Cairns child killings | |
---|---|
Location | Manoora, Cairns, Queensland, Australia |
Date | 18–19 [1] December 2014 |
Attack type | Pedicide, mass stabbing, mass murder |
Weapons | Knife or knives |
Deaths | 8 |
Injured | 1 (the perpetrator) |
Perpetrator | Raina Mersane Ina Thaiday |
On 19 December 2014, at 11:20 a.m., police were called to 34 Murray Street in the Cairns suburb of Manoora in Australia, where eight children were found dead. [2] The victims were aged between 18 months and 14 years. [2] The bodies, with stab wounds, were discovered by the children's 20-year-old brother. [3] Neighbours reported that fighting could be heard from the house the night before and in the early hours of the morning. [4]
Eight children were killed: four boys and four girls, ranging in age from two to 14 years old. [5] Seven of the eight were siblings or half-siblings, and the eighth was their cousin. Their family had ties across Australia, including in Perth. [6]
Raina Mersane Ina Thaiday, also called Mersane Warria, was the mother of seven of the children and also the aunt of the eighth. Following the killings, she was hospitalised for self-inflicted [7] wounds from the incident.
Thaiday is alleged to have said to her eldest son, "I've killed them," when he visited the house at around 11:00 a.m. [8] Police believe Thaiday drugged the children before the attack took place, as no one reported that they heard the victims during the attack. However, no drugs were found at the crime scene. [8]
On 21 December 2014, she was charged with eight counts of murder. [9] [8] [10] Prior to Christmas, Thaiday was moved to a mental health facility in Brisbane, with a preliminary hearing to occur in Cairns on 30 January 2015. [11] In April 2017, Queensland's Mental Health Court ruled that Thaiday was of "unsound mind" at the time of the killings, and thus (under Queensland law) not criminally responsible. [12] As of May 2017 [update] , she is being held for treatment at the Park Centre for Mental Health. [13]
The Torres Strait Island Regional Council requested respect for privacy and cultural responsibilities, adding it was inappropriate to comment due to "strict cultural protocols". [14] The children's funeral was held on 10 January 2015 at Cairns Convention Centre. [5] [15] [16] The house was removed. Eight frangipani trees were planted on the site as a memorial. [17]
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This is a timeline of major crimes in Australia.
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Manoora is a suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Manoora had a population of 6,175 people.
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