Rowan Baxter died from self-inflicted wounds at the scene of Ms Clarke and their children’s deaths.Credit:Integr8 Functional Training
Ms Clarke,31,and her children – Aaliyah,Laianah and Trey – were burned alive by her estranged husband,Rowan Baxter,42,when he doused the inside of the family’s SUV in petrol and ignited it in Camp Hill,in Brisbane’s south on February 19,2020.
A coronial inquest that started in Brisbane this week is investigating the contact Ms Clarke and Baxter had with domestic violence support services and police in the months before the tragedy. Whether more could have been done to keep the three Clarke children safe is a focus.
Brad Clark owned the Athlete’s Foot store where Hannah worked. Baxter had worked there previously and had business dealings with the store for his gym.
Mr Clark said Baxter told him he was going through Ms Clarke’s phone because he was “jealous and had trust issues from a previous relationship”.
At that point,Ms Clarke had taken out a domestic violence order against Baxter and the couple were going through mediation to decide how regularly he should see their children.
Baxter asked Mr Clark repeatedly in January 2020 to sack Ms Clarke.