true colors. >> I [ __ ] miss you so much, Maria. It’s crazy. I think about you every single second of the day. Getting no love back to his relentless voicemails, Montleion’s tone waivers between fury and pleading.
Maria, please don’t be like this. I’ve done nothing wrong. I respect you. I will leave you alone. I promise. How many times do I have to say that? As long as I just speak to you every now and then, that’s all I want. Okay. What was it like for you to sit there listening to those voicemails? Creepy. I was terrified.
I couldn’t understand why he was so obsessed. Why he could why he could just not take no for an answer and I think the rejection part of it. Probably his ego. I burnt his ego. Maria blocked him, but that still didn’t stop Montleion from badgering her. Within just one week of breaking up, Maria received hundreds of messages. The stalker trying any which way to win her back.
FaceTime, emails, Instagram, Facebook, all platforms, pretty much all WhatsApp. >> Was there ever a moment where you thought to yourself, “Oh, this guy actually really loves me or maybe I should give him a chance.” >> No. >> Why not? >> It was so constant. >> Yeah. >> That that’s not love. Feeling increasingly panicked, Maria took out an apprehended domestic violence order.
>> Does that make you feel safe? >> No, it didn’t because he breached it right away. So, as soon as he the AVA was placed, it was every day, non-stop. Every day. There was not one day that he didn’t stop. But as if Anthony Montilone’s menacing behavior, the messages and phone calls weren’t frightening enough, it was about to get worse.
Knowing she needed help, Maria got into her car to go to the police station and report him for ignoring the AVO. But as she was driving, she looked in the rear view mirror. Imagine her shock. Monte Leone was staring straight back at her. He was following her. >> And I just screamed like screamed. It was the most scariest thing. Um, just seeing him behind me.
What was he doing? He was just staring like just driving like that and staring. I was scared. I was so scared. So, I called the police. >> What did they say? >> They said, “Turn back home.” Cuz all I could think of was my children. >> And he followed you home. >> He followed me home. And then he got there and then he started chasing me down the street. He was really fast.
And then, thank goodness, my friend come at the nick of time and chased him away. You came so close. >> So close. That night, Anthony Montilone was arrested and charged with two counts of breaching his AVO. He faced court the very next morning where he pleaded guilty, but in one fateful decision was allowed to walk free.
>> Well, I had a phone call from a social worker and said, “Get your stuff and just go.” >> Coming up, a stalker back on the streets. I I can’t even tell you the feeling. It was like I was waiting for something bad to happen. All right, the time is 10:45 a.m. on the 9th of May, 2024. >> This is the moment police try to make sense of Anthony Montilone’s violence.
Okay, Anthony, do you agree that we three are the only people in this room? >> Sure. >> The 45year-old appears incredibly calm and compliant. >> Could you just please state your full name and date of birth? >> Anthony Montilion, 9th of the 2nd, 1979. It’s a far cry from the relentless stalker who just 24 hours earlier nearly killed Maria after she ended their brief 6-w week relationship.
A decision Montleion just couldn’t accept. >> Trying to get the relationship back together. That was it. That’s all I wanted. >> And nothing was going to stop this man. Montilleone constantly breached an apprehended domestic violence order placed on him before he attacked Maria. He was taken to court, but instead of being sent to jail, he was released.
He’s given an intensive corrections order. Where did that leave you? Terrified. I had a phone call from a social worker and said, “Get your stuff and just go.” I I can’t even tell you the feeling. It was so scary. It was like I was waiting for something bad to happen. After weeks of constantly Maria, Montilone had gone eerily quiet.
How deafening was that silence? It was like the inner the inside of me could hear a pin drop because it was so constant and then nothing something felt off. And are you thinking by now maybe he is going to leave me alone? >> I still felt like I had to watch my back but I was starting to get a little bit more relaxed a touch.
But what Maria didn’t know was that Montilone was secretly plotting to harm her. His phone records show he googled the distance between her home and her gym. Then on May 8, 2024, Anthony Montilone was ready to kill. At 9:58 a.m., CCTV shows Maria’s car entering the car park to this gym in Sydney’s Inner West.
Not long after, Montleion’s hatchback follows. He parks and waits 40 minutes for his victim. and I was walking towards the car park and as I was walking towards my car, he ambushed me. >> Security cameras capture the moment Montilone pounced. >> He tackled me down. He pulled my hair and all I could feel was bang bang bang.
And then he was just stabbing me. >> Do you know how many times you stabbed her? >> No. Do you know how long you were doing it for? >> No. It went that fast and that quick. >> For 25 agonizing seconds, Maria fought with everything she had to survive. I remember I screamed and that scream for weeks, months was just ringing in my ear.
