Australia: Mother charged with murders of children

AN AUSTRALIAN mother was charged with murder yesterday in connection with the deaths of seven of her children and another child.

Distraught family members try to console one another at a makeshift memorial. Picture: Getty Images

Mersane Warria, 37, was charged with eight counts of murder in a bedside hearing at a hospital in the northern city of Cairns, where she is recovering from stab wounds.

She was charged with the murder of four girls and four boys, whose ages ranged from 18 months to 15 years.

Post-mortem examinations of the children, the eighth of whom was Warria’s niece, were completed yesterday.

Police have taken more than 100 witness statements.

Officers were called to the house in the Cairns suburb of Manoora on Friday morning after receiving a report of a woman with serious injuries.

When they got to the house, they found the children’s bodies, along with Warria, who was suffering from stab wounds to the chest.

Officers haven’t said how the children died, but Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar, of Queensland Police, said they were examining several knives found in the home. Suffocation was also a possible cause of death, he said.

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“We are considering that, and that’s why it’s taking a bit of time,” he said.

“It could be a range of things, from suffocation to a thousand other things.”

He said officials were still trying to determine exactly what had happened inside the house, and had collected more than 100 witness statements. But police would not be releasing the results of the post-mortems, as the case was now a matter for the courts.

Police were not looking for any other suspects, Mr Asnicar said.

A court hearing is scheduled for today, but Warria would not be attending. Police planned to oppose any request for bail, Mr Asnicar said.

“This is very raw and it is a very emotive time for everybody,” he said. “The family is deeply upset but the community is pulling together. “

Asked how the children’s five fathers were coping, Mr Asnicar replied: “I don’t think we need much imagination to understand how they are feeling.”

Dozens of weeping mourners visited a makeshift memorial of flowers, soft toys and candles set up in a park next to the family’s home. “My babies, my babies,” one man wailed.

A church service for the children was held yesterday and a candlelight vigil was scheduled for last night.

The Cairns family were members of the Torres Strait Islander community, a group of indigenous Australians viewed as distinct from the broader Aboriginal community due to their origins on islands off the tropical Queensland coast.

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott released a statement that said: “The news out of Cairns is heartbreaking.

“All parents would feel a gut-wrenching sadness at what has happened.

“This is an unspeakable crime. These are trying days for our country.”

Australia is still reeling from the shock of a siege in a Sydney café earlier this month. A gunman burst into the premises and took 18 hostages, two of whom were killed along with the gunman after police stormed in 16 hours later.

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