Former Rugby League Player Rowan Baxter, his wife Hannah Baxter, and his three young children were reportedly died after being killed in a car fire in Brisbane, Australia, early this morning. According to multiple Australian news websites, the ex-rugby player was the alleged suspect of killing his family.
Ex-rugby player Rowan Baxter murdered three young children and wife by flaming their vehicle
According to the investigation, on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at around 8:30 AM local time, police authorities were called at the crime of the scene at Brisbane wherein they found the dead bodies of Rowan Baxter, 42, and his three children Laianah, Aaliyah and Trey-- ages between six and three.
The children were found dead inside the vehicle while authorities tried to revive the father. However, emergency personnel failed, and Rowan was also declared dead around the time. Some reports said that Rowan had self-inflicted wounds on his body when they found his it inside the vehicle.
Meanwhile, Rowan's wife, Hannah Baxter, 31, was then delivered to the hospital but died later due to severe burns. Before Hannah was declared dead, she accused her husband of 'pouring petrol on her' while she tried to get away from the burning vehicle.
Authorities said that Hannah was the one driving the car while Rowan was sitting on the passenger's seat when the alleged 'accident' happened.
Brother of Hannah said that Rowan is a 'monster'
The Australian news site reported that Rowan has been abusing his family. Before the said accident, the brother of Hannah Baxter, Nat Clarke, posted on his Facebook account that his brother-in-law was a 'heartless monster' towards his family.
"Yesterday ... I had my sister, nephew, and two nieces taken from me in the worst way possible by a heartless monster they called (their) dad, former NRL player Rowan Baxter," Mr. Clarke wrote on Facebook.
This sparked the idea that Rowan was a suspect of 'domestic violence' against his wife and children-- which now resulted in his action of suicide with his entire family.
Investigations are still ongoing
Brisbane authorities said that it's too early to speculate that Rowan did purposely alighted their family vehicle.
"How the fire actually occurred has not been ascertained at the moment, so for us to call it a murder-suicide or a tragic accident, it's inappropriate at this stage," Detective Inspector Mark Thompson said.
Watch: A video from NZ Herald shows Rowan Baxter's daughter filming herself on her mother's phone just over a year ago. The girl says in the video that she misses her father.
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