The teenage girl murdered alongside her brother by her ‘selfish and cowardly’ father was the picture of innocence.
Jennifer Edwards, 13, was a year eight student who loved ice-skating and adored her pet rabbit, Oreo, an 18-month-old Netherlands dwarf.
She kept an Instagram account devoted to documenting the snowy bunny’s every move – including its friendship with her pet border collie Max.
Miss Edwards’ innocent childhood days – and those of her sports-mad brother Jack – were taken away from her by their John Edwards, 67, last Thursday afternoon.
Jennifer Edwards, 13, with her pet rabbit and ‘study bunny’ Oreo prior to her death
Jack (left), 15, and Jennifer Edwards, 13, were huddled together in a bedroom when their father killed them
Friends of Year 8 student Jennifer Edwards have remembered her for ‘always having a laugh’
The pair reportedly died in each others’ arms in a bedroom at their mother’s home in West Pennant Hills as they were killed by their father about 5.20pm.
In recent days, friends have focused on remembering the brother and sister for who they were – rather than the brutal circumstances of their death.
Jack played football with the Pennant Hills Demons and the Westbrook Juniors clubs in Sydney’s north-west.
He was in Year 10 at Pennant Hills High School.
A friend, Sean Allen, reportedly described him as ‘always kicking the ball around’.
Jennifer attended Gosford High on the state’s Central Coast.
‘She always had a laugh with us every day,’ her school friend Peggy told the Sunday Telegraph.
Miss Edwards, centre, was said to be passionate about iceskating
The teenage victim would tell friends how she would be woken by her pet rabbit (left and right) chewing through her headphones
The siblings’ grieving mother, solicitor Olga Edwards, has been swamped with loving memories of her children.
The mother of one of Jack’s closest friends said Jack was ‘like a brother’ to her devastated son.
‘Please know that Jack was so loved by (his friend),’ she wrote in a GoFundMe post.
‘Jack was like a brother… (His mate) is missing him so much and is devastated.
‘We are here for you…Your beautiful babies, Jack and Jennifer, will be forever remembered by us.’
Mrs Edwards and John Edwards were embroiled in a custody dispute before he killed the children.
The siblings were found dead at their mother’s home on Hull Road, in West Pennant Hills
Their father John Edwards was discovered with a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Normanhurst on Friday morning
Police scour the scene where the 68-year-old father’s body was found on Friday
Loved ones have almost unanimously shared a fundraising link raising money to support Mrs Edwards, who is bringing her mother from Russia to Australia.
The schools have offered counselling and support to students.
John, an accredited AMP financial planner, killed himself at his Normanhurst home on Friday morning.
It has been revealed that Mr Edwards was refused memberships by two pistol shooting clubs before he successfully signed up at a gun range in Sydney’s west.
He reportedly collected weapons from the St Mary’s indoor shooting range before killing his children and himself.
The gun range is cooperating with police, a spokesman said.
MURDER-SUICIDE IN WEST PENNANT HILLS: WHAT WE KNOW
Killer: John Edwards had been turned away from gun clubs just months before murdering his children
- About 5.20pm on Thursday, July 5, neighbours reported hearing gunshots at the Edwards household on Hull Rd, West Pennant Hills
- Police arrived at the home to find the bodies of Jennifer Edwards, 13, and her brother Jack, 15
- The siblings’ father, retired financial planner John Edwards, 67, fled to his home in nearby Normanhurst
- Police surrounded John’s home in Normanhurst in the early hours of Friday morning
- Neighbours woke to the sound of a police loudspeaker about 5.15am: ‘John Edwards… come to the front door with your hands up‘
- John’s body was found inside the home about 7am that morning
- His estranged wife Olga Edwards, 36, was treated for shock and was taken into the care of friends
- Police say the murder was premeditated and involved the use of two ‘quite powerful’ pistols that were legally acquired
- Police confirm Mrs Edwards and John had been embroiled in a custody dispute
- Mrs Edwards released photographs of her two children at the weekend as friends raised money to help her bring her mother to Australia from Russia
- NSW Police Minister Troy Grant is meeting Police Commissioner Mick Fuller to discuss what can be done to prevent a repetition of the brutal slaying
Sources: NSW Police Force, Australian Associated Press, Daily Mail Australia
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