The 28-year-old woman returned to Wagga Supreme Court on Tuesday for the second day of her trial, where she is facing one charge of murder and another charge of attempting to drown a person with intent to murder.

While she has admitted to drowning one son and trying to drown the other, she has pleaded not guilty and is defending the charges on the grounds of mental illness. 

A video recording of the woman’s interview with police the day after the drowning was played to the court, during which she said she wanted to kill her sons to protect them from her ex-partner.

“I didn’t want my kids to see me die the way I’ve been talking about so I put [one son] under the water and [the other] was watching from the riverbank, screaming,” she said. 

“It was horrible, he wouldn’t – he just kept staying alive for a little bit, I don’t know what was wrong.

“I had to sit on top of him, because I couldn’t hold him down, because he’s so strong.” 

She said that son, who was 8, continued to struggle beneath her until she gave up, grabbed her five-year-old who was watching, and held him under the water.

“I wanted to make sure he died quickly, not in pain,” she said.

The 5-year-old’s dead body was found in the Murray River near Moama two days later.

On Tuesday, the court also heard a recording of the surviving son speaking with police later that night, when he was being treated for dog bites he sustained after he escaped the water.

“My mum told me to put my head in and she dunked me in there and I was starting to suffocate,” the boy told police.

“Then my mum dunked my brother under and the dog started biting me and I was calling out for help.” 

The woman’s lawyer previously told the court she was suffering from “delusions” that her ex-partner, who she had not been in contact with for a year, was going to kill her or her sons.

The trial continues.

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