Perth ‘murders’: Man accused of killing five family members

A man has been charged with murdering his wife, three young children and their grandmother at a house in Western Australia (WA).

The bodies of Mara Lee Harvey, 41, two-year-old twins Alice and Beatrix, three-year-old Charlotte, and Beverley Quinn, 73, were discovered by police in Perth on Sunday.

Anthony Robert Harvey, 24, was charged with five counts of murder on Monday.

The deaths were caused by “a blunt instrument and knives”, police said.

WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said it was believed that Mrs Harvey and the children had died at home, in the suburb of Bedford, on 3 September.

Mrs Quinn was killed after going to the house the next day, Mr Dawson said.

Police allege that Mr Harvey remained in the house for “some days” before attending a police station in Pannawonica, about 1,430km (900 miles) north of Perth, on Sunday. They would not give further details.

Deputy Premier Roger Cook said: “Our heart goes out to the family and friends of all involved and also to the first responders who had to witness that horrible situation.

“I want everyone just to hug their kids, hug their family today.”

It is the third suspected mass murder that has taken place in Western Australia this year.

In July, a 19-year-old man was charged with the murders of two children and their mother in another Perth suburb, Ellenbrook.

Two months before that, seven people were found dead at a rural property in Osmington, 280km (170 miles) south of Perth, in the country’s worst mass shooting since 1996.

Source: BBC News