A father killed his two young children and then committed suicide after a bitter marriage breakdown, an inquest heard yesterday.
Brian Philcox, 53, even left a boobytrap bomb in his home, designed to explode as his wife opened a note he had left, addressed to the 'Bitch'. But it failed to detonate.
The horror happened on Father's Day weekend in June last year.
They were excitedly clutching home-made Father's Day cards as he picked them up from the home of his estranged wife Lyn McAuliffe on Friday.
Security guard Philcox, from Runcorn, Cheshire, had been supposed to return them on Saturday evening.
Instead, he drove his Land Rover to a remote beauty spot in the heart of Snowdonia in North Wales.
Philcox had sedated the children with drugs and makeshift chloroform masks.
He climbed into the back seat with them as exhaust fumes filled the car, killing all three. Police found their bodies the following day.
The Llandudno inquest heard that Philcox, a karate expert, had married Miss McAuliffe in 2000. But they split over his violent and controlling personality and were involved in an acrimonious divorce.
'She's trying to take me to the cleaners and leave me with nothing - well I'm not going to let her.'
Miss McAuliffe told the inquest that Philcox had sent a text message on the evening he was supposed to return the children, saying he was having trouble with the car.
He later phoned and repeatedly apologised to her.
She said: ' He kept saying: "There's nothing I can do, it is out of my control, I am sorry".
'He threw me because I didn't know then what he was talking about. I thought he was talking about the car.'
At 10.45pm he sent another text telling her to get his spare key and enter his house.
Miss McAuliffe called police and her sister Geraldine Craven went round to the property. Inside, she found an envelope with the word 'Bitch' written on it. It had been glued to a kitchen work top.
Police later realised that the act of ripping it off was supposed to spark an explosion from elaborate devices Philcox had hidden in his walls, skirting boards and under the kitchen table. But they failed to go off.
Police launched a major hunt for Philcox and the children. They were finally found dead on the afternoon of Father's Day.
Home Office pathologist Brian Rodgers told the inquest the children's bodies showed no signs of injury or struggle. They would have been deeply asleep before the carbon monoxide fumes killed them.
Acting coroner John Gittins, sitting at Llandudno Magistrates' Court, recorded a verdict of suicide on Philcox, who was chairman of the Federation of English Karate Organisations, and verdicts of unlawful killing for his daughter Amy and son Owen.
Mr Gittins told Miss McAuliffe: 'When Brian Philcox took Amy and Owen from you, he thought they would be lost to you forever - but he failed.
'The short lives they had were imprinted on your heart and they will endure with you.
'They will be part of you every single moment of every single day.'
Miss McAuliffe, of Runcorn, sat in tears through the hearing.
Afterwards, in a statement read out by her sister, Miss McAuliffe said: 'Since Amy and Owen died, my life has been a constant nightmare. I don't feel as if I have been coping - just existing. No day is easy without them.
'Some people have mentioned that maybe some day, I or we as a family, will forgive Brian. I will never forgive him for taking our beautiful Amy and Owen.
'He had no right to take their lives. He was an evil man whose attempts to use homemade bombs clearly show that all his acts were that of a cold-blooded, premeditated killer.'
Philcox had contacted the pressure group Fathers 4 Justice to tell them of his desperation over the divorce. After the tragedy, the group was disbanded by founder Matt O'Connor, who said: 'People intimated we were somehow responsible for his actions.
'I had a two-minute conversation with him, I had no idea that was what he was going to do. I felt I had become responsible for the behaviour of every father.'
Brian Philcox, 53, even left a boobytrap bomb in his home, designed to explode as his wife opened a note he had left, addressed to the 'Bitch'. But it failed to detonate.
The horror happened on Father's Day weekend in June last year.
Evelyn McAuliffe is helped into the inquest into the deaths of her two children and ex-husband
Philcox's children Amy, seven and Owen, three, had been spending a day with him as one of their regular contact visits. They were excitedly clutching home-made Father's Day cards as he picked them up from the home of his estranged wife Lyn McAuliffe on Friday.
Security guard Philcox, from Runcorn, Cheshire, had been supposed to return them on Saturday evening.
Instead, he drove his Land Rover to a remote beauty spot in the heart of Snowdonia in North Wales.
Philcox had sedated the children with drugs and makeshift chloroform masks.
He climbed into the back seat with them as exhaust fumes filled the car, killing all three. Police found their bodies the following day.
The Llandudno inquest heard that Philcox, a karate expert, had married Miss McAuliffe in 2000. But they split over his violent and controlling personality and were involved in an acrimonious divorce.
Amy Philcox, seven, and her three-year-old brother Owen were found dead in a Land Rover on Father's Day last year. Their father had poisoned them with carbon monoxide fumes
Miss McAuliffe was claiming possession of the family home, but Philcox had a friend: 'That woman wants everything - my house and my money and my kids. 'She's trying to take me to the cleaners and leave me with nothing - well I'm not going to let her.'
Miss McAuliffe told the inquest that Philcox had sent a text message on the evening he was supposed to return the children, saying he was having trouble with the car.
She said: ' He kept saying: "There's nothing I can do, it is out of my control, I am sorry".
'He threw me because I didn't know then what he was talking about. I thought he was talking about the car.'
At 10.45pm he sent another text telling her to get his spare key and enter his house.
Brian Philcox murdered his two children and killed himself
Police later realised that the act of ripping it off was supposed to spark an explosion from elaborate devices Philcox had hidden in his walls, skirting boards and under the kitchen table. But they failed to go off.
Police launched a major hunt for Philcox and the children. They were finally found dead on the afternoon of Father's Day.
Home Office pathologist Brian Rodgers told the inquest the children's bodies showed no signs of injury or struggle. They would have been deeply asleep before the carbon monoxide fumes killed them.
Acting coroner John Gittins, sitting at Llandudno Magistrates' Court, recorded a verdict of suicide on Philcox, who was chairman of the Federation of English Karate Organisations, and verdicts of unlawful killing for his daughter Amy and son Owen.
Mr Gittins told Miss McAuliffe: 'When Brian Philcox took Amy and Owen from you, he thought they would be lost to you forever - but he failed.
'The short lives they had were imprinted on your heart and they will endure with you.
'They will be part of you every single moment of every single day.'
Miss McAuliffe, of Runcorn, sat in tears through the hearing.
Afterwards, in a statement read out by her sister, Miss McAuliffe said: 'Since Amy and Owen died, my life has been a constant nightmare. I don't feel as if I have been coping - just existing. No day is easy without them.
'Some people have mentioned that maybe some day, I or we as a family, will forgive Brian. I will never forgive him for taking our beautiful Amy and Owen.
'He had no right to take their lives. He was an evil man whose attempts to use homemade bombs clearly show that all his acts were that of a cold-blooded, premeditated killer.'
Philcox had contacted the pressure group Fathers 4 Justice to tell them of his desperation over the divorce. After the tragedy, the group was disbanded by founder Matt O'Connor, who said: 'People intimated we were somehow responsible for his actions.
'I had a two-minute conversation with him, I had no idea that was what he was going to do. I felt I had become responsible for the behaviour of every father.'
No comments:
Post a Comment