Warning: This story contains graphic details and may be triggering to some readers.
Fifteen days into the trial of Lauren Dickason, the South African woman accused of murdering her three daughters, and details surrounding the events leading up to the events of September 16, 2021 have been unveiled in a High Court in Christchurch New Zealand.
Court proceedings were suspended after one of the 12 jurors fell ill on Friday, Stuff.NZ reported.
The shocking details have emerged in the past two weeks, and here is what we have learnt so far from the evidence presented before court:
– Father finds children dead in bed
On the evening of September 16, 2021, Graham Dickason returned home from a work function to find his three daughters, Lianè, 6, and two year-old twins Maya and Karla, dead in their beds.
Lauren Dickason allegedly killed the children, first by means of a cable tie but when that did not work, she used a blanket to smother them, the court heard.
– Mom pleads insanity
The mother of the kids, Lauren, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges by means of insanity and infanticide.
Lauren told the arresting officer, Detective Michael Kneebone, that she killed Karla first because she was being horrible to her.
“The first twin (Karla) was being really, really horrible to me lately… that’s why I did her first,” Lauren told Kneebone during an interview on September 17, 2021.
– Suicide attempt
After she was done with the children, Lauren took prescription medication in efforts to end her own life. According to evidence given by Timaru police Constable Alexandra Schrader, Lauren said she took tramadol, an opiate-based pain pill.
A urinary test conducted on Lauren on September 17, 2021, showed she had, in addition to tramadol, antidepressants, anti-anxiety and anti nausea medication in her system.
Upon entrance, Officer Schrader and William Turnbull saw the cut-open cable ties on the floor of the Dickason home on Queen Street, Timaru, the night Lauren called the police to the scene, the court heard.
“I asked what she had taken and it sounded like she replied ‘tramadol’,” Schrader told the court.
– History of depression
Lauren Dickason’s mother Wendy Fawkes has told the court that her daughter suffered from depression from a young age.
Lauren’s husband Graham and Fawkes both described how she struggled to cope with stress and anxiety before and after having children.
The court also heard how Lauren found it difficult to bond with her children and often felt like they did not appreciate her.
Lauren started having thoughts of wanting to hurt the children in South Africa, before the family emigrated to New Zealand.
Lauren had thoughts of wanting to kill the children a few days before they left South Africa, while in isolation at Graham’s mothers house.
The defence’s expert witness Dr Susan Hatters-Friedman concluded that at the time of the offence, Lauren was delusional and not capable of knowing it was wrong to kill her own children.
Lauren suffered from post-partum depression which played a major role in the incident, the expert witness explained.
By killing the children, Lauren was removing them from an unsafe environment, one she saw through her own depressed psychotic state, Hatters-Friedman told the court.
She interviewed Lauren 18 months after the time of offence.
But this was on the contrary, according to the prosecution’s expert witness, Dr Erik Monasterio.
Monasterio told the court Lauren was not “significantly cognitively impaired” at the time that she allegedly killed the three young children.
He said Lauren still had the ability to plan the family’s emigration details.
Monasterio concluded that no evidence supported the notion that Lauren could not, at the time of the offence, understand her actions and that it was wrong.
The trial is set to resume on Monday.
Are you or someone you know affected by mental health? If so here are some important numbers:
The SA Depression and Anxiety Group’s 24-hour mental health helpline: 080-045-6789.
The SA Federation for Mental Health: 011-781-1852.
IOL
