The Dickason siblings murdered by their mother in Timaru in New Zealand. Picture: Facebook
Members of a New Zealand jury in the murder trial of three South African children smothered to death by their mother Lauren Dickason on Tuesday watched a confession tape taken by police hours after the triple murder.
43-year-old Dickason faces three counts of murder for smothering and strangling her three small daughters Liané, 6, and 2-year-old twins Maya and Karla, with cable ties in September 2021.
Their father, Graham, discovered his daughter’s bodies after returning home from a work dinner.
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She has pleaded not guilty to murder because of insanity and infanticide. While acknowledging Lauren suffered from sometimes serious depression, the state prosecutor alleged she killed them “methodically and purposefully, perhaps even clinically”.
Last week, the high court sitting in Christchurch heard Crown Prosecutor Andrew McRae describe Dickason as an angry and frustrated woman who was “resentful of how the children stood in the way of her relationship with her husband”.
The defence argued she was “very unwell” and, while her friends and family were worried about her, no one knew the extent of her mental state until it was too late.
The New Zealand Herald reports Lauren’s defence counsel questioned whether it was appropriate for police to interview the mother of three a day after the triple murder due to her mental state at the time.
But detectives have argued Lauren had been medically cleared to talk to them.
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The detective who interviewed Lauren described the mother-the-three as “an articulate woman who was polite” and willingly engaged with police.
“She was quietly spoken but maintained eye contact and understood what was happening to her.”
The confession video interview spans about an hour, but some elements were suppressed.
She first detailed the “overwhelming” immigration process, saying the requests from the family’s immigration advisor the morning the girls died had exacerbated her stress.
The advisor had been seeking further information about Dickason’s mental health history and the treatment of Karla’s cleft lip.
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“Just getting on the aeroplane was enough of an effort; there was so much paperwork to be done, and then there were the two weeks in MIQ, which almost had us crazy.
“Something just snapped last night.”
She killed the girls about 20 minutes after her husband Graham left home to attend a work function.
“Basically, the kids were being wild again, jumping on the couches, not listening to what I’m trying to tell them…”
“I have been thinking about it for sure… last night, something just triggered me.
“I went to the garage, I saw some cable ties there. I thought that could possibly work.
ALSO READ: ‘Loving mother’ Lauren Dickason tucked children in with soft toys after killing them – lawyer
Lauren killed two-year-old Karla first.
“I did the twins first… The first one was being really, really, really horrible to me lately,” she explained.
“She has been biting me, hitting me, scratching me, and throwing tantrums 24 hours a day. I just don’t know how to manage that. That is why I did her first”.
When she knew the girls were dead, she “tucked them up” and pulled the blanket over their heads.
She then decided to “do something” with herself, detailing how she ran through the house but none of the knives were sharp enough.
“Then I just started drinking the medication that I could find. I wanted to die.”
As the video was played for the jury, Lauren sat in court with her head in her hands and wept at times.
Her parents were also reportedly in the public gallery.
ALSO READ: ‘I loved them like my own’, says former nanny of SA children murdered in NZ
During the taped confession, Lauren referred to her daughters in the present tense, even though they are now dead.
She described Liané as a dreamer and Maya as a happy-go-lucky “fruitcake”, but her troubles with Karla were clear.
Lauren said Karla was often problematic with her tantrums and had a biting habit.
She described how parenting changed her relationship with her husband and “rock”, and never feeling instantaneous love for her daughters.
“I think there was something wrong with me for not feeling that – and I did my best that I could.”
The trial continues.
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