8 siblings found stabbed to death at their home in Cairns, Australia
8 siblings found stabbed to death at their home in Cairns, Australia
Their mother was also stabbed but she survived and is currently in critical condition in the hospital.
Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said that the woman was the mother of seven of the dead children with the other child a relation. He described the massacre as a 'tragic and traumatic event'. Scores of detectives, paramedics and forensic officers have swarmed over the home on Murray St in Manoora, around 4km west of the coastal town's main tourist strip.
Details
about what investigators found inside the house has not been revealed
but a neighbour said she had been told there were bloody scenes
'everywhere' inside. Officers who arrived first on the scene said it was
like 'something out of a horror movie'. Specialist police officers are
now on their way from Brisbane to help with the situation and the crime
scene is completely locked down.
'There's
not much else we can say, but what we have a range of strategies in
place to support the family through this very difficult time,' Detective
Inspector Asnicar said.
'It's
a tragic and traumatic with so many deceased in one place. It's right
up there with some of the most serious things I've ever had to deal
with.'
Ms Thaiday said another sibling, a 20-year-old man, arrived home to discover his brothers and sisters dead inside the house.
He is now being consoled by other family members.
'I'm
going to see him now, he needs comforting,' Ms Thaiday said. She
described the family and extended relatives as close-knit and many live
in surrounding suburbs.
'We're
a big family and most of us are from the (Torres) Strait,' she said,
adding that she rushed to the scene after hearing about the incident on
the radio.
The woman at
the centre of the Cairns family massacre was ‘happy go lucky and seemed
to really love her kids’, Daily Mail Australia has been told.
Robert
Struber, who lived for 20 years in the house where the stabbing murders
took place said he had spoken with the 34-year-old on several occasions
while visiting his former neighbours.
He
said the last time he had seen the mother a few months ago she was
‘friendly and happy to chat’ and that she had mainly looked after her
large family.
Mr Struber had not met the father of the children.
He
said the street had a mixture of Aboriginal families and people from
the Torres Strait and Cook Islands. he moved out of the four bedroom
house two years ago because it was too large, and said that following
the tragedy he ‘never wanted to go back inside it’.
Mr
Struber described the 34-year-old woman at the centre of the family
massacre as ‘happy go lucky and seemed to really love her kids’. He had
spoken with her on several occasions while visiting his former
neighbours.
He said she had mainly looked after her large family well. Mr Struber had not met the father of the children.
Police
said it would be several hours before forensic officers would be able
to complete their work inside the house - while detectives continued
inquiries to establish what had led up to the slaughter.
Detectives
rushed to the house in Murray Street at about 11.20am today after they
received reports a woman had suffered serious injuries.
The
street has been branded a crime scene and the area has been locked
down. Their home is a rented Housing Commission residence.
Source: Daily Mail UK
