Shock autopsy finding in deaths of Coonabarabran brothers found dead in gran’s house

The tragic new details about the deaths of Sam and Max Johnson, aged seven and six, can be revealed as final plans are made for their funeral this week.

The town of Coonabarabran where two children were found dead yesterday. Picture: NewsWire / Dean Marzolla

Two young brothers found dead in their grandmother’s Coonabarabran home had allegedly been drugged before they were suffocated with a pillow, an autopsy found.

The tragic new details about the deaths of Sam and Max Johnson, aged seven and six, can be revealed as final plans are made for their funeral this week.

The Daily Telegraph has been told by police that a post-mortem examination carried out on the boys’ bodies found traces of a prescription medication in their systems when they were found dead on May 5.

Police will allege Kathleen Heggs, 66, who has been charged with their murder, drugged her two grandsons before smothering them while they were asleep in separate bedrooms of the rural property.

The boys’ biological parents Troy and Samantha Johnson, who hadn’t seen the boys for five years, have been tasked with the devastating job of burying their only children.

Brothers Sam Johnson (left) and Max (right) in school photos taken just weeks week before they were found dead. Picture: Supplied

Mr Johnson said he and his wife were struggling with mental health issues a few years ago, so they made the decision to allow Heggs to take care of the boys.

“This is not how we were meant to get them back,” Mr Johnson said.

“We are completely broken...but those boys deserve a good send off, and that’s what we are going to give them.”

Kathleen Heggs, 66, has been charged with murdering her two grandsons inside a Coonabarabran home on May 5. Picture: Supplied

Police at the Coonabarabran home where Max and Sam Johnson’s bodies were found. Picture: NewsWire / Dean Marzolla

With the help of some locals in the small NSW country town Heggs and the children moved to about a year ago from the Port Stephens area, Mr Johnson has been able to piece together some happy memories of the soccer and karate-loving boys to share at the funeral service which is to be held in Port Stephens.

School photos taken just weeks before the boys were allegedly murdered are among the cherished items Mr Johnson has received.

“We thought we’d keep it small, but there’s people who really want to be there (for the boys). There’s a group coming from Coonabarabran especially for the boys … wow, that blew me away when they said they’d come all this way,” Mr Johnson said.

Troy and Samantha Johnson have the heartbreaking task of burying their sons this week, after not seeing them for almost five years. Picture Nine News.

He said the boys would both be buried in their karate uniforms and with the yellow belts they were meant to be awarded the week they were allegedly killed.

“That is what Sam and I have been working on,” Mr Johnson said.

“We wanted to make sure they got their yellow belts one way or another.”

Police allege Heggs killed the two boys on the morning of May 5, then attempted to harm herself. When the local public school contacted Heggs that afternoon to check why the boys hadn’t arrived for class, police allege Heggs told them the boys were no longer alive.

Two police officers forced their way into the house, just before 3pm, and found the boys’ bodies in separate rooms, and Heggs attempted self-harm.

She was treated in a mental health facility for several days, before being charged with two counts of murder. She has not entered pleas.

“This is going to be a question of my client’s mental health at the time of the offences,” Heggs’ solicitor Christopher Ford told a court last month.

Heggs will face court again on July 10.

Originally published as Shock autopsy finding in deaths of Coonabarabran brothers found dead in gran’s house