Donna Fitchett found guilty of murdering her boys

UPDATE 5.20pm: A WICKED mum has been found guilty of murdering her two young sons after a retrial came to the same decision.

UPDATE 5.20pm: A WICKED mum has been found guilty of murdering her two young sons after a retrial came to the same decision.

It is the second time Donna Fitchett, 51, has been convicted over the deaths of Thomas, 11, and Matthew, 9, who were drugged and smothered or strangled.

She was granted a retrial on a legal technicality but a Supreme Court jury took only hours to deliver the same verdict.

They rejected Ms Fitchett’s claim that she was mentally impaired.

The boys’ shattered father David Fitchett came home from work to find their bodies cold in their beds.

Outside court the Mr Fitchett said two juries had got it right.

“Twenty-four people have got it right,” he said. “Not one trial, its two trials.

“They saw through the absolute shallow, shallow, pathetic defence she put up.

“She is a manipulating, cunning, street-smart woman and she knew all along what she was doing was wrong.”

Mr Fitchett said the legal system was a “joke” and an “ass” for putting him through two trials.

Fitchett killed the boys at their Balwyn North home in September 2005.

She kept them home from school and told them they were going on a trip away but would need to take some medication first.

The qualified nurse gave her sons a cocktail of prescription drugs and put them to bed when they became drowsy.

Fitchett used a sock to strangle Thomas and then placed a pillow over the face of Matthew.

She then took a number of pills herself and penned a letter to her husband.

“I'm so sorry for your pain upon the discovery of what I've done,'' it read.

“I didn't do it because I'm angry with you. I forgive you.

“I just couldn't abandon our beautiful boys.

“I've been dead for a few days and I wanted peace.

“I hope you find the strength to go on without us.''

But before Fitchett could take her own life Mr Fitchett arrived home.

He frantically dialled 000 but soon realised it was too late.

Two psychiatrists told the jury Fitchett’s depression had become so severe she decided to kill herself.

Defence lawyer Patrick Tehan, QC, said his client was so irrational she believed she was taking the boys “on her journey into death''.

But prosecutor Gavin Silbert, SC, said Ms Fitchett's depression was mild and she knew exactly what she was doing when she killed her children.

“She'd planned it, she'd organised it and she knew it was wrong.''

Justice Elizabeth Curtain remanded her in custody for a plea hearing at a later date.