Father of man who died in home invasion says son was suffering a ‘breakdown’

The father of a man who died during an alleged home invasion in Sydney has claimed his son was suffering a “breakdown” following a split from his long-term girlfriend.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Mail, a heartbroken Raymond Soper said his beloved child Brad had been struggling with a broken heart since his relationship with Kaisha Cambell ended late last year.

Speaking openly about the 35-year-old’s state of mind recently, Raymond claimed Brad’s mental state had deteriorated over the past few months. He explained the alleged home invasion was completely unlike Brad.

“All I can say is it was all out of character for Bradley,” he told The Daily Mail. “We feel that he’s had some sort of a breakdown or something.

“There’s no way he would go into anyone’s place intentionally, there’s just no way.”

Raymond’s comments follows confirmation on Tuesday from the New South Wales Police that a male intruder died inside a home at Westwood Court on Sunday morning. The male resident of the home, Johan Schwartz, was woken at around 7:30am to his dog barking and found the intruder inside his house. His wife and baby were also inside the family home.

“The 44-year-old resident went to investigate and challenged a male intruder located in the loungeroom of his home,” NSW Police said in a statement. “Following a physical confrontation, the intruder lost consciousness.”

Schwartz was later released without charge by police but awaits more news on whether he’ll face further prosecution, pending an autopsy.

Tributes began to pour in earlier this week from the shocked family and friends of weightlifter Brad, who, according to the Daily Telegraph, has been identified as the man who died. They have insisted it’s completely out of character for him – with his father claiming he was “disorientated” at the time.

Smeaton Grange’s XXX Fight Academy, where Soper worked as a coach, led tributes on Facebook as they confirmed the news of his death alongside a photo.

“It is with the greatest sadness and shock to announce the passing of Brad Soper, our coach, our colleague and our friend,” the post read. “This news has absolutely devastated us all and we are going to miss him beyond words. His knowledge, encouragement, strength and all of the laughs and fun in between.

“Brad’s dedication to his sport and training was nothing short of inspiring, he always put in the work to achieve his goals! His passion was to learn as much as he could and share everything he knew with his clients!

“Each and every one of them will be grateful for what he’s given them. Sending all of our love to his family and friends at this heartbreaking time. Forever our Strongman. RIP.”

Read more: ‘It doesn’t make sense’: Friends of man who died in home invasion share shock

Meanwhile, Soper’s father told the Daily Telegraph he was shocked but wanted to await autopsy results to determine how it could have happened.

“We want to wait until the autopsy is done,” he told the news outlet. “What happened is right out of context for Bradley. We believe he was disorientated for some reason and they won’t know until they do the autopsy.”

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