Hannah Clarke’s brave final words revealed

Terrified and in agony from horror burns, Hannah Clarke’s only concern was for her children. Now her final words before she was sedated by paramedics have been revealed.

Terrified and in agony from horrific burns, Hannah Clarke’s only concern was for the welfare of her three children Aaliyah, Laianah, and Trey, new detail has revealed.

With her last words before she was sedated by paramedics, Hannah said she knew her children were dead and she didn’t want to survive.

The tragic details of the murders of Ms Clarke and her three children were revealed during a pre-inquest hearing in the Brisbane Coroners Court on Tuesday, where counsel assisting Jacoba Brasch QC detailed Hannah’s injuries “of the worst kind” after being set on fire by her ex-partner Rowan Baxter.

“Hannah’s injuries were of the worst kind,” Dr Brasch said.

“Despite those injuries, and what can only have been her great pain and suffering, her first concern was for her children. She frantically asked about her children’s welfare.

“Hannah gradually came to the realisation her children had died in the flames.

“Her last words came just before she was sedated by paramedics, Hannah said she knew her children were dead and she didn’t want to survive.

Hannah Clarke was only concerned for her children.

“Hannah Clarke passed away that afternoon, her injuries so severe they couldn’t be treated.”

The inquest into the deaths of Hannah and her children Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4, and Trey, 3, and their killer Rowan Baxter was opened in the Brisbane Coroners Court on Tuesday.

The final movements of her estranged ex-turned killer Baxter have also been detailed with Baxter buying black cable ties and a plastic jerry can from Bunnings two days prior.

He then had a quiet coffee just an hour before he left to ambush and kill Hannah and their three children as they left her parent’s Camp Hill home in February last year.

Dr Brasch QC told the pre-inquest hearing that on February 19, 2020 Baxter ambushed Hannah and the children, jumping into the car armed with a knife and a jerry can which he used to pour petrol over Hannah and the car.

Hannah, 31, stopped the vehicle to ask a neighbour for help when Baxter, 42, lit the car on fire.

The car exploded,” Dr Brasch said.

“The explosion was so loud, it rattled windows across the street and some thought they heard a gas explosion. Hannah freed herself from the car, but was completely engulfed by flame.”

The court heard a neighbour was able to extinguish the flames which had engulfed Hannah but her three children perished in the flames.

Hannah’s children Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4, and Trey, 3 were killed in the flames.

“Your Honour, the events on Raven Street that morning involved almost indescribable horror but also great bravery, heroism and kindness,” Dr Brasch said.

“Neighbours rushed out to help.

“Complete strangers risked their safety to try and get into the burning car.”

Baxter was also engulfed in flames and after they were extinguished, he stabbed himself in the heart.

“The evidence indicates that Baxter’s actions that morning were not a sudden nor snap decision,” Dr Brasch said.

“Two days earlier, on the morning of 17 February 2020, Baxter went to a Bunnings store and bought black cable ties and a plastic jerry can. CCTV footage captures Baxter passing cans of lawnmower fuel, and considering whether to buy a container of that fuel. He elected the jerry can instead.”

He also contacted his aunt and asked to borrow her car, he claimed for a trip to the Gold Coast but Dr Brasch said more likely so Hannah didn’t recognise the vehicle.

On the morning of the murders, Baxter filled the jerry can and had a coffee at a café where he waited for an hour before leaving to ambush Hannah and her children.

“We don’t know Baxter’s precise intention when he got into Hannah’s car that morning, and with the children. It matters little,” Dr Brasch said.

“He brought with him the tools which would take Hannah’s life, and the lives of their three young children.”

She said Baxter was not a man who was “ignorant of his legal options” and in the months before killing his family, he had “shopped around” for legal information, including calling Dr Brasch’s own chambers about family law.

“He asked others about how court works, and also contacted a very well-respected family law dispute resolution practitioner, who could give him the document he needed to file in the family court,” Dr Brasch said.

Rowan Baxter’s actions that morning were pre-planned.

“He also engaged lawyers to represent him when it came to resisting the Family Violence Order application brought to protect Hannah, and a solicitor to act for him when family law proceedings began.”

The loved ones of Hannah Clarke and her three children say they hope an inquest into their tragic deaths will help save the lives of others.

Sue and Lloyd Clarke attended a pre-inquest hearing where Dr Brasch QC opened the inquest saying it would examine interactions the family had with domestic violence support services and police prior to the horrific murders in February 2020.

“Your Honour, it is a mercy that such acts of unimaginable cruelty are rare in our society,” Dr Brasch said.

“It is almost incomprehensible why a man in Baxter’s position would do what he did, but comprehend it we must attempt to do.

Hannah Clarke and her children Laianah, Aaliyah and Trey.

“The purpose of this inquest is not to identify the deceased, the cause nor the place of their deaths, or even the perpetrator who took their lives. The evidence on those matters is abundant and tragically, painfully clear.

“This inquest must look backwards, at the warning signs which were missed or, if identified, whether appropriate actions were taken at the time to address those risks. The evidence will paint a complex picture.”

Rowan Baxter spent the morning having a quiet coffee before he murdered his children.

Hannah and Baxter met in 2009, were married in 2012 and had separated in December 2019.

“Access to the children, and custody of them, became a strongly contentious issue,” Dr Brasch said.

“Looking at what we now know Baxter would be a controlling, dominating influence on his partners.

“Perhaps surprisingly, given his apparent need to exercise domination and control, he very rarely resorted to physical violence. Hannah herself would tell loved ones of his controlling influence, which affected so much of her life, but would say in the same breath that Baxter was never violent toward her.”

Dr Brasch said a central feature of their relationship was the variety of ways Baxter would control Hannah’s everyday life.

“It seems Baxter used a highly manipulative combination of threat, intimidation, guilt, shame and raw anger to influence Hannah’s actions, her choices and her other personal and professional relationships,” she said.

“The evidence will shine a spotlight on this form of domestic violence; a form which is subtle and nuanced, even imperceptible to all but the most expert eyes, yet has devastating consequences.

“When seen through this lens, the events of 19 February 2020 were the actions of a man who’d lost control over Hannah and her children and was determined to re-assert that control, whatever the result.”

She said other warning signs weren’t so subtle, including an incident in December 2019 when Baxter forcibly took their four-year-old daughter Laianah to Pottsville, which prompted police intervention and a domestic violence order was issued.

In another incident in January 2020 when Hannah met Baxter, they argued and he grabbed her and twisted her wrist.

Sue and Lloyd Clarke leaving at the pre-inquest hearing for the Hannah Clarke and Rowan Baxter case. Picture: Liam Kidston

“By this time Hannah was identified as a high risk domestic violence survivor,” Dr Brasch said.

“She was concerned Baxter was tracking her movements, because he would often appear at the same location as herself, at the same time. This too was reported to police.

It should be said, many individual police officers took Hannah’s complaints seriously, and investigated many of the concerns she raised.

“Other government and non-government services were also in contact with Hannah Clarke and Rowan Baxter. Their responses will also be examined during the inquest.”

Outside court, Hannah’s parents Sue and Lloyd said they welcomed the inquest and hoped it would

“If we can save one more life through things that are found out, that would be great,” Mrs Clarke said.

“It will be good to have it finally over and hopefully it will fill in a few missing pieces for us.”

The inquest has been listed to begin in March and will run for two weeks.

Originally published as Hannah Clarke’s brave final words revealed