The brother of a woman accused of killing her four-year-old son and allegedly eating parts of his body has shared the text messages she sent him in the days leading up to the incident.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, the sibling — who is closest in age to the 32-year-old accused woman — said their father and older brother are now wrestling with painful questions about whether they “could have stepped in.”
The woman’s tight-knit family, many of whom live near one another in a cluster of streets in Gunnedah, in north-central NSW, have been left devastated by the allegations.
“They thought maybe they should have done something more,” he told the Daily Mail.
“My dad and brother didn’t think [her son] should have been given back to her after she last got out of rehab,” he said.
The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was arrested on Saturday and charged with murder after allegedly attending Wyong Police Station on the NSW Central Coast and admitting she had killed her four-year-old son and eaten parts of him.
Her brother told the Mail that drug counsellors and welfare workers had helped organise her move into the Wyong property where the alleged killing occurred.
“We should have been closer to her, I guess,” he said.
‘And we should have gone and helped her, but this is nothing we could have expected.
The brother (above) of the alleged cannibal mum has revealed the texts she sent him just days before she is accused of murdering and eating parts of her four-year-old son
The boy’s mother (pictured), 32, allegedly told police she had consumed part of her son
‘I spoke with her days ago, last week, by text. She seemed okay, just usual stuff.
‘She was proud of me, what I’ve done…because I had problems too, with my kids.’
Other family members, who have lived in Gunnedah for decades, angrily refused to speak when approached by the Mail in the small country town.
Close family members in Gunnedah and in Armidale, where the accused had lived with her mother before her son was born, had apprehended violence orders (AVOs) against her.
At the home of an older relative, family members refused to speak.
In western Sydney, the woman’s mother, who was also the subject of another AVO against her daughter, remained behind closed doors at her home.
The Daily Mail observed four women and a man arrive at the mother’s property at various times on Wednesday, with one of the women carrying in a tray of coffees.
When approached outside the house, two of the women insisted the mother did not wish to speak about her daughter or grandson.
The Daily Mail observed four women and a man arrive at the dead boy’s grandmother’s home at various times on Wednesday. One of the women is pictured
When approached outside the house, two of the women insisted the mother did not wish to speak about her daughter or grandson. One of those women is pictured
The boy (pictured) is alleged to have been dead for several days before the alarm was raised
‘There’s no comment,’ one said. ‘Absolutely no comment,’ added the other.
The brother who spoke out on his younger sister’s behalf said he had seen her three months ago at their mother’s western Sydney house, and she seemed ‘okay’.
He spoke briefly of his younger sister, one of six children by three fathers, and how she had been a ‘lovely’ little girl growing up but had problems as she got older.
He smiled as he described his sister and shook his head at how his family was coping with the charges, saying, ‘We don’t know what happened’, before being told by phone not to speak any further.
He warned that emotions were running high within the family and said other relatives should not be approached.
Other family members reacted furiously when contacted, with one screaming abuse and driving towards a Daily Mail crew after yelling: ‘Get out’ and ‘Leave now’.
A family meeting was held in the town on Wednesday, with relatives bunkering down and cousins and siblings reportedly told to maintain their silence.
The brother (above) told the Daily Mail his father and older brother were now agonising over whether they ‘could have stepped in’ to intervene
A woman is pictured placing flowers at a memorial to the boy on the Central Coast
NSW social services had three interactions with the boy over concerns about neglect and his mother’s suspected drug-induced psychosis, but ultimately left him in her care until his death.
In Gunnedah on Wednesday night, locals were surprised to learn the accused killer had close ties in the town.
One man said he had ‘never heard’ about the disturbing allegations regarding the alleged cannibalism.
‘That’s mad,’ he said. ‘And she’s from Gun [Gunnedah]? Unbelievable.’
According to court documents seen by the Daily Mail, police allege the mother killed her son between 4pm and 5pm on July 4.
She was charged with murder and appeared in court on Saturday, when bail was formally refused.
Her case is due back in Wyong Local Court on September 1.
