Haunting footage has emerged of the Sydney knifeman in a hospital waiting room a week before allegedly going on a deadly rampage.
Mert Ney, 20, ran through the city centre covered in blood and brandishing a large kitchen knife on Tuesday afternoon.
Michaela Dunn, 24, was then found dead inside a Clarence Street apartment at 3.15pm, just over an hour after Ney allegedly stabbed Linda Bo, 41, in the back.
Those close to Ney claim he has been on a ‘steep descent into insanity’, which became so troubling police were trying to track him down.
He was seen in the waiting room at Blacktown Hospital looking distressed and agitated just days before the attack.
Michaela Dunn, 24, was found dead inside a Clarence Street apartment at 3.15pm, just over an hour after Ney allegedly stabbed Linda Bo, 41, in the back
In the footage Ney can be seen staring vacantly into the distance as he throws his head back. He is later seen leaning forward with his head in his hands.
‘There’s something not right with this guy,’ an onlooker says.
It is understood Ney went to the hospital on August 7 after suffering a prescription drug overdose.
Melinda Ettery, a patient in the emergency room, told the Seven Network it was clear he was agitated.
‘He was loud and boisterous, being rude to nurses and doctors,’ she said.
Michaela Dunn has been remembered as a beautiful young woman with a passion for travel
While many were shocked by the alleged actions of 20-year-old Mert Ney (pictured), those close to Ney say his ‘steep descent into insanity’ became clear
Hours later, he left the hospital and returned to his family home at Marayong in Sydney’s west, where he allegedly launched a violent attack on one of his sisters.
The 20-year-old allegedly punched her in the face and choked her before she and her mother contacted police.
Ney fled before officers arrived, leading them on an failed week-long hunt to find him, The Australian reported.
Two days later after the incident at the family home, Ney went to a local GP and said he was having suicidal thoughts.
Footage shows Ney staring vacantly into the distance as he throws his head back in the hospital waiting room. He can then be seen leaning forward with his head in his hands
Stunned onlookers were frozen in the street as the Ney (pictured) began his rampage through Sydney
The doctor contacted police – but he again evaded them.
In the three days before the rampage, Ney had been living in government emergency housing in Blacktown – but no one told police who were hunting him.
‘Police were searching for him and we had concerns, but it’s still a mystery to us why we didn’t get a call,’ a police source told The Australian.
Ney flew under the radar until Tuesday – a week after police began their search.
That day, he travelled into the city with the intention to ‘kill and be killed by a cop’s gun’, detectives believe.
It is believed he made an appointment with Ms Dunn for 1.30pm, but Ney only spent 20 minutes in her Clarence Street apartment.
Ney was seen on CCTV footage leaving the building at 1.50pm, and police allege he killed her before fleeing the block in a blood-soaked jumper and causing chaos through the streets of Sydney.
Investigators believe Ney and Ms Dunn had no prior contact before Tuesday but are looking through their phone records to determine the nature of their relationship.
‘From our early investigations it appears the accused never had any intention of paying the victim for services that he had made arrangements for,’ an investigator told The Daily Telegraph.
‘Likewise it seems clear that he wanted to be killed by police.’
Teenage homeless couple Courtney Ridgeway, 19, and Nathan Tgiy, 16, described Ney as ‘agitated’ and ‘scary’ when they stayed in a room next-door to his at the emergency accommodation.
They heard the 20-year-old discussing terrorism on his phone information he had on USB stick.
Ney stands accused of shutting down Sydney’s CBD during a terrifying rampage that left a 24-year-old woman dead. The woman’s body is seen being taken from her home
‘He was talking about terrorism and Allahu Akbar – he loved that word, he was saying it a lot,’ Ms Ridgeway told 9News.
Ney was taken down by heroic bystanders after he stabbed 41-year-old Linda Bo in the back in broad daylight.
Shortly after, Ms Dunn was found in dead in the apartment.
Pictures shared to social media showed Ms Dunn travelled through Sri Lanka and the US in the past year, as well as previously holidaying in Europe.
‘While her family appreciate the support offered by the community, they have requested their privacy at this difficult time,’ a statement from police read.
‘The investigation into the circumstances surrounding Michaela’s murder is being led by detectives from the Homicide Squad under Strike Force Lalchere.’
Michaela Dunn, 24, was allegedly killed at a Sydney apartment by Mert Ney on Tuesday
Neighbours of the 24-year-old sex worker were shocked when they heard of the gruesome killing, many claimed they did not hear a thing on the day she died
Ms Ridgeway (pictured) said Ney had approached them saying he was ‘homeless’ and had been ‘kicked out’ by his mum
Ney’s sister, who declined to be named, apologised to the family of his alleged victim, saying: ‘Sorry a million times.. I’m just really sorry to the victim’.
Ms Ney said her brother had a ‘steep descent into insanity’ and she wanted him to ‘suffer’ and be punished severely by the law for what he had allegedly done.
‘I want him to suffer. I want them to just put him in like the worst mental health institution where it’s like jail,’ she said.
‘All the words I could say isn’t ever going to bring her back … I’m really sorry, she was like, defenceless and everything.’