Mother is charged with the murder of twin two-year-old girls and their sister, 6, who were found dead in the family home just days after finishing hotel quarantine
- Mother charged with the murder of her three young daughters on Friday
- Childrens’ bodies were found by their father in New Zealand’s South Island
- Six-year-old girl and two-year-old twin sisters found in home in Timaru
- Woman rushed to hospital in stable condition; suspected of killing girls
The mother of three young girls who were found dead just days after the family finished hotel quarantine has been charged with their murder.
Lauren Dickason, 40, has been accused of killing two-year-old twins, Maya and Karla, and their six-year-old sister Liane at a home in Timaru, on Thursday.
She is due to appear in the Timaru District Court on Saturday.
The family had just relocated from South-Africa in order to start a new life and had just finished their 14-day hotel quarantine stay when the tragedy unfolded.
The childrens’ father Graham had returned to their Timaru home when he discovered the bodies on Friday
A neighbour reported hearing someone ‘wailing’ outside the property 15 minutes before police arrived after the bodies were reportedly discovered by Lauren’s husband Graham shortly before 10pm local time.
‘The first noise we heard was somebody sobbing, and then we heard a loud thud like someone just slammed a door,’ the neighbour Jade Whaley told Stuff.
‘We could see someone through our fence wandering behind the house and wailing.’
Three young children have been found dead in a home on Queen Street in Timaru on New Zealand’s South Island just days after their family finished hotel quarantine
Another resident Karen Cowper described hearing a man crying and saying ‘is this really happening?’ just after 10pm on Thursday night.
‘We asked him if he was OK. He did not respond to us and was screaming and crying hysterically,’ Ms Cowper said.
The family had recently arrived in NZ from South Africa and had only been in the town for a week.
Both Lauren and Graham are understood to be doctors.
Canterbury Police District Commander Superintendent John Price said the family appeared to have few contacts in New Zealand.
Lauren Dickason and her husband Graham are both believed to be doctors
Ms Dickason was rushed to hospital on Friday but has since been charged with the murder of her three young daughters
The mother had earlier this month asked for help preparing for the move on social media.
She had asked for advice about buying furniture in Timaru and wanted to know schools would be best for her children.
Detective Inspector Scott Anderson said NZ Police was ‘speaking with people from the address and no-one else is being sought at this time’.
The deaths are the second tragedy in as many months to befall the South Island community.
Last month, five teenage boys were killed in a one-car crash in which only the 19-year-old driver survived.
That crash was the South Island’s worst car accident in a number of years.
Emergency crews discovered the grisly scene after they were called to the home on Queen Street about 10pm