Sally Davis and her mother Trish Lambourne died in the murder-suicide Edwardstown house fire
Trish Lambourne and daughter Sally Davis lived together and shared controversial views. Police now have to find out why Davis stabbed her mum and set fire to their home, killing them both.
SA News
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Like many mothers and daughters, Trish Lambourne and Sally Davis shared a number of things.
They shared controversial political views, they shared a home and they shared much of their lives.
But on Monday morning, that ended when Ms Davis stabbed her own mother to death in their home before setting it alight in what is understood to be a murder-suicide. Police are now trying to unravel what led to the incident that has rocked the local community.
Just after 5am, residents of Emerald St, Edwardstown, were woken by the sounds of exploding windows and screeching sirens.
Unbeknown to them, inside the community housing property a horrific incident had unfolded.
Ms Davis, 41, is understood to have stabbed Ms Lambourne with a knife, which was found by first responders after they arrived to battle the blaze that tore through the home.
Major Crime detectives spent Monday morning combing through the charred property trying to piece together what had taken place. Both women’s bodies were removed from the home about noon and a police cordon was removed shortly after.
It is understood Ms Davis had a mental health condition.
A social media post from October 2021 shows Ms Davis and her mother posing in a bathroom mirror wearing matching T-shirts with the words “it is against my religion to wear a mask or get a jab against my will” on the front.
The words “I believe in God not government” were written on the back.
In the biography of the social media account where the photos were posted, Sally Davis is described as having been “my mother’s full-time carer for the last 22 years”.
Several other posts on the account show Ms Davis’s strong stance against the Covid-19 vaccine, including one where she describes it as “untested and unsafe poison”.
In another post, Ms Davis described the people whose children were vaccinated against coronavirus as “abusers”. “May God save your souls for killing your children,” she wrote.
Other posts show she and her mother were avid users of the popular app Pokémon Go.
The alarm was first raised on Monday morning by a neighbour before police, SA Ambulance and MFS crews descended on the property, where more than 20 firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze.
Southern District CIB Detective Chief Inspector Kieran Baggoley told a press conference on Monday morning two people believed to be family members were found dead inside the property and the matter was under investigation.
He said the fire was contained to a single room which appeared to be a spare room.
Detective Chief Inspector Baggoley said police had not responded to any previous incidents at the property.
About 4pm on Monday, emergency services – including police and firefighters – were called back to the Emerald St property after the blaze reignited.
Neighbours said they were shocked and saddened by the women’s deaths. Many said the pair had kept to themselves since moving into the community housing property.
“I have only said hello to them in passing as I was walking,” long-term resident Olga Aginartzis said.
Just around the corner, gardener Chris Rowley had arrived to work on Monday unaware that two of his regular clients were dead.
When Mr Rowley, 40, saw emergency services at the Emerald St home, he contacted Ms Lambourne to check in.
When there was no reply he went to investigate and learnt of the women’s deaths.
Mr Rowley said he had done the gardening at the property for about a year.
“I went to the house every three weeks, usually early around 8am, to mow the lawn,” he said.
“They were pleasant, not big conversationalists, but around Christmas time they cleared out their cupboards or something and gave me a bit of a show bag. I never went into the house.”
Mr Rowley believed Ms Lambourne had “an issue with the sun” and that both women “had bad backs”.
The home Ms Davis and Ms Lambourne lived in was owned by community housing organisation Your Place Housing, which owns about 500 properties across Adelaide. The organisation provides housing to people with a disability or experiencing social disadvantage.
“Your Place Housing was devastated to learn of the Edwardstown home fire this morning which led to the tragic loss of life of our tenants,” Your Place Housing chief executive Geoff Slack said.
“We extend our condolences to the family and friends of the people who died.”
Mr Slack said the organisation was working with authorities to assist with investigations.
On Monday night, police urged anyone with information about the incident to come forward.
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