Man (24) charged with killing daughters, wife, motherinlaw

PERTH: A man allegedly used a blunt instrument and knives to murder his three young daughters, their mother and grandmother and then stayed with the bodies in their Perth house for days before heading north.

The bodies of Mara Lee Harvey (41), her 3yearold daughter, Charlotte, 2yearold twins Alice and Beatrix and their grandmother, Beverley Ann Quinn (73), were found at a Bedford home on Sunday.

It is alleged Anthony Robert Harvey (24) killed his wife and children on September 3, then killed his motherinlaw the next morning when she arrived at the house in the third domestic mass killing in Western Australia in four months.

Their remains were discovered on Sunday after Harvey turned himself in at Pannawonica police station, about 1500km north of Perth in the Pilbara region.

The visit prompted police to visit the Coode St home where they discovered the bodies about noon.

The murders come after the shooting deaths of three adults and four children, all from the same family, in Osmington in regional WA in May.

In July, a mother and her 15yearold daughter and 8yearold son were murdered at Ellenbrook, in Perth’s outer northeast.

WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said several weapons were used in the latest incident, including a blunt instrument and knives, but no guns. The women were allegedly attacked in the kitchen, while the children were killed elsewhere in the house.

A bearded Harvey appeared in Perth Magistrates Court yesterday via video link from Karratha courthouse, and was remanded in custody to appear in Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court later this month.

A bouquet of red roses with a card saying ‘‘rest in peace, neighbours’’ has been placed near the house. —