The Department of Correctional Services confirmed this morning that a prisoner was “pronounced deceased at 11.52pm, 8 May, 2023, at the Royal Adelaide Hospital”.

Perre, who has been dealing with serious health conditions, was transferred, from Yatala prison after being sentenced in October for the parcel bombing of the NCA office in Adelaide’s Waymouth Street on March 2, 1994.

South Australian Supreme Court Justice Kevin Nicholson confirmed a mandatory life sentence for the murder of NCA Detective Geoffrey Bowen and the attempted murder of lawyer Peter Wallis – a crime the court said was premeditated and “executed in cold blood”.

[solstice_jwplayer mediaid=”SfqXx1j0″ title=”NCA bomber Perre dies ” caption=”Video: 10 News First” /]

With Perre already behind bars for drug offences, Justice Nicholson extended his existing non-parole period by 30 years and seven months.

Sgt Bowen died from horrific injuries including the loss of his left arm when the parcel bomb built and sent by Perre exploded in his 12th floor office.

Wallis, who was standing nearby, lost an eye and suffered severe burns in the blast. He died in 2018.

Smoke billows from the National Crime Authority’s 12th floor office of its Waymouth St building after a parcel bomb exploded in March 1994.

Handing down his guilty verdicts last June, Justice Nicholson found that Perre had intended to kill Sgt Bowen or anyone else who happened to open the package or be close by when it detonated.

“Mr Perre wanted to kill Mr Bowen but intended the NCA bomb to do its work and kill whomever it did,” the judge said.

Perre was first charged with murder soon after the bombing, but the case against him was dropped six months later because of a lack of evidence.

He was arrested again in 2018 after a joint investigation lasting more than two years by state and federal authorities including the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

Photo: AAP Image/David Mariuz

Prosecutors argued the bombing was a personal attack on Sgt Bowen.

They said Perre’s hostility towards him had grown because of their interactions following the seizure of a multi-million dollar cannabis crop in the Northern Territory in August 1993.

Justice Nicholson said Perre’s targeted murder of a serving police officer was violent, barbaric and ruthless.

“Your conduct was brutish. That is totally devoid of any human sensibility,” the judge said.

“Your conduct was motivated by matters that do you no credit.

“It was not just premeditated but intricately devised and planned over a lengthy period of time and was executed in cold blood.”

The Department confirmed this morning that next of kin had been advised of Perre’s death.

Sgt Bowen’s son Simon, who followed his father’s footsteps into the police force, was just seven at the time of the blast.

“I struggle with the motive and relevance of your actions,” he told Perre in a victim impact statement at the time.

“You caused so much irreparable damage and suffering all so you can grow some dope and walk about South Australia like a would-be gangster with your big black glasses.”

Detective Superintendent Des Bray and family members of Geoffrey Bowen and Peter Wallis at a press conference after the Supreme Court found Dominic Perre guilty of the NCA office bombing. Photo: Matt Turner / AAP

Sgt Bowen’s widow Jane Bowen-Sutton said her husband was killed on their ninth wedding anniversary and she had experienced never-ending grief.

“That day I told my seven and five-year-old sons that their much-loved dad had been killed and we would never see him again. I’ve relived that conversation for 28 years,” she said.

Genevieve Wallis, who was eight-years-old when her father was injured, said the attack had left him traumatised, depressed and debilitated.

“The bombing had torn any sense of safety, belonging and privilege of being a child and it sickens me that a blatant disregard for human life can exist within another human,” Wallis said.

-with AAP