It just was not a normal scream. It was a scream like, “This man’s going to kill me.” >> Montleion stabbed her repeatedly in the face, chest, and neck. Remarkably, Maria managed to stagger her away, wounded, but alive. It’s like my whole life flashed before my eyes. And then I just thought of my three boys faces and I just kept repeating in my head, I’m not going to die.
I’m not going to die. I’m not going to die. And I just fought. I fought cuz I was not going to leave my kids without a mom. There was no way. >> Bystanders chased the attacker who desperately fled the scene. After an attack at an Alexandria gym, the 45-year-old man is in custody tonight. >> After being on the run for almost 24 hours, Anthony Montilion surrendered to police.
>> What did you do when you got home? >> I just threw all my clothes in the laundry. >> Mhm. cuz I was absolutely drenched. And I just sat in the shower. Nice hot shower. That’s all I wanted. And I thought, deal with everything else after a nice sleep in the morning. >> Mhm. What did you make of the um the fact that he wanted to have a hot shower and asleep before he handed himself into police? >> Well, really poor thing victim.
>> Maria’s case exposed glaring failures and sparked promises of immediate action by the New South Wales government. The number and frequency of domestic violence offenses in New South Wales represents an absolute emergency in the state. >> In late 2024, a suite of tough new laws was introduced. The sentences for successive breaches of apprehended violence orders were increased from two to 5 years in jail.
But former magistrate David Hailpern has reviewed the numbers and says 18 months on punishments haven’t changed. >> Were you surprised? >> I wasn’t surprised, but I was extremely disappointed. >> It makes you wonder why these tough new laws come in if they’re not going to be used. >> It’s an easy political trick.
It sounds great, but unless there’s follow through, well, it’s just meaningless. It’s awful to think just how badly the system failed Maria and that nothing has changed since her violent attack. But one of the greatest insults is that she wasn’t Anthony Montilone’s first victim. In a strikingly similar case 7 years before he tried to kill Maria, Montilone had another AVO taken out against him and was convicted of stalking another woman. It’s critical information.
Maria says she should have known. >> To me, that’s danger. And I wouldn’t put myself or my children in danger. Do you feel like you should have been able to know that? >> Yes. >> Coming up, time’s up. The women calling out repeat offenders. >> He’ll just keep keep going until someone’s really really badly hurt. 2 years after being savagely attacked, Maria is winning the battle to regain her strength. It’s incredible.
>> Yeah. How have you done it? I still have a life to live and my kids like I want my kids to see a strong mom that never gives up. No matter what life throws at us, um we get up. And for Maria, recovery is also about standing up for women and their right to feel safe. As this survivor waits for Anthony Montilone to learn his punishment, Maria is still coming to terms with the realization that she wasn’t her stalker’s first victim.
He had a previous AVO taken out against him. Do you feel like you should have been able to know that? >> Yes. Yes. 100%. The fact that Anthony Montilone was a repeat offender sadly doesn’t surprise Carolyn Robinson. The former teacher now runs Queensland charity Beyond TV, which she started after her own daughter was abused by a man who then went on to terrorize six more women.
What does it tell you? Well, it well it tells you that the laws aren’t strong enough to prevent these men from committing these acts of abuse and uh and it really I guess also emphasizes that women’s safety isn’t necessarily the highest priority and that’s where I think things need to change. Earlier this year, Carolyn surveyed more than 100 women impacted by DVI and found the vast majority had been abused by a man who’d done it before.
What we also uh learned was that 20% of the women who uh who knew who found out that their perpetrator was a repeat offender now know that their uh perpetrator had more than five other victims which is in my mind astounding. 20% five more victims. >> Correct. So that’s a lot of women going in blind >> and that’s what it’s about, right? It’s informed decisions.
Jess Siege was one of the women who took part in the survey. She first met William Wells, a man she would go on to marry and have two children with in 2014. When was the first moment that he scared you? I I would say the full fear was probably when we moved into our marital like our home after we were married. Straight away the narrative changed.
uh he believed that I must submit to him and there was a lot of language around that. Um he used religion a lot. He was a born again Christian which I wasn’t necessarily overly interested in religion but he used that um and told me I must submit to him and very very early on raped me anally. >> Um yeah sorry but was this something he did regularly to you? >> I was abused in every which way? So psychologically, physically, financially, but the sexual abuse was particularly insidious.
I was forced constantly to do things I didn’t want to do. Um it just became a very very I became very conditioned to it and it became my normal to be honest. Um um something he really that he got off on which was really horrific is was strangulation for of him to climax. He strangled me to the point where my blood vessels would pop out in my eyes multiple times. What a monster.
Absolutely. Absolute monster. For years, Jess put on a brave face. But behind her smile, she was going through hell at the hands of William Wells. She says the grip of his controlling ways was so strong, she regrettably took him back time and time again. I know that there will be someone watching this that will say, “Well, why didn’t you leave?” I know that that is the narrative and that is the the question that people ask all the time.
