Pretoria orthopaedic surgeon Graham Dickason gave chilling testimony in the high court in Christchurch, New Zealand, this week on how his wife, murder accused Lauren Dickason, had told him that she wanted to harm their children.
He told the court that Lauren had spoken of giving the children sleeping tablets and cutting their femoral arteries, and said he was surprised and concerned by the comment, but not angry.
Lauren, 41, is charged with murdering their three children — Liané, 6, and twins Karla and Maya, 2, on September 16 2021, less than a month after they emigrated to New Zealand. She admits smothering the children to death, but has pleaded not guilty to the murder charges by reason of insanity or infanticide. The trial started on Monday.
Under New Zealand law, “infanticide” is a crime similar to culpable homicide and can be invoked by women who argue their minds were temporarily “disturbed” by the stress of childbirth or breastfeeding. The maximum prison term is three years.
According to New Zealand media, the prosecutors argue Lauren was not insane at the time and that the girls were murdered. The trial is expected to continue for about two weeks.
Graham found the three children dead and his wife in a serious condition when he arrived home after having dinner with colleagues, according to New Zealand media reports.
She was remanded in custody to a hospital psychiatric unit and has remained there since the killings.
According to the New Zealand publication Stuff, Graham told the court this week he did not think the girls were at risk from their mother, despite her comments that she would “do something” to them.
Three kids have really killed all the passion and a lot of the happiness
— Lauren Dickason
He was asked by defence lawyer Anne Toohey if he recalled telling Lauren it was “time to pull on your big girl panties and pull yourself together”. He responded that he remembered telling Lauren to pull herself together, but that had been before they emigrated to New Zealand.
The New Zealand Herald quoted prosecutor Andrew McRae as saying the state would lead evidence that Dickason “harboured resentment and anger” towards her children, citing messages she sent to friends.
Lauren allegedly first tried to strangle the children with cable ties. When that failed, she smothered them with blankets, the court heard. She then took an overdose of pills, but survived the suicide attempt.
Despite the Dickasons wanting children so much that they underwent fertility treatment to have them, after the girls were born Lauren struggled with motherhood, the court heard.
According to cellphone records obtained by police, the Herald said she told one friend: “Three kids have really killed all the passion and a lot of the happiness.”
McRae said Lauren resented the way the children got in the way of her relationship with her husband. Stuff quoted him as saying she had a history of depression.
“Lauren had told her husband in 2019 and 2021 that she had thoughts of harming her children. She was scared of those thoughts and feelings and sought help.”
Graham, testifying remotely from South Africa via a video link, told the court Lauren had struggled with her mental health in the 15 years they were together.
This worsened after she underwent multiple rounds of fertility treatment to have children, and she needed medication and psychiatric help, according to New Zealand media.
Several former South Africans who crossed paths with Lauren in New Zealand in the days leading up to the children’s deaths testified about how troubled the mother was.
Carin van Heerden, whose husband was a work colleague of Graham’s, said she met the family at a dinner on September 12. “I feel like her first day was terrible, I tried to reassure her that things would be fine,” Van Heerden said. She further testified that the three Dickason girls “constantly went to sit and cuddle with Graham”.
“I felt like they were a loving family because of the way he interacted with the girls. I didn’t personally see Lauren having any interactions with the girls.”
On Friday, text messages sent to and by Lauren in the months and weeks leading up to the deaths revealed a picture of an increasingly stressed mother struggling to deal with unruly children and the pressures of emigrating to New Zealand.
“I need help learning to cope with motherhood,” she texted in January 2020. “I am under care for depression, but even though the meds work most of the time, I get overwhelmed so easily and the anxiety gets so bad I cannot eat, sleep or function properly.”
In June 2021, Lauren sent two texts to a friend, venting about the children misbehaving: “Tonight they threw corn at me and said the meat is disgusting. Then they hit me when I tell them off.”
In mid-August 2021, the Dickasons were in isolation at Graham’s mother’s home preparing to fly to New Zealand. Lauren sent a number of messages about the situation to friends.
“I am in such a deep dark hole I cannot think or move. I feel paralysed by fear and uncertainty,” she wrote to one friend.
The trial continues on Monday.
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