Homicide Squad investigates after mother and three children found dead in Melbourne

A mother and her three children have been found dead on a property in northwest Melbourne.

Police said the bodies of a 42-year-old woman, two girls ages 7 and 5, and a 3-year-old boy were found inside the home Thursday afternoon.

A 48-year-old man, the woman’s husband and the children’s father, was also at the Tullamarine site on Burgess St, police said.

“We understand that the three children were brothers. We also understand that the three children were those of the woman who was found dead,” Acting Deputy Commissioner Robert Hill told reporters.

“We also understand that the man was the husband of the deceased woman and the father of the three children.”

The man is assisting Homicide Squad detectives with their investigations and family members have been notified.

“Right now, the investigation is in its early stages,” Hill said.

“The investigators do not believe that there are other parties involved at this stage.

“It is very important that we do not speculate. The circumstances of this event have yet to be determined.

“We cannot afford to make assumptions about what happened.”

Hill said police would work methodically at the crime scene and that the man had provided police with his account of what happened.

“It is a tragic event to lose your life, under any circumstances,” he said.

“But when it comes to three children, the second event this week where we have seen the loss of children in horrible circumstances, it has an impact on the community.”

Acting Deputy Commissioner Mark Galliott said police would remain at the scene overnight.

“The loss of young lives in circumstances like this is difficult to understand,” he said.

“This will have lasting effects on the police that have served, the extended family, the community, the neighborhood, the emergency services and everyone else involved.

“They will be memories of a lifetime that they will have to deal with.”

Galliott said the information indicates the man was not injured.

“I understand that it was the man at the management who contacted the emergency services,” he said.

There was no history of family violence associated with this family, Hill said.

When asked if it could be a murder-suicide, he said there were “several possibilities and that’s one.”

Police did not release details about the injuries sustained by the victims.

A neighbor told NCA Newswire it was “horrible.”

“There are people everywhere, police everywhere,” he said.

She said she heard the sirens around 12.30am, but didn’t hear anything unusual beforehand.

“Actually, my son came over and said you have to take a look at this mom, when the commotion started,” he said.

Another woman who lives on the same street also said that she did not hear anything before the police arrived.

“We were wondering what the hell is going on?” she said.

“We have never seen so many cops in this area.

“It’s so sad.”

The woman said it was a nice neighborhood where children felt safe playing in the street.

He did not know the children who lived in the house, but said he believed they were going to the local elementary school.

“It is not expected that there will be so many police in this area, it is a quiet area,” he said.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.