The siege
On December 15, 2014, Man Haron Monis took customers and staff hostage inside the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place. The siege continued overnight while police negotiators and tactical teams worked outside the building.
The NSW Coroner later found that Monis alone bore responsibility for creating the siege. His political and religious claims were investigated as part of the broader record, but this archive does not reproduce his propaganda or treat it as a coherent statement of any community or faith.
The deaths
During the final phase of the siege, cafe manager Tori Johnson was intentionally killed by Monis. Police then entered the cafe. Monis died during the police response, and barrister Katrina Dawson also died during the gunfire that followed. The Coroner examined the sequence in detail and made formal findings on each death.
The inquest also considered the experiences of the surviving hostages and the decisions made during the long police response. Those institutional questions were reviewed separately from the Coroner's finding that Monis was responsible for the siege itself.
The coronial inquest
The NSW coronial inquest heard extensive evidence over many months and delivered findings in May 2017. The Coroner made dozens of recommendations covering crisis negotiation, command, tactical response, intelligence, bail and related systems.
The NSW Police Force accepted that the inquest provided lessons for future high-risk incidents and publicly acknowledged the deaths of Johnson and Dawson. The Coroner's findings did not amount to a criminal conviction of Monis because he had died before any trial could occur.
Why the status is not “convicted”
This case is classified as Perpetrator Identified / Deceased. The identity and responsibility of the hostage-taker are not unresolved, but there is no criminal conviction because Monis died at the scene. The formal public record instead rests heavily on the coronial findings.
Timeline
December 15, 2014: hostages are taken inside the Lindt Cafe at Martin Place.
Overnight: police negotiate and maintain a large emergency response around the cafe.
December 16, 2014: the siege ends after Johnson is killed; police enter the cafe. Dawson and Monis also die.
2015–2017: a major coronial inquest examines the deaths, police response, intelligence and related systems.
May 24, 2017: the NSW Coroner publishes findings and recommendations.
Current status
The criminal event is not an open question as to the identified hostage-taker. The inquest concluded that Monis alone bore responsibility for the siege, while also identifying lessons and shortcomings in institutional response. The case is therefore listed as solved in the country archive, with the qualification that the perpetrator died before trial.