Bali bombing anniversary: The moment a terrorist's remains were identified

Twenty years on Kate Fitzpatrick still vividly remembers the moment the remains of a terrorist involved in the Bali bombings were identified.

It was in the mortuary alongside Sanglah Hospital, and the terrorist's remains had laid near the hundreds of victims who had died.

In October 2002, Fitzpatrick was 30 years old and worked in the Australian Federal Police disaster victim identification (DVI) unit. She was among the first deployed to the holiday island following the horrific attacks.

Just after 11pm on October 12, a suicide bomber had walked into Paddy's Bar and detonated a bomb near people dancing, drinking and having fun.

Fifteen seconds later, as those who survived fled outside, an IED was detonated outside the Sari Club. It was only 40 metres up the road from the entrance to Paddy's.

The blasts killed 202 people, including 88 Australians, 38 Indonesians and people from 20 other countries.

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DVI experts from across Australia and the world were sent to help identify the victims, some worked at ground zero and others, like Fitzpatrick, were based at the mortuary.

"At one point the pathologist identified what he believed to be one of the bombers, because of the pattern of shrapnel injury on that particular body part," she said.

"That's great evidence when you're putting everything together for the terrorist investigation, and also understanding that that person is the terrorist."

At the time of the Bali bombings the AFP's DVI unit was still in its infancy so its officers worked with experts from state and territory police across Australia, as well as the Indonesian National Police and other experts from around the world.

DVI is the forensic process of identifying human remains, whether that be a complete body or a small fragment. There are five steps:

The scene

The mortuary - post-mortem

Ante-mortem

Reconciliation

Debriefing

Preservation of the scene is absolutely vital. Everything found there is examined and catalogued, including the location of body parts as this evidence will help officers investigate what happened.

"Body parts can be scattered over quite a wide distance, shrapnel and parts of the bomb also," Fitzpatrick said.

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"The main purpose of this [DVI] is to assist the people who are left behind in having some resolution on what has happened to the people they love."

Officers will never work on post-mortem and ante-mortem at the same time.

"If you're talking to family members and then potentially seeing the victims in the mortuary, that can be quite psychologically damaging," Fitzpatrick said.

Bali was a massive learning curve for the AFP and it has gone on to be a world leader in DVI.

Fitzpatrick stayed in the DVI unit for a few years following her deployment to Bali. During this time she created official DVI training courses and instigated joint ways of working with other agencies across the globe.

Twenty years on from the Bali bombings, Fitzpatrick is still with the AFP, although no longer with its DVI unit.

She occasionally has flashes of memories from the time, but for two decades she's been determined not to let the horror get to her.

"I was there doing a job and the horror of some of it just didn't penetrate," she said.

When asked if working at the Bali bombings changed her, she pauses for a long time and admits she's never reflected on this.

"I wonder whether what I did post Bali might be the answer. I did four significant things in the years after the Bali bombing," she said.

She competed in the Amateur Triathlon World Championships in New Zealand; she traveled Europe with her mum for eight months; she started third year psychology studies; and she moved back to Melbourne to be near her family after living in Canberra for 15 years.

"I guess I followed my passions, endeavoured to know myself better and made the decision to be closer to my family," she said.

Kate Fitzpatrick is among the current and former AFP members who are featured on new podcast, Operation Alliance: 2002 Bali Bombings, which relives one of the most significant moments in Australia's history.