Um, the best way I can explain it is that I was I was too scared to leave. In 2019, Jess finally escaped Wells and reported him to police. He was arrested and charged with 14 offenses, including rape and assault. It was escalating to the fact he was doing it in front of the children, where that hadn’t been happening before.
The day before I left, he had threatened, he’d sort of wound the blinds down, and I said, “What are you doing?” And he said, “Well, I’m going to bash the [ __ ] out of you and I don’t want the neighbors to see.” and the the my kids were right there and I could just, you know, something had changed in me where I was I was seeing that I was seeing their faces.
I was seeing how it was affecting them. Do you think a man like William Wells can be rehabilitated? >> No, not at all. I don’t I don’t think he wants to. >> What’s hard for Jess is that William Wells had a previous history of violently abusing women. Hello. >> How are you? >> I’m so good. How are you? >> Last year, she was introduced to Bonnie, >> a former partner of Wells, >> and discovered she’d also been abused after he chased her with a hunting knife on a train.
>> You need to be really gentle with yourself. It’s a lot. >> Yeah, I respect that. Absolutely. >> Yeah. >> And having your support’s been amazing, Jess. Like, thank you. >> When I speak to Bonnie, she gets it. She gets it. She goes, “There’s nothing that I could like that man would totally have done that. I totally totally get it.
” >> The main thing we can focus on is the survey results. >> Jess is now teamed up with Carolyn Robinson and is campaigning for a DV disclosure scheme in Queensland. It would mean a perpetrator’s past can be accessed by a concerned partner. I think for anybody who is an a repeat offender who is abusing um their partners, there has to be a consequence for that.
There has to be accountability for that. >> Hello, welcome. >> And they have the attention of Amanda Cam, >> the Queensland Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence. >> And for him to go on and perpetrate violence against other women is just h Yeah, it’s just makes me so sick. really really makes me sick.
>> And had you had that information, Jess? >> Yeah. >> That would have >> obviously played a key role in in whether you entered a relationship with him. >> Absolutely. >> Last year, the Queensland government introduced Daniel’s law, which allows people to access a pedophile’s history. And the minister says a similar disclosure scheme for perpetrators of domestic violence is on the table.
How quickly can you get something like this up? Um, well, it would take legislative reform. We took reforms to the parliament last year. We’re currently working on uh another trench of reforms and we’ll continue to do so. >> Is a disclosure scheme specifically one of those reforms you’re looking at? >> It’s absolutely something that our government is considering.
>> And as you’ll see, they’ll be looking south to one state that’s already leading the way. >> Do you think this is saving lives? >> Uh, yes, I do. This was not just an attack on my body. It was an attack on my safety, my trust, and my freedom. And it did not just affect me. It affected my family and everyone who loves me.
I experienced nightmares, flashbacks, and stretches of sleeplessness that come and go. My body startles at sudden or loud noises. An unexpected sound can make my heart race. These are the victim impact statements of two brave survivors, Maria and Jess. Hearing them speak, you get a glimpse into the pain victims of domestic violence suffer at the hands of men who terrorize them.
>> He didn’t just hurt me. He stole the gentlest moments of my motherhood. Moments I should have been allowed to savor, not survive. Both women hope their stories will become weapons in the fight for change. >> For me, I’m the lucky one, but it’s the other women that didn’t get home to their children or their loved ones that I can’t.
They have no voices. They’re gone. It’s that grim reality that’s driving these young moms to push for a perpetrator’s abusive past to be made public. >> If you had have known some of his past, >> how different do you think your journey would be? >> I may have left sooner. If I’d have had that disclosure and seen it, it may not have taken me 15, 20 times leaving and going back.
It shouldn’t be like that and in South Australia it isn’t. A domestic violence disclosure scheme has been running here since 2018. It’s been hailed as the best of its kind in the world and so far has helped more than a thousand women make informed decisions about their safety. >> Do you think this is saving lives? >> Uh yes.
If you can intervene early and actually prevent a course of conduct that could lead to tragedy, why wouldn’t you do it? And that’s what we’re doing here. >> Run by the South Australian Police in partnership with the Women’s Safety Service. >> Assistant Commissioner Stuart Mlan is proud of the scheme. So, it’s an online process. >> Absolutely. Yep.
And you can simply search for the domestic violence disclosure scheme. >> But Stuart wants to be clear. This tool is not supposed to be a fishing expedition. Men who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear. And what criteria do I need to meet? >> First of all, we have to be a resident of uh South Australia uh 17 years uh or older.
Uh and then be concerned that your partner uh or former partner may have some history relative to domestic abuse or domestic violence. Um, and there’ll be circumstances perhaps occurring in the relationship currently that’s given you cause for concern. >> What sort of behavior are we talking about? >> But the sort of behaviors might include, I mean, acts of violence are obvious.
