THE first day of an inquest into the shooting deaths of Lockhart district couple Geoff and Kim Hunt and their three children, Fletcher (10), Mia (8) and Phoebe (6), devoted a lot of time to the mental health of Mrs Hunt over the last two years of her life, but in the end it seems certain it was Mr Hunt who tragically snapped and killed his family.
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The inquest being presided over by State Coroner Michael Barnes in Wagga was told of a note found on the farming family’s dining room table after Mrs Hunt was found dead outside the house with a blue jacket covering a single shotgun wound to her forehead about 2.50pm on September 9 last year.
“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. Totally mine,” the note read.
A NSW Police Force hand-writing expert, Melanie Holt, told the inquest she believed the note was written by Mr Hunt.
Ms Holt compared writing in the note in black texta to writing in three greeting cards given to Mrs Hunt by her husband.
“There was nothing in there that I did not see in the specimen samples,” Ms Holt said when questioned by counsel assisting the inquest, Dr Peggy Dwyer.
Ms Holt said Mrs Hunt, who had physical injuries that affected her writing, “just would not have been able to write as fluidly and fluently as on this piece of paper.”
After police unsuccessfully looked for Mr Hunt after finding his wife, they went back inside the house and found the three children dead in their beds.
Each had also suffered a single shotgun head wound.
A police diver found Mr Hunt dead from a single shotgun wound in a nearby dam the following day. It appears Mr Hunt killed his family some time after he spoke with his brother Allen about 7.30pm on September 9.
In her opening address, Dr Dwyer said she should state from the outset she anticipated the evidence would establish Mr Hunt killed his family.
Dr Dwyer told Mr Barnes there were no financial or business stressors on the Hunt family and there was no history of domestic violence, but a car crash in July, 2012, resulted in Mrs Hunt suffering a significant brain injury that changed her into a person who had limited capacity to cope with her family and was capable of exploding with rage.
The inquest heard that Mr and Mrs Hunt struggled every day with the consequences of the accident and received support for their problems, including marriage counselling.
The inquest continues on Wednesday morning with evidence from the last person to see the Hunt family alive, Mrs Hunt’s personal carer Lorraine Bourke.
Lifeline – 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service – 1300 659 467
Kids Helpline – 1800 55 1800
MensLine Australia – 1300 78 99 78
