Killer teen wrote he ‘hated his family’ before launching fatal attack

A Melbourne teen who killed his mum and stabbed his grandmother and little sister revealed why he did it in notes found on his computer.

A reclusive Melbourne teen was drinking champagne and wrote about his hatred for his family the night before he stabbed his mum to death and tried to kill his grandmother and three-year-old sister.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had an undiagnosed major depressive episode and autism when he attacked his family in late 2020.

He appeared in the Supreme Court of Victoria for a pre-sentence hearing via video link on Tuesday after previously pleading guilty to murder and two counts of attempted murder.

The teen retreated from his family and became a “recluse” for some time before the shocking crime, the court was told. He mostly spent time in his bedroom and did not attend family gatherings.

The then 15-year-old was drinking the night before and wrote two notes on his computer before he launched the fatal attack, prosecutor John Dickie told the court.

“I bare a hatred towards my family for a long time,” he wrote.

The teen wrote that he hated his family in notes found on his computer.

He said he had “persistent thoughts of killing my family” but in the end ran away, the note read.

“Do not come looking for me, I am a f---ing scumbag,” he wrote.

In another note he wrote: “I killed my family out of hatred, that is all I will say.”

The boy didn’t go to school the next day and his mum went to see if he had eaten around noon.

He pulled out a knife he’d kept in his room and stabbed his mother four times, in the neck, chest and abdomen, Mr Dickie said.

His grandmother was downstairs and heard her daughter cry: “Darling why did you do that?”

The boy chased his mum downstairs but she managed to ring triple-0 before he turned the knife on his three-year-old sister and grandmother.

He stabbed his sister in the neck and abdomen, exposing her intestines, as his grandmother tried to shield the girl. The older woman was stabbed in the breast and abdomen.

His mother died but his other victims survived.

When police searched the house they kicked down his bedroom door and found him typing at his computer. He stabbed himself several times before police pepper-sprayed him.

“He became more and more withdrawn and then exploded on the day in question,” the judge said of his crime.

The boy stabbed himself several times before police pepper-sprayed him. Picture: David Crosling

Defence lawyer David Gibson said the boy had drunk a fair amount of alcohol to give himself “Dutch courage” before the frenzy.

The boy was socially awkward, was unhappy about his mother and stepfather reconciling and was struggling with depressive issues for three years which he didn’t understand and couldn’t express himself, Mr Gibson said.

“He was unable to control his emotions when he committed these terrible acts.”

The lawyer said the boy was “deeply moved and upset” by the impact of his crimes.

The boy was still supported by his grandmother, who reached out to him while he was in custody in a “remarkable spirit of compassion and forgiveness”, Mr Gibson said.

The prosecutor said the crime was “very disturbing and grave” offending and “inexplicable”.

The boy will be sentenced at a later date.