Warning: This story contains evidence from the trial which some readers may find extremely upsetting.
The trial of the woman accused of murdering her three children in Timaru has concluded its first week in Christchurch's High Court.
Lauren Dickason, 41, moved to New Zealand during the pandemic with her husband and three children from South Africa.
On September 16, 2021, less than one week after they arrived in the Canterbury town of Timaru, while Lauren's husband Graham was at a work function she told their three girls they were going to make necklaces, and then put zip ties around their necks.
"When they failed to die by way of the cable ties being applied to their neck, the Crown alleges the defendant smothered the girls with their blankets before she made an attempt on her own life," Crown prosecutor Andrew McRae said during his opening statement.
Lauren entered the High Court on Monday to face three counts of murder, one for each of her little girls - 6-year-old Liané, and 2-year-old twins Maya, and Karla.
She is using the defence of insanity but also infanticide - that she was severely mentally disturbed and didn't know what she was doing at the time of the killings.
"Lauren was in such a dark place, so removed from reality, so suicidal, so disordered in her thinking, that when she decided to kill herself that night, she thought she had to take the girls with her," defence counsel Kerryn Beaton KC said.
But the Crown tells a different story of a mother who would snap at her children and acted methodically as she killed them one by one.
During the first week of the trial, the jury heard from Graham Dickason, the first responders on the scene, those who met the Dickasons during their short time in Timaru and Lauren's phone messages in the years leading up to the killings.
The brave witness at times would stop for water, take deep breaths, fight tears and sob as they gave emotional evidence of the harrowing events of that tragic night.
Lauren's long mental health struggle and the emotional and physical toll the couple's fertility journey had was laid bare in court.
It took Lauren a gruelling 17 rounds of IVF, with one miscarriage, before the pair eventually used donor eggs to have their children, the court heard.
After the couple's miscarriage with a daughter who was to be named Sarah, Lauren cried every day for two months.
Appearing in court via audio-visual link, Graham was questioned over three prior instances when Lauren had verbalised her thoughts of wanting to hurt their children - May 2019, July 2021 and August 2021.
He detailed how the stresses from COVID lockdowns, riots in South Africa and the move affected Lauren's mental health but maintained that she was a "wonderful mother" who was "excited" to move to New Zealand.
However, when they arrived in the country the court heard how Lauren became more reserved. Graham and other witnesses described the woman as pale, thin, quiet and at times flat. But her appearance was put down to the normal pressures families face when immigrating. None of the witnesses were particularly concerned and none of them could have predicted what happened next.
On the night of September 16, 2021, Graham returned home from a work function, stumbling into an unimaginable scene - his adoring children's lifeless bodies tucked in bed, his wife injured and in a catatonic state.
The sequence of events of that night was relayed in court through the perspectives of Graham, his work colleague and his wife who were first on the scene, police officers and paramedics.
"I've been married to her for 15 years. Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine something like this," Graham said.
The trial continues on Monday in front of Justice Cameron Mander.
Where to find help and support:
- Shine (domestic violence) - 0508 744 633
- Women's Refuge - 0800 733 843 (0800 REFUGE)
- Need to Talk? - Call or text 1737
- What's Up - 0800 WHATS UP (0800 942 8787)
- Lifeline - 0800 543 354
- Youthline - 0800 376 633, text 234, email talk@youthline.co.nz or online chat
- Samaritans - 0800 726 666
- Depression Helpline - 0800 111 757
- Suicide Crisis Helpline - 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
- Shakti Community Council - 0800 742 584
