A father who died in a house fire with his wife and six-year-old son told his family ‘we’ll probably all go together’ before they perished in the blaze.
The bodies of Adriana Nunes, 41, Tiago Nunes, 30, and their son, who was also called Tiago, six, were found huddled together in a bed at their home on January 24 last year.
Today a coroner ruled Tiago Jr, also known as Tito, died as the result of unlawful killing, but could not decide on the fate of his parents.
At the inquest at Surrey Coroners Court Mr Nunes’ sister Manuela gave a chilling account of how her sister-in-law had attempted suicide before.
After her husband found her self-harming and in a state of depression, he told his family the three would ‘probably all go together’ if anything did happen to her.
Adriana Nunes (pictured) and her son Tiago (right) died along with his father, also called Tiago, when their house in Reigate, Surrey was set on fire in January last year
The triple inquest was told Mr Nunes had access to cans of petrol and diesel at their isolated farm cottage and during the night one of the containers was taken inside the house.
Forensic evidence given to the coroner in Woking described how petrol had been sprinkled around the bedroom as little Tito slept on the bed and was then set on fire.
Mrs Nunes had been battling depression and was the mother of a another child in Chile her ex-partner did not allow her to see. The estranged daughter killed herself aged 16.
Manuela Nunes told the court her brother, a gardener, was heavily in debt at the time of his death and how his wife had attempted self harm.
She said: ‘Tiago had told me once that if something ever happened to Adriana he wouldn’t have the will to live and they would probably all go together.’
Ms Nunes added her sister-in-law ‘felt guilty about leaving her daughter behind’ and had taken an overdose previously.
The bodies of Adriana Nunes, 41, Tiago Nunes, 30, and their son, who was also called Tiago, six, (pictured) were found huddled together in the bedroom at their home on January 24 2017
She added: ‘Adriana called me many times to say she hadn’t the will to live any more.
‘I would always try to encourage her and tell her that God had given her another chance to be a mother so take the chance and do the best you can, and you’re a great mum.’
Mr and Mrs Nunes had settled in Reigate and had young Tito.
They all lived together in the now destroyed, rented farmhouse in Trumpet Hill Road.
After their deaths a Just Giving website page was set up to raise money to send the three bodies back to their native Portugal.
Their home burned all night unnoticed, with neighbours hearing a faint explosion and seeing a glow at around 1.38am.
It was only when Mr Nunes’ boss, farmer Adrian Smart, realised he had not turned up to work, that the alarm was raised.
Mrs Nunes worked as a cleaner at North Downs Primary School where her son went.
Today a coroner ruled Tiago Jr, also known as Tito, died as the result of unlawful killing, but they could not decide on the fate of his parents. Pictured is their home after the devastating fire
Today’s inquest was told of how petrol was sprinkled around the bedroom as Tiago Jnr and Adriana slept in the bed and Tiago Snr on the floor next to it
Mr Smart told the hearing he didn’t immediately notice something was seriously wrong when he went to check on the farmhouse at 11am.
He said: ‘Because the walls were standing it took me a moment or two to realise there wasn’t a roof.
‘I went in through the front door and to the bedroom where they slept.
‘I saw a charred bed but I didn’t see any body parts, and I actually clung to the belief, somehow or another, that somehow they got out.’
Two five-litre white jerry cans containing petrol and diesel were secured in a locked and alarmed shed, which Mr Nunes had access to, the inquest was told.
But when police asked Mr Smart to check their contents he found one of the cans was empty.
A fire investigation found the force of the blast heard by neighbours was so great the window was blasted 20ft away from the house.
Surrey Fire and Rescue fire investigator Paul Risbridger said petrol had been detected in three different areas of the bedroom.
He said: ‘We concluded the cause of the fire was deliberate ignition of petrol vapour.
After Mr Nunes found his wife (pictured together) self-harming and in a state of depression, he told his family the three would ‘probably all go together’ if anything did happen to her
‘The fact there was petrol in the bedroom while there are people in the bedroom where there is no reason for petrol to be there, there was no other cause to the fire.’
The remains of light green Jerry can were also found in the kitchen.
Detective Chief Inspector Paddy Mayers, of Surrey Police, said that the force found Tito was asleep next to his mother at the time of the explosion, with his father’s body found on the floor next to it.
‘The conclusion was the fire was ignited from within the room and whoever caused or ignited that fire was in that room, and if there was a third party they would have been killed at the time of that explosion,’ he said.
Delivering his conclusion, assistant coroner Christopher Sutton-Mattocks found the six-year-old had been unlawfully killed and recorded open verdicts for Mr and Mrs Nunes.
He told the court: ‘Someone in the family poured petrol in the bedroom and ignited it, quite why will never become clear.
‘I agree with the police’s evidence of ruling Tiago Jr out.
At the inquest at Surrey Coroners Court Mr Nunes’ sister Manuela gave a chilling account of how her sister-in-law (pictured with her son) had attempted suicide before
‘He’d have to get out of bed, go fetch the petrol and poured it without either parent stopping him doing so. I reject that as a possibility.
‘He was only six-years-old and he could not be party in any joint decision, even if he had been, on the account of his age.
‘For Tiago and Adriana, I am unable to reach any conclusion which of the two of them ignited it and caused the explosion.’
In a statement after the hearing, the Nunes family said it was difficult for them to understand what happened that terrible day.
It read: ‘Even after today we still have many questions that are simply unable to ever be answered and sadly we are told we will have to forever suffer the torment of never knowing for sure.
‘Their passing leaves us all with a huge hole in our hearts that will never heal.
They are, and always will be, missed so much. We ask that we be left to grieve for our loved ones in peace and that our privacy be respected during this incredibly difficult time.’