Twin girls among five dead
When police arrived at a Bedford home min Perth on Sunday afternoon, they found the television set still turned on.
It was an ominous sign for first responders, who were acting on information received by a man who presented at Karratha Police Station earlier in the day.
What the man told police is not yet known but it prompted officers to descend on the Bedford home just before midday.
Once inside the two-bedroom suburban brick-and-tile house, police discovered the bodies of Mara Harvey, 47, her three daughters – two-year-old twins and a three-and-a-half year old – and the girls’ grandmother Beverley Quinn, 74.
Neighbours watched on as forensic officers and homicide squad detectives descended on their quiet suburban street and started to lock down the home for further investigation.
It’s understood Perth mother Mara Harvey owned the Coode St home, and lived at the address with her partner Anthony Harvey.
Despite being 18 years younger, Harvey proposed to Mara in 2014 and the pair had their first child together a year later.
‘‘She was pretty unlucky in love before she met him,’’ a friend told Fairfax Media.
‘‘So [when they got together] it was like ‘yay, now she gets to start a family’.’’
The Harveys both used to work for a Sino Steel Pilbara mine, and Mara Harvey sold some of her properties to help her partner start up a business.
Shortly after giving birth to her first daughter, Mara Harvey fell pregnant with twins, and the pair settled at their Bedford home with their children Charlotte, Alice and Beatrix.
Harvey joined a Facebook page, Perth & Districts Multiple Birth Association Inc, which helps aid new parents deal with the demands of raising multiple newborns at once.
A friend described s Harvey as a loving mother.
‘‘She was such a beautiful person and such a go getter and hard worker,’’ she said.
A neighbour of the family told ABC News he had not heard from the family since he returned from holiday a week prior. ‘‘We had some friends staying here . . . we had mentioned to our friends that were staying that there was likely to be some noise from the kids next door, and they were a little surprised that there wasn’t noise from the kids next door,’’ he said.
A neighbour, who only wanted to be known as Alfie, said police arrived at the home on Sunday banging on back doors and jumping fences.
‘‘The police jumped the fence yesterday,’’ he said.
‘‘They were hammering on that back door and then others went in by the front.’’
Police took the entire SIM card from his CCTV cameras on Sunday, due to their position pointing towards the rear of the Coode Street home.
‘‘I always used to wave at the kids . . . the two twins were always dressed the same,’’ he said.
‘‘Beautiful little kids . . . Grandma was there everyday, she used to help.’’
Beverly Quinn was the children’s maternal grandmother, and mother of Mara.
‘‘They were a perfect family . . . this is a beautiful neighbourhood, it’s quiet,’’ Alfie said. Bedford resident Maria Manfredini lives behind the property at the centre of the tragedy.
‘‘It’s taken us by complete shock,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s just horrific on every level.’’
Manfredini said she did not know Mara Harvey or her children personally, but would often wave and say hello as she walked past.
‘‘This is a very close community,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s always been so calm and peaceful. We never would’ve expected anything like this at all.
‘‘I’m still in shock. I’m deeply saddened by what’s happened.’’
A man in his 20s is in custody and assisting police with their inquiries.
No charges have yet been laid. Police said it remained unclear how long the bodies of the five had remained in the house before discovery, but have since confirmed first responders would have access to a WA Police chaplain in order to deal with what they found.