Melbourne woman Anitha Mathew burnt sons alive in revenge plot, coroner finds concludes murder-suicide as revenge

  

'I will try my luck in my next life': Mother sent chilling suicide email before feeding her two young sons cakes laced with sleeping pills, setting their home alight and burning them alive 

Woman who set her sons alight after feeding them Stilnox left suicide note
Anitha Mathew, 37, fed her sons Mathew, 5 and Philip, 9 Stilnox (sleeping pill), set fire to her family's home in Clayton south in 2012. She was killed in blaze, along with her two sons,
The court was informed that this was a revenge over marriage after she was 'frozen out'
A woman who set her sons alight after feeding them cakes laced with sleeping pills sent a chilling suicide note to a friend saying she would 'try her luck in her next life' before committing the horrific act.

Anitha Mathew, 37, doused the family's home in Clayton South in petrol before setting it alight on June 1 in 2012, after giving her sons Mathew, five, and Philip, nine, cheesecakes filled with the drug Stilnox.
A court heard, Ms Mathew, who also died in the blaze, wanted revenge over an unhappy marriage after she was 'frozen out' by her husband.
Ms Mathew and her husband George Philip were in an arranged marriage and were going through a relationship breakdown. Mr Philip was in India at the time of the incident.

Anitha Mathew.

In his findings last week, Judge Ian Gray found Mr Philip gave Philip $500 before going overseas and was reportedly not speaking to his wife at the time of the fire after an argument about her cooking.
Mr Philip told the court his wife had threatened to kill her family in a phone call with a cousin in Canada, according to The Courier Mail.
Ms Mathew and her husband George Philip were in an arranged marriage and were going through a relationship breakdown. Mr Philip was in India at the time of the incident 

 

     

After the death of the two young children, a shrine was made by the students of St Peters Primary School

     

 In his findings last week, Judge Ian Gray found Mr Philip gave Philip $500 before going overseas and was reportedly not speaking to his wife at the time of the fire after an argument about her cooking

Coroner finds - Melbourne woman Anitha Mathew burnt sons alive in revenge plot

A woman who burnt her sons alive after feeding them cheesecake laced with sleeping pills wanted revenge over an unhappy marriage, a coroner has found.Anitha Mathew, 37, fed her sons Mathew George, 5, and Philip George, 9, cakes laced with Stilnox, then set their Clayton South home alight on June 1, 2012. Ms Mathew, who also died in the evil revenge killing, emailed a friend shortly before starting the blaze saying: “I will try my luck in my next life”.
 Murder-suicide theory in fatal fire

Photo: Trevor Pinder

Forensic crews at the scene of the fire. The security shutters and door were torn off in a rescue attempt.  

 

   

 

In a finding handed down last week Coroner Ian Gray found there was no medical or psychological condition which could explain her actions.

“Ms Mathew’s killing of her two young sons is, on the available evidence, impossible to understand,” - Judge Gray.

 “At the same time it is difficult to resist the conclusion that she was also punishing her husband, that there was vengeance in the filicides.”
Ms Mathew and her husband George Philip hadn’t spoken for months after their 13-year marriage fell apart.
Mr Philip later told police the couple stopped speaking after a fight about her cooking.

 

He had feared Ms Mathew would harm herself, and had complained to her father “he could not take any more of her behavior (and told him to) either take her back or fix the issue”.Ms Mathew had threatened to kill her husband, and later her family, in a phone call with a cousin in Canada.“If nothing happens, I am going to kill him. I am going to die. I’m going to kill everybody,” she said.
“I was not a forceful husband to my wife, I was quite accommodating. I even allowed her to keep her maiden name,” he told the inquest.
Judge Gray found some of his behavior, including refusing to speak to Ms Mathew, was controlling within the meaning of the Family Violence Act.
“The tragic irony is ... Ms Mathew has committed the ultimate family violence in this case,”

Credit: heraldsun