Twist as note found near fatal crash site

A note found at the scene of a fiery crash where a mother and her four children were killed has sparked the state coroner to investigate whether the horror incident was a possible murder-suicide.

Charmaine McLeod, 35, was driving her station wagon on the Bunya Highway at Kumbia, in the South Burnett region of Queensland, hours away from their home in Hervey Bay in May 2019.

Her four children; Aaleyn, 6, Matilda, 5, Wyatt, 4, and Zaidok, 2, were in the back of the car.

As Ms McLeod attempted to overtake a truck, the car collided head-on with another truck travelling in the opposite direction on the highway.

Ms McLeod and three of her children died at the scene, while Aaleyn died en route to Brisbane hospital.

The truck driver was injured during the fiery crash.

A coronial inquest began on Wednesday and will run for more than two weeks in the Coroners Court of Queensland in Brisbane.

Counsel assisting the coroner Kylie Hillard said police found a “pink purse” near the wreckage undamaged.

“That note … had handwritten notations on it over a number of pages where Charmaine referred to being unable to cope, being worried about the fate of her children, and that she had sought help,” Ms Hillard said.

“It referred to complaints of rape, it referred to complaints of two of her children being molested, it referred to complaints of her children being abused and generally referred to the justice system.”

Ms Hillard said the mother of four had a long history of mental health, including schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder.

“Charmaine had an ongoing mental illness; her diagnosis changed and her medications changed,” she said.

Ms Hillard said Ms McLeod had medical history that stated she had “hallucinations, commands to harm herself and others and hallucinations animals were speaking to her”.

She added Ms McLeod had also reported concerns that she was being “stalked” and “people were coming to her home”.

“Whether or not these were real or part of symptoms of her psychosis will be examined,” Ms Hillard said.

The inquest will also examine allegations of domestic violence towards Ms McLeod.

A women’s refuge worker, who can’t be identified for legal reasons, said Ms McLeod had told her about her allegedly abusive past.

“She said that she had been to the police regarding the alleged PUV (person using violence) driving past and doing hand signals of like a gun to the head and the cutting across the neck,” the woman told the inquest.

“Charmaine said that the police officer made a comment of ‘you should not take the children away from their father’.

“Charmaine said that their whole relationship even before they were married, there was sexual violence.”

The inquest heard the woman recalled Ms McLeod was “terrified” of her former partner and “seemed to be relieved to be somewhere she perceived to be safe” when she attended the refuge.

Meanwhile, another woman who had visited the McLeod family home told the inquest that she had noted James McLeod, the father of the four children who died, criticising Ms McLeod over her weight when the couple were still together.

She also recalled seeing “highly inappropriate” behaviour at the house.

“I witnessed James asked Matilda to go to the bathroom with him so she could hold his penis while he urinated,” the woman, who cannot be legally named, said.

“I walked past the bathroom and the door was opened and they both were in there and I just kept walking because I thought it was highly inappropriate. They were facing the toilet bowl.”

The woman told the inquest that Ms McLeod “laughed it off” when she was told about the incident “as if it was normal behaviour for the household”.

When questioned by Mr McLeod’s barrister whether she’d made up the allegations about the children’s father, the woman told the inquest that she hadn’t “lied about this incident”.

No charges have ever been laid against Mr McLeod.

The inquest heard a police investigation into the the alleged sexual abuse of Ms McLeod’s daughter Matilda determined the claims were “unfounded”.

The inquest heard investigations into the crash found Ms McLeod had tried to overtake the truck in front of her before colliding with an oncoming B-double.

Investigating officer Senior Constable Christopher McIndley said the crash was not caused by speed, as both vehicles were travelling in a 100km/h zone on the highway.

“Both the truck and trailer had their brakes operating correctly, the mechanic couldn’t make a determination because of the damage, but there were no defects,” Constable McIndley said.

“Speed is hard to rule out when there’s a massive weight difference in the vehicle.

“In my opinion, speed wasn’t a factor when I did an investigation of the scene.”

He added another officer’s investigation of the scene also supported this theory.

Coroner Kerrie O’Callaghan will hear evidence from multiple witnesses, including police and medical staff, about the months leading up to the crash.

She is expected to also evaluate how the family died and the possible cause of the crash.

The inquest was launched to evaluate the appropriateness and adequacy of police responses to the complaints of domestic and family violence and allegations of abuse made by Ms McLeod against her and her children.

Ms McLeod’s mental health care, treatment and monitoring by Queensland Health will also be examined by the coroner.

The coroners court will also look at the responses by relevant agencies to the protection, safety and welfare of the children, including the Department of Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs, the Queensland Police Service and Queensland Health.