Accused killer crash mum Akon Guode breaks down in court
A MOTHER accused of killing her three children by driving them into a lake stood by and watched them die, court documents reveal.
A MOTHER accused of killing her three children by driving them into a lake stood by and watched them die, court documents reveal.
Court documents released last night reveal a witness saw Akon Guode accelerate further into a Wyndham Vale lake, in Melbourne, Victoria, after landing in shallow water.
Ms Guode, 36, is charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.
For at least two hours earlier, she did laps of the lake’s entry point, police allege.
She cried and begged Magistrate Carolene Gwynn to set her free yesterday despite her lawyers failing to make any application for bail.
Police allege she drove by the lake five agonising times before driving into it, with witnesses describing seeing a woman slumped over the wheel as her children ran wild in the back seat.
PREVIOUSLY: THREE MURDER CHARGES OVER LAKE TRAGEDY
Cameras allegedly catch her pulling over before driving out of view into the lake.
One witness told police he called 000 but was not overly concerned because the car was not far enough into the lake.
“The accused upon entry into the water has then accelerated the vehicle, causing the wheels to spin and provide sufficient motion to advance into the lake to the middle,” the documents state.
The witness claims she drove another 20 metres into the lake from where he first saw her land.
As one of her children tried to swim to shore, Ms Guode was “screaming but standing, doing nothing not panicked”, the witness claimed.
Police claim all of the children somehow managed to escape out of the open driver’s side window, where Ms Guode stood and watched them drown.
Firefighters claimed they watched Ms Guode stand silently before dunking herself in the water.
One girl, six-year-old Aluel, was rescued and survived.
Once safe, Ms Guode allegedly told desperate emergency workers only three of her kids were in the car.
In the five minutes it took her to mention her fourth, the child was dead.
Court documents allege Ms Gouda drove around the lake in Wyndham Vale for two-and-a-half hours before the fatal incident.
Police allege the mother of seven was struggling at the time with her children and gossip within the Sudanese community about her affair with the father of four of her children.
Court documents allege Ms Guode became the mistress of her dead husband’s cousin Joseph Manyang in 2008, bearing his child behind his then wife’s back.
When the relationship was discovered, it was shunned by her local community until the day of the tragedy in April this year.
“This caused considerable ongoing unhappiness for the accused,” the documents allege.
Ms Guode went on to have three more children with Mr Manyang, who separated with his wife in early 2011.
On the day the children died, rumours circulating within the Sudanese community was that Mr Manyang would leave Ms Guode to return to his wife.
Up until then, the alleged killer had been hoping to move to Morwell to be closer to family and Mr Manyang, who lived in the area.
Police allege she was also under considerable financial pressure.
At the court hearing Ms Guode cried and begged Magistrate Carolene Gwynn to set her free despite her lawyers failing to make any application for bail.
Speaking through an interpreter, Ms Guode, told the court she wanted to go home.
“I’m feeling emotional,” she said before bursting into tears.
“I (will) go back home. I (will) not escape ... everything you tell me to do, I’ll do. I won’t go anywhere.”
She will return to court in June.
Originally published as Accused killer crash mum Akon Guode breaks down in court
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