A fitness trainer who was burned to death with her three children by her ‘monster’ husband suffered 10 years of emotional, financial and sexual abuse, a friend has revealed.
Hannah Clarke and her three children were torched in their car on Wednesday morning by NRL reject Rowan Baxter who stabbed himself to death at the scene in Camp Hill, Brisbane.
On Friday morning her friend Manja Whaley, who met Ms Clarke at the gym last year, revealed the mother had been abused throughout her relationship.
Speaking on the Today show, Ms Whaley also told how Baxter once admitted threatening to kill his oldest child from a previous relationship in comments which spooked Ms Clarke.
He also threatened to harm her children if she refused to have sex with him, and wouldn’t let her wear shorts to the gym in case she attracted other men.
Hannah Clarke and her three children were torched in their car on Wednesday morning by former NRL player Rowan Baxter (all pictured together) who stabbed himself to death at the scene in Camp Hill, Brisbane
On Friday morning her friend Manja Whaley (pictured) revealed that Ms Clarke had been abused throughout her relationship
The friend said Ms Clarke did not believe she was in a domestic violence relationship because she had never been hit.
‘I work in domestic violence… so when she first confided in me we spoke about the violence and for such a long time she didn’t believe she was in a domestic violence relationship,’ Ms Whaley said.
‘It hadn’t crossed her mind, because as she said to me, her words, “he didn’t hit me”.’
‘I then started unpacking with her the emotional abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse, and she had experienced all of those.
‘And some of the things that she would explain was this excessive control of Rowan, the sexual abuse daily, and if she didn’t have sex with him, he would punish not only her but also the children.
‘She wouldn’t be allowed to go to the gym which was not only her passion but her out let.
‘There was the checking of her accounts on Facebook, the accusations of her cheating, if she was having messages with males, even males he knew through the gym, he would accuse her of being flirtatious.
Left: Hannah Clarke pictured with her ‘main man’, son Trey in a beach snap. Right: Ms Clarke on her wedding day with her husband
Grim aftermath: A burnt-out Kia Sportage is seen on Raven Street where Rowan Baxter murdered his three children and estranged wife by dousing them in petrol and setting them alight
Ms Whaley also revealed that Baxter would make comments about Ms Clarke’s physical appearance.
‘She would get dressed and she would be picking up her clothes, and he would say things to her like “look at your stomach, that’s just disgusting”. You know, the list goes on.
‘She would always come to the gym in tights, and I once asked her about it and, yeah, he didn’t like her wearing shorts because she would be promiscuous.
‘So, it was all of that. Just that control and manipulation, threats, and, yeah, just threats to punish, not only her but also her children.
Ms Whaley, who was a domestic violence worker for 10 years, also revealed a terrifying comment that Baxter made to Ms Clarke about a previous relationship with the mother of his first child.
She said: ‘Still something Hannah said stuck to her mind is that he said to his previous partner that if she was to leave him, and with his child, he would take the child and kill himself and kill the child.
‘He never followed through, but there are these threats, you know, things that they say. It is just dangerous.’
On Thursday morning dozens of family and friends visited the scene of the tragedy to pay tribute to Ms Clarke
According to Ms Whaley, who said she has worked in the domestic violence sector 10 years, Ms Clarke left Baxter on December 5.
‘My hope is that people are more aware of domestic violence… just because you haven’t been beaten doesn’t mean that there is no domestic violence,’ she said.
The death of Ms Clarke and her children has sparked an outpouring of grief and anger on social media and has been noted by Queensland Police.
‘Our investigations have shown us quite clearly that there is a palpable sense of grief and mourning amongst the community,’ Detective Inspector Mark Thompson said.
Ms Clarke, 31, was setting out on the school run when her estranged husband approached their SUV and sat in the passenger seat.
Exactly what happened next is still being investigated, but a witness reported Ms Clarke jumped out of the car on fire in Raven Street, exclaiming ‘he’s poured petrol on me’.
The children, who were strapped into the back seat, perished in the flames. Baxter is believed to have died from wounds self-inflicted with a knife.
Queensland Police have revealed Ms Clarke and Mr Baxter had been previously referred to support services, and police had received reports of domestic violence within the family over several months.
A Brisbane court granted at least one domestic violence order against Mr Baxter.
Aaliyah (left), six, Laianah (right), four, and Trey (centre), three, were killed in a quadruple murder-suicide on Wednesday morning when their father set their car alight on their way to school