Cairns child killings

Last updated

Cairns child killings
Location Manoora, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Date1819 [1] December 2014
Attack type
Pedicide, mass stabbing, mass murder
WeaponsKnife or knives
Deaths8
Injured1 (the perpetrator)
PerpetratorRaina 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]

Contents

Victims

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]

Perpetrator

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, she is being held for treatment at the Park Centre for Mental Health. [13]

Aftermath

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]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Courier-Mail</i> Daily tabloid newspaper in Australia

The Courier-Mail is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner northern suburbs, and it is printed at Yandina on the Sunshine Coast. It is available for purchase both online and in paper form throughout Queensland and most regions of Northern New South Wales.

This is a timeline of major crimes in Australia.

HMAS <i>Manoora</i> (F48)

HMAS Manoora was an ocean liner that served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War II. She was built in Scotland in 1935 for the Cairns to Fremantle coastal passenger run for the Adelaide Steamship Company. She was requisitioned by the RAN for naval service in 1939. Manoora was initially converted into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC), operating primarily in Australian, New Guinea, and Pacific waters, with deployments to Singapore and the Bay of Bengal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darnley Island (Queensland)</span> Island in Queensland, Australia

Darnley Island or Erub in the native Papuan language, Meriam Mir, is an island formed by volcanic action and situated in the eastern section of the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the Torres Strait Islands and is located near the Great Barrier Reef and just south of the Bligh entrance. The town on the island is also called Darnley, but the locality is called Erub Island, both being within the local government area of Torres Strait Island Region. In the 2021 census, Erub Island had a population of 326 people, with 292 (89.6%) identifying as Indigenous Australians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Laurence's College</span> School in South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

St Laurence's College is an independent Catholic primary and secondary school for boys, located in South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Founded by the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1915. the school is a member of Edmund Rice Education Australia. As of 2021, the college had an enrolment of over 1913 students from Year 5 to Year 12. St Laurence's is affiliated with the Associated Independent Colleges sporting association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Joseph's College, Nudgee</span> School in Australia

St Joseph's Nudgee College is an independent Catholic primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys, located in Boondall, a northern suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

<i>Manunda</i> Australian ship

TSMV Manunda was an Australian registered and crewed passenger ship which was converted to a hospital ship in 1940. During the war Manunda saw service in both the Middle East and Pacific Campaigns, specifically New Guinea. She resumed her passenger duties after the war, before being sold to a Japanese company and finally broken up in 1957.

The 2012 Brisbane Broncos season was the 25th in the club's history. Coached by Anthony Griffin and captained by Sam Thaiday, they competed in the NRL's 2012 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season eighth to make it into the finals. The Broncos were then knocked out of contention in the first game of the finals against the North Queensland Cowboys. So began the Broncos' longest ever premiership drought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Aloysius Sheehy</span>

Sir Joseph Aloysius Sheehy KBE was an Australian jurist and Senior Puisne Judge of the Queensland Supreme Court. He also served as Administrator of the Government of Queensland in 1965 and 1969, and as Queensland's Lieutenant-Governor, Deputy Governor, Acting Governor and Acting Chief Justice on several occasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Peshawar school massacre</span> Terrorist attack in Peshawar, Pakistan

On 16 December 2014, six gunmen affiliated with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) conducted a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. The terrorists, all of whom were foreign nationals, comprising one Chechen, three Arabs and two Afghans, entered the school and opened fire on school staff and children, killing 149 people including 132 schoolchildren ranging between eight and eighteen years of age, making it the world's fifth deadliest school massacre. Pakistan launched a rescue operation undertaken by the Pakistan Army's Special Services Group (SSG) special forces, who killed all six terrorists and rescued 960 people. In the long term, Pakistan established the National Action Plan to crack down on terrorism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manoora, Queensland</span> Suburb of Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Manoora is a suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Manoora had a population of 6,175 people.

On 23 August 2016, Smail Ayad, a 29-year-old French national, carried out a stabbing attack at a backpackers' hostel in Home Hill, Queensland, Australia. The attack caused the death of two people and a dog, and left one person injured.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manunda, Queensland</span> Suburb of Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Manunda is a suburb of Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Manunda had a population of 5,191 people.

Criminal activity in Victoria, Australia is combated by the Victoria Police and the Victorian court system, while statistics about crime are managed by the Crime Statistics Agency. Modern Australian states and cities, including Victoria, have some of the lowest crime rates recorded globally with Australia ranked the 13th safest nation and Melbourne ranked the 5th safest city globally. As of September 2018 the CBD of Melbourne had the highest rate of overall criminal incidents in the state (15,949.9), followed by Latrobe (12,896.1) and Yarra (11,119.2). Rural areas have comparatively high crime rates, with towns such as Mildura (9,222.0) and Greater Shepparton (9,111.8) having some of the highest crime rates in the state.

Saibo Mabo was an Australian bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia. He served as an assistant bishop in the Anglican Diocese of North Queensland from 2002 to 2015, and as National Bishop to the Torres Strait Islander people during that time.

References

  1. "Cairns stabbings: Family of eight killed children visit memorial, attend church services". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 December 2014. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 Helsel, Phil (19 December 2014). "Eight Children Found Dead at Home in Cairns, Australia". NBC News. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  3. "Stabbings in Cairns, Australia leave 8 children dead, woman injured". CBC News. Associated Press. 18 December 2014. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  4. "Woman heard screaming for forgiveness before child massacre". The Courier Mail.
  5. 1 2 "Public funeral for Cairns kids on Saturday". Yahoo!7 News. 6 January 2015. Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  6. Peter Michael; Greg Stolz; Damon Guppy (22 December 2014). "Cairns child massacre accused found God, denounced technology". The Courier-Mail. News Limited. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  7. "Cairns stabbings: Family of eight killed children visit memorial, attend church services". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 December 2014. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 Jamie Walker; Sarah Elks (27 December 2014). "Cairns deaths: A 'good mum' who concealed her demons". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  9. "Cairns woman charged with murder of eight children: Bodies found in Manoora house". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 December 2014. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  10. Cameron Atfield (21 December 2014). "Family of Mersane Warria, mother in Cairns stabbing, speak out". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  11. Grace Uhr (30 December 2014). "Funeral plans confirmed for eight young victims of Cairns massacre". The Courier-Mail . Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  12. "Thaiday, Re [2017] QMHC 1 (6 April 2017)". Australian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  13. Kristian Silva (4 May 2017). "Cairns mother Raina Thaiday of unsound mind when she killed eight children, court rules". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  14. "Torres Strait Island Regional Council request cultural protocols in Cairns tragedy". National Indigenous Television . 20 December 2014. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  15. "Funeral plans confirmed for eight young victims of Cairns massacre". The Courier Mail. 30 December 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  16. "WARRIA, THAIDAY, WILLIE". tributes.couriermail.com.au. Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  17. Michael, Peter (18 December 2015). "Cairns child massacre victims to be honoured on anniversary of their death with tree planting". Courier Mail. Retrieved 28 December 2015.