Top Melbourne doctor breaks his silence after his daughter was stabbed 11 times outside mansion – as a chilling message sent before the attack is revealed

The family of a young woman who was stabbed 11 times in a brutal attack outside their mansion has broken their silence for the first time.

The victim has been identified as Leija Michael, 18, a recent graduate of Melbourne’s prestigious Ruyton Girls’ School and the daughter of respected ear, nose and throat surgeon Dr Philip Michael.

Leija was returning home from a pub gathering with friends when she was ambushed at about 1am on Wednesday by 18-year-old Lachlan Starick, who had been hiding in bushes outside her Miller Grove home in Kew with a knife.

She suffered multiple stab wounds and was rushed to hospital, where her injuries were initially assessed as life‑threatening. She is now in a stable condition.

Following the attack, blood was found splattered across the family’s Porsche Taycan, valued at more than $264,000, which was parked outside the home. 

In a statement released on Friday, her family thanked emergency services and hospital staff for their care.

‘As a family, we would like to thank the emergency services and hospital teams for the exceptional care provided,’ they said.

‘We are pleased to confirm our daughter is now in a stable condition and ask that the media respect our family’s privacy at this time.

‘We will not be commenting further on the incident.’

Starick, a recent graduate of Trinity Grammar School, later took his own life, with his body discovered more than 350 kilometres away at a relative’s property in Antwerp, western Victoria, at about 6.15am.

On the night of the attack, Starick messaged a friend to confirm whether Leija was at the pub gathering and asked to be told when she left, the Herald Sun reports.

He launched the knife attack just moments after Leija was dropped off outside her home, with a 20cm kitchen knife later found discarded in a garden at the scene.

Daily Mail understands Starick and Leija first met through the tightly connected Ruyton–Trinity private school network.

The neighbouring Kew schools charge annual fees ranging from $27,000 to $45,000.

In a statement released on Thursday, Trinity Grammar said it was ‘profoundly saddened by this terrible incident’.

‘Our thoughts are with the young woman as she recovers, and the families involved,’ the statement read.

‘Out of respect for the ongoing police investigation and the privacy of those involved, we are unable to comment further at this time.’

A security guard was stationed at the main entrance of Ruyton on Thursday, where Leija recently completed Year 12.

Earlier on Thursday, members of Leija’s family, including her older sister Mia, were seen emerging from the mansion for the first time since the attack.

Friends and neighbours gathered throughout the day in the normally quiet, close‑knit street, with some seen carrying food parcels between homes.

Detectives from Victoria Police also returned to the scene to canvass the area as they worked to establish a motive for the attack.

Blood spatter visible on the family Porsche, driveway and front gate on Wednesday afternoon had been cleaned away by Thursday morning.

On Wednesday one shaken neighbour told Daily Mail: ‘It’s been a very long night. We haven’t had any sleep.’

Another said: ‘We’re all extremely upset. It’s a very tight‑knit street.’

Superintendent Wayne Cheesman told Nova radio the teenager was ‘minding her own business’ when she was attacked.

‘She gets dropped off at her residence in Kew and there’s a male who is known to her, also of similar age, who approaches her in the driveway and stabs her multiple times,’ he said.

‘She was just a young girl walking home in the safety of her own driveway.

‘How an 18‑year‑old boy can, for whatever reason, think it’s acceptable to approach someone he knows and stab her multiple times is really sad.’

It is understood Leija was treated for injuries to her upper and mid‑body.