Chilling audio of Hannah Clarke’s killer ex-husband complaining about the young mum to a men’s support line – just days before he murdered her and her three kids – has been played to a court.
Disturbing CCTV footage of Rowan Baxter pacing through a Bunnings Warehouse store was also played, showing the father of three pacing the aisles and purchasing a jerry can, zip-ties and surface cleaner before the horrific incident.
The harrowing footage comes as the inquest into the deaths of Hannah, Baxter and their childrenxjmtzyw Laianah, Aaliyah and Trey enters its final days in Brisbane.
The four were murdered when Baxter doused the family car in petrol and set it on fire on February 19, 2020.
Baxter took his own life as neighbours desperately tried to extinguish the fire.
The court on Wednesday was told that days before the heinous killing, Baxter purchased the items at a Bunnings store in Mansfield and left.
CCTV showed him pacing the aisles and glancing at motor fuel.
A receipt dated February 18 revealed Baxter purchased 4.6 litres of fuel from a Caltex servo as well as three Kinder Surprise chocolates and “other lollies”.
Audio of his call to a men’s support helpline was also played, with Baxter complaining about having to seek behavioural change through the service.
“I’ve been put through the ringer in the last two months,” he is heard saying to the operator.
“It’s not my idea, but I had to do it.”
During the call, Baxter tells the operator that Ms Clarke had “got to the stage where she was dictating” when he could have the children.
He references his abduction of Laianah on Boxing Day 2019 – falsely claiming his “middle child” wanted to come with him on Boxing Day and “mum didn’t want that”.
“I never thought my wife was capable of doing this … it got worse and worse and worse,” Baxter tells the operator.
The court also heard from multiple domestic violence support workers, one of whom gave evidence of Ms Clarke asking for support from the Brisbane Domestic Violence Service in December 2019.
At the time, Ms Clarke had concerns about Baxter using technology to abuse her and was seeking advice on family violence.
The woman completed a risk assessment with Ms Clarke, who disclosed that Baxter had choked her during sex – something that made Ms Clarke’s case “high risk”.
The inquest was told that information was not passed on to police as it was “assumed” they would know what happened.
“We get a range of high-risk situations, so unfortunately it was a situation where we didn’t have the manpower to complete it that week,” the woman said.
The woman said domestic and family violence services were not closely linked with the police and officers at times had mixed responses to cases.
A distraught Hannah Clarke tells police her estranged husband Rowan Baxter has abducted her four-year-old daughter Laianah on Boxing Day 2019.
Another woman told the inquest that she was surprised at how “calm” Ms Clarke appeared and assumed she would be “more emotionally fearful and distraught”.
She gave evidence she did not believe Ms Clarke was at “imminent risk” as police and DV support agencies were assisting her at the time.
“Having said that, her children were also present when we visited and maybe she didn’t want to display that emotion with her children,” she said.
“I know that her parents were there as social support. There was nothing glaring for me that I could see or assess as being at imminent risk.”
The inquest continues.
Domestic Violence helplines