Uh, stalking behavior, coercive control, regulating their movements, wanting to constantly check their telephone. Uh, there’s a whole variety of behaviors that would constitute a form of domestic abuse. The information shared can include previous apprehended domestic violence orders, breaches, and convictions.
A perpetrator’s history is only disclosed verbally and in a confidential meeting with the concerned person. It’s a professional judgment of police officers who work in this space and say that behavior when considered with the behavior that’s being exhibited today and if they reasonably believe that there is the potential for harm to be done to another person, we will disclose it.
>> You can imagine how overwhelming that information would be because you know when a when a woman wants to leave, it can also be the most dangerous time for them. >> Absolutely. uh it needs to be looked at holistically. Uh and so having professional domestic violence workers work with the person, process the information, critically important to assess the risk as it is now, and develop an appropriate safety plan.
It empowers the person who’s potentially at risk to make an informed decision with professional help. Assistant Commissioner Mlan says that level of care is critical even when a potentially dangerous person has no record. >> If there’s nothing to disclose, that doesn’t mitigate the fact there’s still behaviors which are of concern.
>> In the 8 years the scheme’s been running, there’s been a 200% increase in demand. But that uptake has also created challenges. Last year, a South Australian Royal Commission into domestic, family, and sexual violence found vulnerable people who applied to the scheme wait up to 3 weeks to know the truth about their partner.
If someone’s at risk, is that too long? 21 days. >> It needs to be triage. If there’s a providing risk, then obviously uh that was will take priority uh over other matters and that then would determine how best to manage this uh this situation. Professor David Hailpern, a former magistrate who now teaches law at Southern Cross University, sees the merit in the scheme, but says for it to be truly effective, it needs to be Australiawide.
>> If each states doing its own thing, then people move. I mean, these guys are uh pathological. uh they go from one relationship like this to another largely. Um and we live in a social media world where borders make no difference to relationships and to conduct um and people will move. >> The there are some other concerns about the disclosure scheme about you know people at the center of these inquiries and their privacy.
>> I I think that privacy is completely secondary when we’re dealing with issues of safety. Um uh what we’re dealing with in cases like Jess and um Maria’s case is lifelong injury um and uh lifelong trauma. Um uh someone’s privacy in those circumstances uh comes a long way second in my view.
As I say, this is a national emergency. Uh women are dying and children are dying at horrific rates. Just the thought of that man walking the streets again. >> Mhm. >> I don’t want to think about it to be honest. I don’t think it’s right. >> Jess’s abuser, William Wells, pleaded guilty to 12 charges, including rape, assault, and contravening a domestic violence order.
Last year, he was sentenced to 6 and 1/2 years in jail with a non-p parole period of 2 and 1/2 years. With time already served, he could be freed any day now. Jess, what if he gets out? If he gets out, I’m telling you, he will hurt somebody again. I I guarantee you. And who do you think will have blood on their hands at the end of the day if that happens? the whole system.
>> For Maria, it’s also been an agonizing road to justice. We’re on our way to court where the man who tried to kill her will learn his punishment. What do you think Anthony Montilone deserves? >> Honestly, there will be no amount of time that will be enough. >> What does justice look like to you >> for him staying in jail? >> How long? life.
>> This is it. Yeah. Are you ready? >> Yeah. All right. Thank you. Good luck. >> I stand here not only for myself, but for the women who live in fear and for those who never got the chance to stand here at all. Maria’s words echoed through the courtroom. But they weren’t just for Anthony Montilleone. What happened to me should never have happened and my responsibility now is to make sure it is not ignored.
On Friday, after a long day in court, Montilone was sentenced to 13 years in jail with a non-parole period of 8 years and 7 months. When the judge read out that sentence, what was going through your mind? >> That he doesn’t deserve to be in society. I I I don’t believe 13 years is enough time. >> What do men like Anthony Montilleone need to know? >> No means no.
>> Maria is now focusing on the future, on the things she loves, health and family. She doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to trust another man, but says the love she knows her three boys have for their brave mom is enough to carry her through. >> No woman deserves to lose their life and no child deserves to lose their mom.
That’s so true. Yeah. If you or anyone you know is a victim of domestic violence, help is available. Call 1800 respect which is 1 800737732. >> On this week’s 60 Minutes podcast extra minutes, could it be possible to end the scourge of domestic abuse in Australia? I really hope that one day we live in a world where domestic violence disclosure schemes aren’t needed.
That the onus will not be on women to make inquiries to find out a perpetrator’s violent history. >> That’s Extra Minutes available now on the 60 Minutes Australia YouTube channel and your favorite podcast apps. >> Hello, I’m Adam Hegy. Thanks for watching 60 Minutes Australia. Subscribe to our channel now for brand new stories and exclusive clips every week.
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