An inquest has heard a man drowned his daughter and two dogs before hanging himself. He wrapped the little girl’s lifeless arms around her dogs as she if she was cuddling them.
Darren Flux-Edmonds, 44, was looking after his 6-year-old daughter Keziah at her home on the Isle of Wight in the UK in June this year.
His wife of 12 years, Nikki Flux-Edmonds, had left him a few months before and he was currently living with his mother. However, he regularly saw his daughter and was at Nikki’s home looking after Keziah while she popped out to work for an hour.
Isle of Wight Coroners Court heard Flux-Edmonds sent her a chilling text 25 minutes after she left the house.
Nikki, a financial service administrator, had been on her way to see a customer when she pulled her car over and read the message which began with ‘Congratulations’ and ended with: ‘You have left me with nothing, I’ll leave you with only memories.’
The hysterical mum called police who found Darren had hanged himself in the loft – while Keziah was lying unconscious in bed cuddled up to her pets Arnie and Maxiumus.
One of the first officers at the scene, PC Matthew Romsey, made the following distressing statement:
He said: “Nicola [Nikki] was sobbing asking where her little girl was, saying ‘darling where are you? If you’re hiding, come out’. On a bed was a young small child. She was laying on her back and her head was to the left. She appeared to be in her pyjamas, on each side of her was a dog. The child’s arms had been moved to look like she was cuddling each of the dogs. Around the child’s mouth was foam. I was overcome with shock and upset. I requested PC Fletcher go downstairs to prevent Nicola coming in.”
Both the dogs were soaking wet and it is believed Flux-Edmonds drowned them both in the bathtub after he had killed Keziah.
Isle of Wight Coroners Court also heard that the 44-year-old had seen a therapist over his mental health, and revealed in sessions how he had nightmares about murdering his wife and daughter.
Nikki spoke during the inquest too, her heartbreak palpable. “There was never a moment when Darren could not see Keziah. She loved Darren. She thought the sun shone out of him. She was my world. Darren has killed my baby and my boys [the dogs]. He was petrified I was going to go with someone else and did that to punish me. My world is over. I have nothing left, my whole life was Keziah. She was my only chance of having a child. I did everything to make her happy and I have nothing left.”
Unbearably tragic.
