Photo via Daily Mail

NSW mum who stabbed her two young sons to death is found not criminally responsible - as chilling searches before killings are revealed

Read the original at Daily Mail ↗
Cite

Rae, M. (2026, September 18). NSW mum who stabbed her two young sons to death is found not criminally responsible - as chilling searches before killings are revealed. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16140699/NSW-mum-stabbed-two-young-sons-death-not-criminally-responsible-chilling-searches-killings-revealed.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Daily Mail · collected 2026-09-18 · by Maisy Rae
Content note This article describes suicide or self-harm and abuse of a child.

Quick Summary

A New South Wales mother who stabbed her two young sons to death will not face criminal charges after a court determined she was suffering from major depression during the incident. The killings occurred in September 2024, with the woman making disturbing internet searches about suicide and child murder leading up to the event. Justice Richard Cavanagh found that due to her mental health condition, she could not understand the wrongfulness of her actions at the time.
Written by AI on 2026-09-18, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In September 2024, a 42-year-old woman from the Blue Mountains was found not criminally responsible for stabbing her two sons to death. The boys were aged nine and eleven when their father discovered them in their family home. Before the incident, she had been struggling with major depression and made several disturbing internet searches related to suicide and killing children. These searches included queries like "Most Infamous Alleged Mommy Murderers in History" and "How To Respond When Your Child Says 'I hate you'."

The court ruled that due to her mental health condition, the woman was unable to reason at the time of the murders. She had been under significant stress after learning that her ex-husband's new partner was pregnant. Following the tragic deaths, she attempted to take her own life and was hospitalized with self-inflicted injuries.

Currently, the Mental Health Review Tribunal will determine where she will be detained for further treatment.

Written for “Mother Stabs Children Dead Critical” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 23 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Mother Stabs Children Dead Critical
Crime & Law · 24 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 17% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 0 of 1 claims Outlet record 68/100
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 31 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles describe different outcomes and juror reactions from separate stages or trials related to the same individual, indicating they are not describing the exact same specific incident.”
CBC News
Hedges 1 of 24 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles describe different stages or aspects of the same case but do not report on a single identical incident.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Outlet record 61/100
“The articles describe different events involving separate victims and perpetrators.”
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 0 of 5 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different stabbing incidents with distinct victims, locations, ages of victims, and outcomes.”
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 0 of 9 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different incidents with distinct victims and locations.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 0 of 7 claims Outlet record 61/100
“The articles describe different victims and ages of children, as well as different locations (home vs. car in Blue Mountains) and charges.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 5 of 24 claims Outlet record 61/100
“The articles describe different events involving distinct victims and locations.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
18
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
17%
3 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
68/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
24
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-18 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 8421 article(s) · 20 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 20 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Maisy Rae
92 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Brisbane mother Rina Cavazza, who paid $170,000 for a berth, said she was unwilling to contribute any more money.
🔮 Referencing the safety concerns raised by the women, Ms Link said she also hoped her positive experience as A'Vard's current partner would be considered.
🔮 The rules state workers must avoid putting themselves in situations that could hurt them or others, keep a safe distance from aggressors and never follow anyone out of a store.
🔮 Almost every Australian would save around $1,000 a year under tax changes proposed by the Greens that would be paid for by collecting 'rivers of gold' from gas and mining companies.
🔮 The One Nation MP said his former wife, Natalie Abberfield, is among more than 12,000 customers whose funds were wiped out after the First Guardian and Shield Master Funds collapsed in May 2024, owing about $1.2billion.
🔮 Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has taken up a post at a major Australian university, where she will mentor students and teach about 'empathetic leadership and social cohesion.
🔮 A report will be prepared for the information of the NSW Coroner.
🔮 Authorities are set to delay the jail release of a convicted paedophile police officer over fears a lynch mob will hunt him down after his new address was leaked online.
🔮 'There may be a separation and now all of a sudden, the woman can take half of the property,' she said.
Also by Maisy Rae
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 92 articles by Maisy Rae →

Topics

Australia Daily Mail NSW NewsWire the NSW Supreme Court

Subjects

NSW GPE · 3× Cavanagh PERSON · 2× NewsWire ORG · 2× the NSW Supreme Court ORG · 2× Australia GPE · 1× Daily Mail ORG · 1× Richard Cavanagh PERSON · 1×

