EXCLUSIVE
The house where a 17-year-old girl allegedly stabbed her 10-year-old little sister to death is located in a new housing development still under construction on the outskirts of a city.
The sisters, their mother and another adult woman, were the first occupants of the new rental house in Boolaroo, 20 kilometers west of Newcastle, where the “unthinkable tragedy” unfolded on Monday.
They had been living there for almost three years in the property with four large bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen with a stone bench, a tiled outdoor patio, two car spaces and a grassy backyard.
Police said they had never been called to the home before the alleged murder and had previously had “no interactions” with any of the girls.
The sisters and their family are believed to have moved to ‘Weemala At The Lake Estate’ in mid-2021, around the same time Bunnings and Costco opened their nearby store in a $90 million shopping complex in Lake Macquarie.
The sisters, ages 17 and 10, are believed to have moved into the four-bedroom, two-bathroom home (above) with their mother and an older woman in mid-2021.
The house where the alleged murder took place is located on a new housing estate in Boolaroo, a suburb of the town of Lake Macquarie, about 20 kilometers west of Newcastle.
The $650-per-week rental home has a large tiled open-plan living room, air conditioning, and carpeted bedrooms with ceiling fans.
The neighborhood, with 150 houses and another 150 under construction, is often filled with scenes of people walking their dogs and children playing.
But the tranquility was shattered at 3.45pm on Monday with the death of the young woman, which homicide squad commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty described as “very difficult to imagine”. It’s unthinkable.’
The alleged fatal stabbing is believed to have occurred while at least one of the adult women was out shopping.
When emergency services arrived at the crime scene, paramedics worked frantically to try to save the young woman’s life.
But he died at the scene from multiple stab wounds from “a sharp instrument” to the upper part of his body.
Police arrested her older sister at the scene and took her to Belmont police station, where she was charged with murder and taken into custody to appear at Broadmeadow Youth Court on Tuesday.
Horrified residents of the estate’s houses, mostly occupied by families, were shocked to see forensic officers invade the house.
A neighbor told WhatsNew2Day Australia that none of the residents were very familiar with the family.
The two sisters and their relatives are believed to have been the first occupants of the newly built house which has tiled floors, a kitchen with a stone bench and a large open air-conditioned living room.
A forensic officer photographs the house where the sisters lived with two adult women, one of whom is believed to be their mother, in the four-bedroom rental.
“My daughter is the same age and she’s scared that someone is going to stab her too, so she’s very shocked,” the neighbor said.
“The woman has lost everything,” he added, referring to the mother of the two sisters, “she has lost her family.” It’s a tragedy.’
Advertisements for the development, where most homes are owner-occupied, tout its proximity to lakeside parks, a pool complex and waterfront walking trails at nearby Speers Point.
It’s “an easy commute to Newcastle’s CBD” and “just minutes from Lake Macquarie’s spectacular waterfront.”
Boolaroo last made headlines in 1989, when it was the epicenter of the Newcastle earthquake that destroyed buildings, but has since been the scene of property developments such as the Weemala estate.
The estate agency, which leased the property to the family, declined to comment “under privacy law”.
The 17-year-old was not asked to leave her cell when her case was heard in court on Tuesday and no family members attended the brief hearing.
The teenager did not apply for bail and will appear in court on June 24 via video link.