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| Queensland police charge Cairns mother with murder of eight children | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Queensland police have charged a Cairns mother with the murder of eight children including her four sons and three daughters. | Queensland police have charged a Cairns mother with the murder of eight children including her four sons and three daughters. |
| The 37-year-old, who was taken to hospital on Friday after the bodies were found, was charged in a bedside hearing before a magistrate on Sunday. She remains under police guard and has been excused from attending a Cairns magistrates court hearing on Monday. | The 37-year-old, who was taken to hospital on Friday after the bodies were found, was charged in a bedside hearing before a magistrate on Sunday. She remains under police guard and has been excused from attending a Cairns magistrates court hearing on Monday. |
| The victims have been formally identified as her daughters aged 12, 11 and two, her sons aged nine, eight, six and five, and her niece aged 14. | The victims have been formally identified as her daughters aged 12, 11 and two, her sons aged nine, eight, six and five, and her niece aged 14. |
| Their bodies were found at a house in the north Queensland city’s suburb of Manoora on Friday. | Their bodies were found at a house in the north Queensland city’s suburb of Manoora on Friday. |
| Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar did not say how police would allege the killings took place, and that investigators were yet to piece together a full sequence of events. | Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar did not say how police would allege the killings took place, and that investigators were yet to piece together a full sequence of events. |
| The prosecution case will not be announced until after a police statement is submitted to the magistrate. | The prosecution case will not be announced until after a police statement is submitted to the magistrate. |
| Asnicar said the rest of the woman’s family, including the five fathers of her children and parents of her niece, had been advised of the charges. | Asnicar said the rest of the woman’s family, including the five fathers of her children and parents of her niece, had been advised of the charges. |
| “It would come as no surprise that this is a very raw, very emotive time for everybody,” he said. | “It would come as no surprise that this is a very raw, very emotive time for everybody,” he said. |
| “The family’s deeply, deeply upset. But the community’s pulling together … I think it’s as good as it can be out of tragic, tragic circumstances.” | “The family’s deeply, deeply upset. But the community’s pulling together … I think it’s as good as it can be out of tragic, tragic circumstances.” |
| The charges were laid the same morning one grief-stricken father and his parents made an emotional visit to an impromptu shrine in the park next to the Murray Street house. | The charges were laid the same morning one grief-stricken father and his parents made an emotional visit to an impromptu shrine in the park next to the Murray Street house. |
| “My babies, my babies,” cried the man, who is the father of the three youngest victims. | “My babies, my babies,” cried the man, who is the father of the three youngest victims. |
| Asnicar said he expected autopsies would be completed later on Sunday. | Asnicar said he expected autopsies would be completed later on Sunday. |
| He did not know how long the woman would remain in hospital, and where she was taken upon discharge would be up to prison authorities. | He did not know how long the woman would remain in hospital, and where she was taken upon discharge would be up to prison authorities. |
| Asnicar said police would oppose bail for the woman who, under Queensland law, would have to apply to the supreme court. | Asnicar said police would oppose bail for the woman who, under Queensland law, would have to apply to the supreme court. |
| Investigators still faced a “long hard road”, with numbers of police assigned to the case to be “beefed up” as they compiled a full brief of evidence to give to prosecutors, he said. | Investigators still faced a “long hard road”, with numbers of police assigned to the case to be “beefed up” as they compiled a full brief of evidence to give to prosecutors, he said. |
| “In reality a great deal of the work starts now,” he said. “This is only a final point in terms of the resolution of the charging process.” | “In reality a great deal of the work starts now,” he said. “This is only a final point in terms of the resolution of the charging process.” |
| He called on the public to stop discussing the case on social media, saying media speculation about the manner of the children’s deaths was “unhelpful” in enabling the matter to proceed to trial. | He called on the public to stop discussing the case on social media, saying media speculation about the manner of the children’s deaths was “unhelpful” in enabling the matter to proceed to trial. |
| Queensland Police’s assistant commissioner, Paul Taylor, said the tragedy called for a “meticulous and complex investigation that does take time”. | Queensland Police’s assistant commissioner, Paul Taylor, said the tragedy called for a “meticulous and complex investigation that does take time”. |
| On Sunday a congregation from the nearby St Luke’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anglican church, which is attended by relatives of the children, visited the Murray Street shrine of flowers, soft toys and messages left by well-wishers from all over north Queensland. | On Sunday a congregation from the nearby St Luke’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anglican church, which is attended by relatives of the children, visited the Murray Street shrine of flowers, soft toys and messages left by well-wishers from all over north Queensland. |
| Bishop James Prestwich blessed the site as the group sang hymns including Jesus Loves the Little Children. | Bishop James Prestwich blessed the site as the group sang hymns including Jesus Loves the Little Children. |
| “To think of those lovely little children, that makes me very emotional – I have children of my own,” he said. | “To think of those lovely little children, that makes me very emotional – I have children of my own,” he said. |
| “We’re trying to bring a bit of peace into an unsettled world at the moment. Some of [our community] are relations and they’ve been tremendously affected.” | “We’re trying to bring a bit of peace into an unsettled world at the moment. Some of [our community] are relations and they’ve been tremendously affected.” |
| He said emotions had been high at a morning service when the church group also prayed for those affected by the Sydney siege and the 141 child victims of a school bombing attack in Pakistan the same week. | He said emotions had been high at a morning service when the church group also prayed for those affected by the Sydney siege and the 141 child victims of a school bombing attack in Pakistan the same week. |
| A chapter of Indigenous bikers, the MOB Indigenous Riders Club, rode in on Harley Davidson motorcycles in club colours. A spokesman, Peter Nicholls, said: “This is all our family too so we’re just all here to do the same thing like everyone else is doing. We heard it so we came down straightaway. It’s just a tragic thing.” | A chapter of Indigenous bikers, the MOB Indigenous Riders Club, rode in on Harley Davidson motorcycles in club colours. A spokesman, Peter Nicholls, said: “This is all our family too so we’re just all here to do the same thing like everyone else is doing. We heard it so we came down straightaway. It’s just a tragic thing.” |