Father who slaughtered his wife, three children and their grandmother is jailed for life 

A man who killed his wife, three young children and mother-in-law has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Anthony Robert Harvey, 25, used knives and a blunt instrument to butcher his family at his home in Bedford, Perth last year.

He killed his two-year-old twins Alice and Beatrix, three-year-old Charlotte and their mother Mara Lee Harvey, 41, at their Bedford home on September 3, 2018.

Cradling his newborn daughter in his arms, Anthony Harvey looked every bit the proud father as he gazed at the baby girl he killed three years later 

Anthony Harvey (pictured with his wife Mara), 25, used knives and a blunt instrument to butcher his family at his home in Bedford, Perth last year

Anthony Harvey (pictured with his wife Mara), 25, used knives and a blunt instrument to butcher his family at his home in Bedford, Perth last year

Grandmother Beverley Ann Quinn, 73, was murdered when she visited the next morning, the WA Supreme Court heard on Friday.

He lived with the bodies for five days before turning himself in. 

Harvey, who owned a francise of lawn-mowing service Jim’s Mowing, was sentenced to life behind bars with an order to never be released on Friday after earlier pleading guilty to the murders.

He is the only person in Western Australia to be given the strict sentence, news.com.au reported.

Justice Stephen Hall said there were no other case that were ‘truly comparable’.

‘You’re actions were so far beyond the bounds … they would instil horror and revulsion in the most hardened of people.’

Contrary to appearances, Harvey 'wasn't fond' of his daughters and in numerous fights with his wife declared he wanted to be rid of them

Contrary to appearances, Harvey ‘wasn’t fond’ of his daughters and in numerous fights with his wife declared he wanted to be rid of them 

He killed three-year-old Charlotte, two-year-old twins Alice and Beatrix (pictured), and their mother Mara, 41, on September 3. He then murdered his wife's mother Beverley Quinn (pictured), 73, when she came to visit the next morning

He killed three-year-old Charlotte, two-year-old twins Alice and Beatrix (pictured), and their mother Mara, 41, on September 3. He then murdered his wife’s mother Beverley Quinn (pictured), 73, when she came to visit the next morning

He said life in prison without the chance of parole was justified. 

Parts of Mr Harvey’s crime have been suppressed by the court as they were deemed too horrific.

During his sentencing hearing, the court heard how Mr Harvey had kept a journal where he expressed his desire to embrace ‘darkness and animal instincts’.

‘I am no psycho. I feel. I feel too much, I always have … I will regret what I do.’

Justice Hall said the journal was not an expression of a fantasy but showed killings had been planned.

Ms Harvey was killed in the kitchen and the girls in other rooms of the house. Ms Quinn was murdered beside the body of her daughter.

The callous killer is believed to have taken his white ute and Jim’s trailer to complete two jobs just hours later like nothing had happened.

He stayed at the house for several days as the bodies simply lay on bloodstained floors and furniture where he left them.

Mara Harvey, pictured, was murdered by her evil husband only minutes after finishing work

Mara Harvey, pictured, was murdered by her evil husband only minutes after finishing work

Mr Harvey then drove 1,400km north to Pannawonica where he has family, and handed himself into police on September 9. 

His unthinkable crimes shocked Australia and left friends, family, and neighbours seeking answers as to why he did it.

Months after the murders, heartbroken close friends of Ms Harvey have revealed signs of the family’s downward spiral.

‘Anthony was lazy and drunk and high and wanted to spend all his time having fun and partying instead of being a dad,’ one told Daily Mail Australia.

‘He thought [his wife and children] were cramping his style.’

Contrary to appearances, Harvey ‘wasn’t fond’ of his daughters and in numerous fights with his wife declared he wanted to be rid of them.

‘He’d say he wanted to be free of her and the girls, that they were holding him back from happiness and no one cared about him.’

A member of the public lays flowers outside the Harvey family home after the massacre

A member of the public lays flowers outside the Harvey family home after the massacre

Soon floral tributes, teddy bears, and heartfelt cards began to pile up from friends and strangers angry, shocked, and heartbroken by the murders

Soon floral tributes, teddy bears, and heartfelt cards began to pile up from friends and strangers angry, shocked, and heartbroken by the murders 

The couple met in 2013 while working in hospitality at the Sino Steel mine site on Cape Preston, in northwest Western Australia.

