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Mum accused of killing her 'helpless' children with meat cleaver

WARNING - DISTRESSING CONTENT: A mum has faced court accused of killing her two children with a meat cleaver.

Yui Inoue, 40, from the US state of Arizona, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder after the deaths of her daughter, 9, and son, 7.

Inoue told the court through a Japanese interpreter on Monday she “did not kill anybody”.

Wearing an orange jumpsuit and a face mask in front of a podium, Inoue otherwise spoke little during her initial appearance, where prosecutor Jay Rademacher asked for her to be held on a US$2 million ($2.57 million) cash bond.

Mr Rademacher described how the bodies of Inoue’s daughter and son were found in their suburban Phoenix apartment lacerated, mutilated and “almost completely decapitated.”

“These children were helpless ... and did everything they could to fight their mother,” Mr Rademacher said.

Yui Inoue, 40, is pictured.
Yui Inoue, 40, is accused of murdering her children with a meat cleaver. Source: Tempe Police Department

Upon hearing the prosecutor’s description of the children’s injuries, Inoue put her head down on the podium.

The commissioner ordered she be held on the requested bond, surrender her passport and wear an electronic monitoring device. He also ordered her a court-appointed lawyer.

Inoue went to a local police station Saturday morning (local time) and told officers that “she was hearing voices telling her to kill her children,” according to charging documents.

Police called Inoue’s husband. He said the couple, who filed for divorce in April, had fought the night before over money she wanted to move to Japan. He said she threatened to stab him so he left around 12.30am.

Police said they had been called to the woman’s apartment earlier Saturday morning because of a domestic dispute involving a husband and wife.

Her husband told investigators he slept in his car in a parking lot. He told authorities he did not think she would harm their children.

Police and forensics canvas outside an Arizona apartment where a mum allegedly killed her children.
Forensics move in on the scene. Source: ABC 15

Police also said there was no apparent reason at the time to call child welfare authorities.

Later that morning, different officers went to the apartment and discovered the bodies of both children under a blanket and boxes, as well as a large amount of blood.

The children, who had numerous wounds, were immediately pronounced dead. Their names have not been released.

Police arrested the mother after noticing bloodstains on her heel, superficial cuts on her fingers, and bruising on her hands and knees. They also noticed blood spatter on suitcases in her car.

When questioned by police through a Japanese interpreter, Inoue said she woke up around 4.30am with blood on her hands and arms. She found her children dead but said she had no memory of doing anything to them. She said she took a bath before heading to the police station.

Tempe police recovered a meat cleaver with a 15cm blade from her car. It was in a bag containing clothes with bloodstains.

Inoue’s next preliminary court hearing is scheduled for May 25.

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