Man burns his three young children and wife alive by setting their car on fire before stabbing himself to death
A former rugby player set fire to his estranged wife's car while she and their three children were still inside before killing himself by stabbing himself in the chest with a knife, on February 19.
Rowan Charles Baxter, 42, formerly a player for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League, killed his three children, Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4, and Trey, 3, when he doused his wife Hannah's white Kia Sportage with petrol and set it on fire. Hannah, 31, who managed to get out of the flames, however, succumbed to her burns at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital early.
The horrific incident unfolded at Camp Hill, in Brisbane's southeast, at around 8.20 am after Baxter reportedly jumped into the SUV as his wife strapped their children into the vehicle in preparation to drop them off at school.
The car was parked down the road from the parents' home, and by the time neighbors realized what was happening, it was already too late for the children.
Neighbors in the area reported hearing an explosion that sounded like a "gas bottle" blast, following which there were four more explosions. The car rolled after the initial blast, and young tradesmen at a building site down the road rushed to the scene with timber to help put out the fire.
"I thought something had landed on my roof, it was like BANG - I could feel the vibration," said Wendy Antoniou, who lives several houses up the street. "I came around the side window - well, I nearly bloody died. The fire brigade was everywhere, ambulances were everywhere. First of all, I couldn't even see the flames - then I could see all these flames high in the air!"
Witnesses said they heard Hannah screaming, "He's poured petrol on me" as they tried to douse the fire with a hose.
Baxter, who was still alive at this point and was watching on, returned to the car to salvage a knife and stabbed fatally stabbed himself in the chest.
Aaron Snell, another neighbor, revealed that Baxter had attempted to stop rescuers from reaching his children during his final moments. "He was so angry and just going absolutely crazy. It appeared like he wanted [the car] to burn," he said.
Baxter and Hannah had split from each other late last year and shut down the business they ran together, Integr8 Fitness, based at Capalaba. Their relationship had deteriorated since then, and Baxter's friend Joey Abraham told the Mail the former rugby player had not been doing too well.
"Rowan was in a real bad place there for a bit because of the separation," he said. "If you knew Rowan when he was 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. It's just unbelievable that he could do this. They were beautiful kids, they were a beautiful family."