Former NRL star Rowan Baxter was a fun-loving father who was always showering his three young children with love an affection.
The fitness coach was often seen playing with his kids; Aaliyah, Laianah, and Trey. His Facebook page was filled adorable posts dedicated to his children.
‘T-R-E-Y, love you to the moon and back,’ he posted six days ago.
‘Goodnight my babies, Daddy loves you,’ he posted a month ago.
But behind the smiling pictures, a darkness was brewing.
The fitness coach was often seen playing with his kids; Aaliyah, Laianah, and Trey. His Facebook page was filled adorable posts dedicated to his children
Former NRL star Rowan Baxter appeared to be a fun-loving father who was always showering his three young children with love an affection
‘T-R-E-Y, love you to the moon and back,’ he posted six days ago
Baxter is believed to have poured petrol on himself, his wife and three children before setting them alight on Wednesday morning.
Baxter and the children all died in the white Kia SUV at Camp Hill, in Brisbane’s south east, about 8.20am on Tuesday.
His wife Hannah managed to escape the car but suffered serious burns and is fighting for her life in hospital.
Baxter, an ex New Zealand Warriors player, is believed to have stabbed himself with a knife during the horrific attack on his family.
To the outside world they were a happy family but Baxter and his wife had been separated for months.
Family friend Joey Abraham told Daily Mail Australia Baxter had been denied access to his kids months earlier after his wife left him for another man.
‘Rowan was in a real bad place there for a bit because of the separation.
‘He was struggling.
Touching posts about his children filled Rowan Baxter’s Facebook page
To the outside world they were a happy family but Baxter and his wife had been separated for months
Baxter flooded his Facebook site with photos and videos of his children, describing them as ‘my world’
Raven Street, in Brisbane’s south, is in a quiet neighbourhood filled with many families and elderly residents
‘He was going through depression, it wasn’t so much his partner leaving him as much as access cut to the kids was the hardest thing for him to deal with.
‘He wasn’t coping at all.’
He was in disbelief about how they had died.
Baxter was a good dad who adored his children, Mr Abraham said.
‘They were his life.
‘If you knew Rowan when he at his best and to see him like last week then you know how far he’d fallen. He was just a shadow of the person he used to be.
Rowan Baxter would often post videos where he was playing with his children
‘I don’t understand…to me it’s just a tragedy I guess not seeing them has just driven him crazy.’
The couple recently shut down the business they ran together, Integr8 Fitness.
On December 30, Baxter posted a photo of his three children saying ‘I miss you all’ .
Friends were clearly concerned.
Mr Abraham wrote to Baxter four days ago: ‘Chin up brother everything will work out just hang in there my bro.
What began as a quiet Wednesday morning will forever be carved in the minds of the residents of Raven Street
Police, firefighters and paramedics swarmed Raven St, in Camp Hill, in the city’s south-east, after a white car with five people inside burst into flames
‘A lot of people care about you and the situation your facing (sic).’
The pair had known each other for almost 10 years. Mr Abraham’s daughter did weightlifting at the couple’s gym and Mr Abraham had been a fan of Baxter when he played for the Warriors.
The Courier-Mail reported that Queensland police were called to a family violence incident allegedly involving the couple in January.
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