Court releases police interviews of Starr Cahill and Brodie Tull – see inside the Murray Bridge house where twin boys were found with horrific injuries
This Murray Bridge mother claims she would never hurt her kids as she tells cops their fractures could be the dog’s fault. See the police interview.
A mother whose infant twin boys were found with horrific rib fractures told police in an interview she would never hurt her children – after blaming her daughter or their dog.
Starr Light Cahill, 29, and Brodie Tull, 24, await their fate from custody after a jury found them guilty of criminal neglect – but they still deny they caused the injuries.
In the Murry Bridge couple’s police interviews in June 2022 released to The Advertiser, Cahill is asked what she can tell them about the boys’ injuries.
“I’m not accusing my seven-year-old daughter … but multiple times I’ve turned around and caught her holding her brother … and his legs dangling,” she replies.
“I’ve gone in there and seen her doing it and told her off about it.”
When asked if there was any other way they could have gotten the rib fractures, Cahill said it could have been their “pretty stocked” staffy cross border collie.
“I’m not blaming the puppy but he got let inside and had got caught sitting on (one twin),” she said.
At one stage, Cahill becomes emotional and says “I would never hurt my children”.
When asked if she caused the injuries to the twins, she replied: “No, no. I would never”.
In Tull’s interview, he also blamed the puppy and Cahill’s daughter as potential explanations for the boys’ injuries.
He told officers they treated the boys “like glass” because they were born premature.
“I really am shocked,” Tull said. “It just hurts because it just seems like we’re getting the finger pointed at us … I’m always careful.
“It just hurts because I just want my boys back.”
A walk through video of the couple’s house shows it in disarray, with messy piles everywhere and rubbish on the floor.
The children’s bedrooms are dirty, with their beds piled with clothing and one mattress stained with no sheets.
Michael Foundas, prosecuting, told the court in the trial opening the couple’s twin boys were born on March 8, 2022.
One of the twins presented at the Murray Bridge hospital on May 29, 2022.
“He was not breathing properly, he was making grunting noises and his chest was making an unusual clicking sound,” Mr Foundas said.
An examination by an expert forensic pediatrician revealed the boy had 33 recent rib fractures, signs of 18 older rib fractures, a laceration to his liver, bruising and an older leg fracture.
“On the prosecution case, (the boy) had been the victim of at least one recent and one older occasion of deliberate inflictions of force, particularly to his chest,” Mr Foundas said.
A medical examination found the other twin had 13 recent rib fractures and signs of 24 older rib fractures.
They were found guilty by a jury of two counts of criminal neglect.
On Tuesday, Mr Foundas told the court a doctor had, during the trial, rejected the potential explanations of the dog or Cahill’s older daughter causing the boys’ injuries.
Adam Richards, for Tull, told the court his client did not admit to hurting his children or that he was aware they were badly injured and if that meant a longer sentence “so be it”.
“Nothing equals the loss of the children and nothing equals how he feels about the fact that he judges himself for not protecting the boys,” he said.
Julia Davey, for Cahill, pushed for a suspended or home detention sentence, said her client similarly did not cause the injuries to the twins or see Tull cause them.
Ms Davey said Cahill had an intellectual disability, which played a role in her ability to identify and problem solve what was going on with the twins and fulfil the full requirements of being a parent.
“Ms Cahill does want to have tubes tied essentially so she doesn’t have any more children,” she said.
Judge Ian White will sentence the duo next month, asking Mr Foundas to obtain an update on the boys’ physical health and whether it was compromised by the injuries.
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Originally published as Court releases police interviews of Starr Cahill and Brodie Tull – see inside the Murray Bridge house where twin boys were found with horrific injuries
