Police: Australian Father Secretly Turned Home Into Gas Chamber To Kill Wife, Autistic Children And Himself


After a family of four, including their dog, was found dead in their Sydney home, police officials say they believe the father, Fernando Manrique, turned the home into a gas chamber to kill his entire family in a suspected murder-suicide, according to the Mirror.

Authorities say Fernando and his wife, Maria, along with their two autistic children, Elisa, 11, and 10-year-old Martin, were found dead in three separate rooms of their home in Davidson, Australia on Monday from a suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.

It was reported that when Maria became overwhelmed from caring for her two autistic children, she wanted to leave the area and move in with her family in Bogota so that she would have help raising Elisa and Martin, but Fernando wasn’t too thrilled about his wife’s notion.

According to a family friend, whose name has not been released, it was stated that the couple had been “very distant” and Maria often felt alone because her husband worked overseas, which is the sole reason why she wanted to move in with her family.

It was added that “the children’s health issues had stopped the family taking the 14-hour flight back to Colombia for a break, but said her family members tried to visit once a year ‘to comfort her.'”

Maria often feared for her children’s safety as it was alleged that she even went as far as erecting a fence around their home after “Elisa wandered out of the house earlier this year” and Martin reportedly “walked to a nearby park and was found five hours later.”

However, when Fernando failed to report to work Monday, a relative requested a welfare check on the family and that’s when police discovered the family dead in a suspected murder-suicide.

According to the Daily Mail, gas bottles were discovered in the kitchen in which police officials are saying the father may have turned the home into a gas chamber in an effort to kill his entire family.

A police spokesperson stated that “it is early days in the investigation and investigators will need to wait for toxicology results and results of the post-mortem to determine the cause of death.”

In a statement Tuesday, police stated that “whilst the cause of death will be a matter for the Coroner to determine, police are looking at the possibility the family members died from the introduction of an airborne gas.”

Investigators say it was later uncovered that the father knew how to “rig up an elaborate gas chamber.”

Neighbors were stunned after learning that the family of four was found dead in their home in a suspected murder-suicide. Several neighbors said they recalled the family being happy while seeing them numerous times at the community park.

“It breaks my heart to think of how much pain the family was going through,” said Brooke Topschij, who lived in the area.

Neighbor Ofik Thomassian, 72, disagrees, saying “Lutz looked after the children but I have to say she never looked happy. She always had a very serious look on her face. Thinking back now, she looked like she was in pain.”

“She probably had been for a very long time.”

He added that he remember seeing the father doing something on the roof but had no idea he was allegedly rigging the home, turning it into a gas chamber.

The neighbor went on to say that “he was right up on the roof replacing tiles and using power tools of sorts. He was cutting and banging and making all sorts of noise and pulling up tiles but I don’t really know what he was doing.”

In a Facebook post, Linda Williams wrote: “I worked with Fernando over 10 years ago, he was my boss, he was such a lovely kind quiet person. I can’t believe this has happened. When I met his wife I thought she was so pretty. I’m in shock. I can’t believe it.”

After the family was found dead in a suspected murder-suicide, neighbors placed flowers and cards in front of their home.

An investigation is ongoing.

[Featured Image by Maria Claudia Lutz/Facebook]

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