Shocking revelation about Hannah Clarke’s killer revealed by murdered woman’s mum
Hannah Clarke’s brave parents made a chilling statement about their late daughter’s killer husband in the wake of an inquest into her brutal murder.
The parents of slain Queensland mum Hannah Clarke have opened up about the chilling “red flags” surrounding her killer ex-husband Rowan Baxter in the wake of an inquest into their daughter’s horrific murder.
Ms Clarke and her children Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4, and Trey, 3, were killed after Baxter ambushed the young family on their way to school on February 19, 2020.
He doused the family car in petrol and set it alight before igniting it as horrified neighbours watched on.
Following Deputy State Coroner Jane Bentley’s handing down of domestic violence recommendations on Wednesday, Ms Clarke’s parents Sue and Lloyd Clarke revealed a saddening aspect of the coercive control their daughter was subject to.
Speaking with Today on Thursday morning, the heartbroken parents addressed the support Baxter had managed to build up prior to his fatal act.
Host Ally Langdon drew reference to people close to Baxter who after his unthinkable act maintained he was “a good family man who loved his family but he was someone who was under pressure”.
“I don’t know about you but I found reading that really hard and do we they’d to work more with family and friends to be able to step in here and recognise the signs?” Langdon asked.
Mrs Clarke said that despite Baxter’s cowardly actions, he still had support.
“A lot more education on the red flags [is needed] so family and friends can recognise that [the signs],” she said.
“Yes he still has quite a few supporters around. We need to educate people so they do understand exactly what a red flag is.”
Mr Clarke added that perpetrators often were so good at manipulation that people didn’t pick up on any problematic behaviour.
“The problem is these men and women are good at convincing people. They are so good at what they do, at convincing people,” he said.
The parents have given their full support to the inquiry’s recommendations, which included government funding for men’s behaviour change programs.
“So they get counselling, if they do a DV or DVO out on them, they’ll have specialised training to try and sort of curb them and get into their minds and work out what is going,” Mr Clarke said.
He said he hoped the findings would support victims feeling more comfortable to seek help with getting out of a domestically violent situation.
“I don’t want women to think there is no hope. I want women to leave these situations once they feel strong enough and know there is hope and things can be done,” he said.
Mr Clarke accepted that while it was possible something could have been done to stop his daughter and grand children being killed, police at the time “did as best they were equipped to do”.
He hoped a more streamlined approach to sharing information on the “red flags” of perpetrators across police and medical fields would help avoid women suffering the same fate as his daughter.
“With the training of the police officers they’ll recognise the signs a lot easier and quicker, and with having DV workers alongside the police it will help the police to understand it a lot better,” he said.
“I think there will be changes, and the Queensland Police force has changed quite a bit in the two years since it happened.”