Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Dad abducts and kills 5-year-old daughter; also killed her mother and another man (Queensland, Australia)

This time the triple killer was PAUL ANTHONY ROGERS. At least nobody's saying what a "nice" guy he was....

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/police-reveal-details-of-triple-murder-suicide-at-gold-coast-and-nsw/story-e6frg6nf-1226057449985

Police reveal details of triple-murder-suicide at Gold Coast and NSW

Jared Owens From: The Australian May 17, 2011 12:12PM

NSW police are investigating whether the father of five-year-old Kyla Rogers ingested some form of poison before he gassed them both in a car.

A FIVE-year-old girl may have slept through a double-murder before being killed by her father hours later in an apparent triple-murder-suicide, police said today.

A taskforce of police from two states will investigate the abduction and murder of five-year-old Kyla Rogers, as well as the slayings her her mother Tania Simpson and another man, Antony Way.

Queensland police said the pair had been stabbed.

Kyla's body was last night found alongside the body of her father in a car outside the northern NSW town of Casino.

The 40-year-old father, Paul Anthony Rogers, had apparently gassed the pair.

Police initially believed two children were missing, but Kyla's 20-month baby brother was later found safe and well after spending the night with his grandparents.

Police have since revealed Rogers and the mother, Tania Simpson, had been planning to marry but recently separated after an eight-year relationship.

Ms Simpson moved to the Gold Coast recently to start a new life.

Queensland Police acting regional crime co-ordinator Inspector Tim Trezise said police were "gutted" at her death.

"It's just a waste, all these people dying, but particularly an innocent child like this one," he said on the Gold Coast.

It is not clear whether Ms Simpson and New Zealander Mr Way were romantically involved.

Mr Trezise said evidence found at the unit indicated Kayla may have slept through the double murder.

Police reported finding the 2006 model silver-coloured Holden Viva with the two bodies under the Piora Bridge, near Casino, shortly after 9.30pm.

The local area commander at Richmond in northern NSW, Superintendent Greg Martin, would not say whether Rogers left a note before dying in the car with his daughter.

"It's probably improper that I flush out all of the details of the investigation through the media when it's the coroner that should be finding all this out first," Supt Martin said.

But he said Kayla would most certainly have died first.

He would not rule out reports that Rogers had poisoned himself by some additional means, before connecting the vehicle's exhaust pipe to the inside of the car.

"That's obviously one of our lines of inquiry," he said.

"Because of the physical size of the child, we believe she succumbed to the gas poisoning whereas there's some evidence at the scene that the adult male hadn't quite as quickly succumbed."

Supt Martin said the unleading of petrol since the mid-1980s had made exhaust-fume poisoning a less effective method of suicide.

"The amount of carbon monoxide they produce is significantly less than the old leaded petrol cars," he said.

"In my experience, you could be dead in about 12 to 15 minutes from the old cars.

"But with the new cars it's pretty hard to kill yourself with carbon monoxide poisoning, particularly as a large adult."

The bodies of all four people involved in the tragedy will undergo autopsies in Brisbane to determine the exact causes of death.

The search for Kyla began after the bodies of her mother, Tania Simpson, and a man believed to be her partner were found in a unit at Robina on the Gold Coast about 8am on Monday.

Police initially believed two children were missing, but her younger brother was later found safe and well after spending the night with his grandparents.

"Luckily the 20-month-old child is still alive and wasn't there at the time," Supt Martin said.

Supt Martin said the Holden Viva was first spotted about 10.30am yesterday by at least two passing motorist but no one came forward until 7.30pm.

Once police were alerted to Kyla's disappearance, a media blitz ensued to help with their search.

"It's a bit early to speculate on the actual time of death but we would think that it wouldn't be long after the vehicle was first seen," Supt Martin said.

"It may not have really mattered the fact that we couldn't find the car when we first looked for it yesterday morning."

The inside of the vehicle was covered in soot, which will make the investigation more difficult to determine what happened in the lead-up to Kayla and her father's death.

"It's obviously a desperate act of a desperate individual and who knows how their mind was working at the time," Supt Martin said.

"But I can't understand how someone can do that as a father, it's beyond me."

Police are preparing a report for the coroner.