Ms Harvey had saved up her mining wages and bought several investment properties around Perth to make her financially secure.

The pair decided to settle down in the suburb of Bedford and she bought a Jim’s Mowing franchise so Mr Harvey wouldn’t have to get an unskilled labouring job.

Mr Harvey proposed a few months before Charlotte was born in February 2015 and at first was a proud dad.

However, Ms Harvey’s friends said the beaming smile he showed in a photo of him cradling the newborn soon faded.  

‘Anthony didn’t handle the responsibility of being the breadwinner well and hated that the baby took up so much time,’ one said.

Forensic police (C) and other officials remove a dead body from the crime site in Perth

Forensic police (C) and other officials remove a dead body from the crime site in Perth

‘He didn’t really want to be a dad.’ 

The situation got progressively worse but Ms Harvey thought another baby would bring them together, and she wanted a big family.

Beatrix and Alice were born in late 2016 and Mr Harvey did not react well to the unexpected arrival of two babies at once.

The family’s once-solid finances were also going downhill as the mowing business was slow and Ms Harvey took time off work to look after the children.

‘They had a big cushion as Mara saved a lot and was very frugal, but the babies were expensive and the business didn’t do well because he never wanted to work, and she had the baby to look after,’ friends said.

Ms Harvey controlled the finances to stop her husband wasting so much cash and handed him money every week.

He resented this, calling the weekly handout his ‘allowance’, and resorted to thieving money from her purse. 

By the last years of their marriage, friends claim he was drinking heavily and spending $300 a week on his marijuana and meth habit.

‘He was spending so much on drugs Mara’s mum had to buy them food,’ they said.

‘Mara’s mum was stressed as she spent her money on making sure the kids were fed and clothed.’

Ms Quinn was at the house almost every day to help with the children, and was murdered by Mr Harvey when she arrived the morning after her daughter and granddaughters were killed.

‘Anthony hated that Mara was getting help from her mum, and that her mum was there so much,’ friends said.

‘He didn’t like her family at all. Her family wasn’t fond of him so he accused them of ganging up on him.’

Mr Harvey became controlling and emotionally abusive, scrolling through his wife’s phone and insisting on coming with her whenever she went out.  

‘She was definitely afraid of him. He was an angry drunk and very unpredictable. She spent a lot of time soothing,’ friends said. 

Despite all this, neighbours never suspected anything was wrong as the couple seemed happy and sounds of the children playing filled the otherwise quiet street. 

From doting father to murderer: Timeline of Anthony Harvey’s case

2013: Mara Quinn and Anthony Harvey meet while working at the Sino Steel mine in Cape Preston, WA, and start a relationship

August 2014: The pair get engaged before marrying on November 4, 2015

February 4, 2015: Their first child Charlotte Harvey is born. The pair move into the house on Coode Street in Bedford Ms Harvey owned since 2008 and buy a Jim’s Mowing franchise

July 27, 2016: Twins Beatrix and Alice are born

January 2018: Ms Harvey puts a unit in Maylands on the market to make up for the lack of income from their struggling business

September 2, 2018: The family celebrates Father’s Day in their backyard

September 3: Harvey, a lawn-mower, sends two quotes to customers at 6.21pm and 6.37pm while at home with his three children

11pm: Ms Harvey arrives home from her nightfill shift at Coles and is killed by her husband, along with the children

September 4: Harvey kills Ms Harvey’s mother Beverley Quinn, 72, after she arrives at the home that morning. He had two jobs to do that day and the clients never complained they weren’t done

September 6: The last day neighbours remember Harvey’s white Isuzu ute being parked outside the house

September 9: Harvey hands himself in to the local police station in Pannawonica, a small mining town in northwest WA 15 hours drive away where he has family

September 9: Police arrived at the house after interviewing Harvey and find the five bodies

September 10: Harvey is charged with five counts of murder and appears in Perth Magistrates Court via videolink from Karratha

June 2019: Harvey pleads guilty to murder

July 2019: He is sentenced to life in jail with no chance of parole – he is the first person in Western Australia to ever receive the sentence 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk