The mother of two children who were killed by their father, John Edwards, carried urns containing their ashes in her handbag for months before she took her own life, an inquest hears.
The woman, who can not be named for legal reasons, told the inquest Ms Edwards carried the urns — one pink and one blue — in her handbag for "five soul-destroying" months before she took her own life."They had lived with John, I know what that meant. We were bonded by that alone."
In 2011, she took out an apprehended violence order against her father after he sent her a letter indicating he had asked a friend to follow her. A few days later, when dropping her three-year-old daughter at pre-school, John Edwards stepped out from behind a tree and approached her, terrifying her and her two young children in the car.
The coronial inquest into the murder-suicide is investigating how John Edwards was able to obtain a gun licence and access to firearms.Edwards' daughter told the inquest she felt sadness and guilt that she was able to survive her father but Jack and Jennifer did not."He spent 50 years traumatising the women and children in his life without remorse."
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