Narrative

- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source A NSW mum who stabbed her two young sons to death will not be held criminally responsible for their murders after a court found she was suffering from major depression at the time. The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to murdering her two sons, aged nine and 11, in their home in September 2024. She was taken to hospital under police guard with self-inflicted injuries before being charged with two counts of domestic violence murder.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-18
🔮 - See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source A NSW mum who stabbed her two young sons to death will not be held criminally responsible for their murders after a court found she was suffering from major depression at the time. The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to murdering her two sons, aged nine and 11, in their home in September 2024. She was taken to hospital under police guard with self-inflicted injuries before being charged with two counts of domestic violence murder.

Claims (18 extracted, 3 hedged)

- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source A NSW mum who stabbed her two young sons to death will not be held criminally responsible for their murders after a court found she was suffering from major depression at the time. The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to murdering her two sons, aged nine and 11, in their home in September 2024. She was taken to hospital under police guard with self-inflicted injuries before being charged with two counts of domestic violence murder. asserted
She → see → murder
During a recent hearing in the NSW Supreme Court, it was revealed the woman had written a letter asking for forgiveness and that she couldn't 'leave her children alone in such a bad world without her support.' She had also made a series of internet searches relating to murder, suicide, affairs, divorce and killing children in the month leading up to the murders, NewsWire reports. asserted
NewsWire → reveal → murders
The court heard the woman had a good relationship with her ex-husband, with whom she shared two sons, but she had been told in early August that his new partner was pregnant. On the day of the murders, she went shopping with her ex-husband and children and made a series of concerning web searches, including, 'When does the coroner get involved. asserted
coroner → hear → searches
Later that evening, she sent the man a goodnight message and told him she loved him before searching online, 'How many parents kill kids each year in Australia.' asserted
parents → send → Australia
The woman killed her two sons, aged nine and 11, in their NSW home in September 2024 Justice Richard Cavanagh found she could not be held criminally responsible due to her mental health condition At some stage that evening, she killed the boys and injured herself. The boys' bodies were found by their father the following afternoon after he received a notification that the children were absent from school. uncertain
children → kill → school
He found the woman in a semiconscious state and asked her, 'What have you done?', 'What's wrong?' and 'Where are the (children)?', to which she replied: 'I killed them'. asserted
I → find → them
He then called Triple Zero. asserted
He → call → Zero
The woman was taken to hospital and later arrested. asserted
woman → take → hospital
In the aftermath of the murders, the woman told a psychiatrist that she'd thought 'if her children died, then nothing could go wrong with them', the court was told. uncertain
court → tell → them
On Thursday, Justice Richard Cavanagh ruled the woman did kill her two children, but was not criminally responsible under mental health legislation. asserted
woman → rule → legislation
His judgment was supported by three psychiatric experts who provided reports and gave oral evidence to the court, stating the woman suffered from major depression at the time and did not know her actions were wrong. asserted
actions → support → time
One expert also opined that the woman had experienced 'nihilism which completely distorted her judgement about the future'. asserted
which → opine → future
The NSW Supreme Court also heard the woman had gone to an emergency department seeking help for insomnia and anxiety in the days before the murders 'Having regard to the updated reports of the psychiatric experts … I'm satisfied that at the time of killing her two children, the accused did not know that the act of stabbing them was wrong, in that she could not reason … as to whether those acts, as perceived by reasonable people, were wrong,' Justice Cavanagh told the court. uncertain
Cavanagh → hear → people
It comes after the Director of Public Prosecutions previously agreed to enter a special verdict of not guilty by reason of mental impairment. asserted
Director → come → impairment
NewsWire reports the woman, who had been beamed into court via an audiovisual link, kept her head down during the judgment and, at times, appeared to wipe away tears. asserted
who → report → tears
She will now become a forensic patient at a location to be determined by a mental health tribunal. asserted
She → become → tribunal
The woman will only be released into the community if the tribunal becomes satisfied that her release would not pose a danger to herself or others. asserted
release → release → herself
The NSW Attorney-General and Minister for Health will also have to be heard on the matter. asserted
General → have → matter
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support