Mother sentenced to 18 years for killing her 3 daughters
A mother who smothered her three young daughters while they slept has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Lauren Dickason, 41, was convicted last August of murdering her two-year-old twin daughters, Maya and Karla, and their six-year-old sister Lianè at their home in Timaru, New Zealand, on September 16, 2021.
Initially, Dickason attempted to kill her children using zip ties, then suffocated them with pillows. Afterward, she placed them in their beds under the covers and attempted to take her own life.
While she admitted to killing the girls, she pleaded not guilty to murder, citing postpartum depression and mental disturbance at the time of the incident.
The judge ruled that Lauren Dickason will spend 18 years detained in a mental health facility, serving six years for each daughter, without a minimum term of imprisonment.
Justice Cameron Mander stated that a life imprisonment with a minimum parole period of 17 years or more would be too severe, according to the NZ Herald.
He sentenced her to three concurrent 18-year sentences without a minimum term of imprisonment.
Judge Mander also ordered that Dickason be detained in a mental health facility for compulsory treatment until she is mentally fit to be transferred to prison.
Dickason will be eligible for parole after serving six years of her sentence.
Through her counsel, the mother-of-three took responsibility for the deaths and apologized for the pain she had caused her husband, Graham.
She said: “I loved Liané, Maya and Karla with all my heart. No apology will ever be enough, and words will seem hollow to many.
“I want people to know our girls brought me so much joy and were the centre of my world. I am horrified by my actions, and the pain, distress and trauma I have caused everyone who loved them. Like many others, I miss them every single day.”
Dickason, a former doctor, said she wanted people to know about the risks of post-partum depression and that she was dedicated to improving her mental health.
She added: “We urge other families to look for and act on unhealthy signs. We urge women experiencing the symptoms of post-partum depression to tell the ones they love.
“This pain and heartbreak cannot happen to any other families.”
Judge Mander stated that Lauren Dickason had struggled with poor mental health for most of her life, having been diagnosed with major depressive disorder in her teens. Her mental state deteriorated further after the births of her daughters, leading her to seek psychiatric treatment for post-natal depression.
In the months leading up to the murders, Dickason began experiencing intrusive thoughts of harming her children, according to Judge Mander.
Following her murder trial last August, three expert reports on Dickason’s current mental health were submitted. These reports indicated that she had “recognition of the impact of the offending on others” and expressed “regret and remorse” for killing her daughters.
Some experts noted that she continued to be affected by mental disorders.
Judge Mander commended Mr. Dickason, who is also a doctor, for his grace and stoicism despite the “unfathomable loss.” He remarked, “Sentencing a parent for the murder of three children is unprecedented in New Zealand. The children were vulnerable due to their age and entirely dependent on you, their mother, for care and protection.
They saw you as an unconditional source of safety and love, making this a fundamental breach of trust.”
The Dickasons had moved to New Zealand from South Africa just days before the murders, seeking a more stable lifestyle for their family. Mr. Dickason, an orthopedic surgeon, returned from a work dinner to find his children dead.
He later told police that while he knew his wife was struggling with her mental health and motherhood, he had no idea she was capable of such actions.
The guilty verdict followed a four-week trial, with the jury—comprised of eight women and four men—rejecting Dickason’s legal defenses under New Zealand’s insanity and infanticide laws and voting 11-1 for her conviction.
