A Sydney father hired a boat several times in the week before he threw his six-year-old daughter overboard, drowning himself and the girl in the Parramatta River in what police believe was a carefully planned murder-suicide.
CCTV cameras at a waterfront property captured the man, who cannot be legally identified, throwing the six-year-old overboard and watching her struggle before jumping into the river himself, police sources with knowledge of the investigation told the Herald. Neither could swim.
The pair’s bodies were retrieved from waters off Bayview Park at Concord on Saturday, hours after the 47-year-old told friends he intended to kill himself and his daughter.
Police officers, responding to a Triple Zero call about a man floating facedown in the river, commandeered a boat to retrieve the man’s body from the water just before midday Saturday and began a desperate search for the six-year-old.
About 45 minutes later, one of the man’s friends called police raising concerns about the 47-year-old and his daughter’s welfare after receiving messages about the father’s plans.
The man hired the boat from Cabarita Point, at the entrance to Hen and Chicken Bay, on Saturday morning. He had hired a boat several times last week to travel around the bay, including once with his wife. Investigators believe the man used the trips to plan the murder-suicide.
After identifying the location the six-year-old was thrown into the water using the footage from the waterfront property, police divers plotted a path to locate the girl’s body. Having scoured the water for almost seven hours, divers found the girl’s body on the riverbed.
The 47-year-old was not known to police and did not have a known history of domestic violence. The girl’s distraught mother has given a statement to detectives and is assisting with inquiries. She is not accused of any wrongdoing.
“It would rock any mother to the core,” Superintendent Christine McDonald said on Saturday.
“This is an absolute tragedy for the family and the community on every level.”
The girl’s death comes less than a month after a western Sydney man allegedly killed his wife and two autistic sons in what detectives allege was a meticulously planned unrelated triple murder. Like the 47-year-old, he was not known to police and did not have a known history of domestic violence.
If you or anyone you know needs help, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 (and see lifeline.org.au), national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800.
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