Murdered mother-of-three Hannah Clarke told friends she was a ‘survivor not a victim’ in a gut-wrenching final Instagram post just days before her death.
The Brisbane mum, 31, was burned alive along with her three children in a massacre which rocked Australia, after suffering years of emotional, sexual and financial abuse.
Her estranged, abusive husband Rowan Charles Baxter set fire to the family car on Wednesday morning while Ms Clarke was taking the kids to school in Brisbane.
Despite heroic attempts by passersby, their children Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4, and Trey, 3, all died at the scene.
After finally breaking free from her evil husband, she said would ‘never let anyone mistreat her again’ and hoped her daughters would ‘grow up being strong women’.
Hannah Clarke (pictured with daughters Aaliyah and Laianah) made a final emotional post on Instagram after breaking free from her abusive husband
In the heartbreaking final Instagram post, Ms Clarke said she wanted her daughters to ‘grow up being strong women who understand their worth’
Ms Clarke had suffered at the hands of her abusive husband for more than 10 years, before finally leaving him in November.
Writing on social media during the new year period, she said: ‘I am a strong woman.
‘I don’t sit around feeling sorry for myself nor will I ever let anyone mistreat me again.
‘I don’t respond people who dictate to me or try to bring me down.
‘I am a survivor not a victim.
‘I am in control of my life and there’s nothing I can’t achieve.
‘My girls will grow up being strong women who understand their worth.’
Hannah Clarke and her three children were torched in their car on Wednesday morning by Rowan Baxter (all pictured together) who stabbed himself to death at the scene in Camp Hill
Aaliyah (left), 6, Laianah (right), 4, and Trey (centre), 3, were killed in a quadruple murder-suicide on Wednesday morning when their father set their car alight on their way to school
The shocking murder-suicide that has left Australia reeling unfolded just metres from the home of Ms Clarke’s parents on Raven Street, Camp Hill, as she drove her children to school
Friends revealed Ms Clarke was the victim of years of emotional, financial and sexual abuse.
On Friday morning, close friend Manja Whaley, who met the mum-of-three at a gym last year, said Baxter had even admitted threatening to kill his oldest child from a previous relationship.
He also threatened to harm their 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.
Ms Clarke was staying at her parents house in Camp Hill when she was ambushed by Baxter as she drove their three children to school.
Left: Hannah Clarke pictured with her ‘main man’, son Trey in a beach snap. Right: Mrs Baxter on her wedding with her husband
He dived into the car, doused them in petrol and set it ablaze, burning all four to death while stabbing himself in the chest until he died next to the car.
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.
On Thursday morning dozens of family and friends visited the scene of the tragedy to pay tribute to Ms Clarke
The Baxter children Laianah, four, and Aaliyah, six holding Trey, three
‘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 outlet.
‘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.’
Ms Clarke’s devastated parents Lloyd and Suzanne told Daily Mail Australia that although Baxter entered a downward spiral after she left him with the kids, he was always a menace.
Hannah Clarke was desperate to save her babies even when covered in flames with her skin melting off
They said Baxter was controlling and emotionally abusive from the start of their relationship 11 years ago – when their daughter was just 20 – and tried to isolate her from friends and family.
‘We always had misgivings about him,’ Mrs Clarke said as the couple stood next to a table with two framed photos of their daughter and her children either side of a bouquet of flowers.
‘He was always controlling, he ruined her relationship with everyone, even tried to get her away from us.’
Mourners pay their respects at a makeshift shrine near the scene. Mothers were seen kneeling by the flowers with children (pictured) in Camp Hill, Brisbane
Baxter’s New Years’ Day post: The killer brought in the new year with this post of his children in the shallows. ‘Goodnight ratbags always in my heart,’ it was captioned
‘We’d go down to the coast and if they turned up and saw us there, they would go to another beach.’
Baxter breached a domestic violence order weeks before he committed the quadruple murder-suicide.
He was due to face court again on April 8 after a magistrate ruled he was free to return home during his initial hearing on January 29.
Less than a month later, he would commit his unimaginable act of evil.
Manja Whaley shared this photo of Ms Clarke (centre in black next to her mother Suzanne) with her children and dog at the gym where she worked and ran a ‘Mums and bubs’ class. Bottom right is Manja Whaley with her children
Mr Clarke said few people knew what a monster Baxter really was because he was able to convince everyone he was ‘hard done by’ and that he was the good guy.
‘Rowan was very good at manipulating people into doing what he wanted, he could put the tears on in a pinch and make you feel sorry for him,’ she said.
Baxter, a New Zealand Warriors castoff, was occasionally allowed to see the children on weekends, but there was always tension, and even one assault, on drop offs and pickups.
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