EXCLUSIVE
A dying grandmother from Sydney’s west has spoken of her shock at discovering her grandson is accused of killing her three children in a horrific house fire.
Dean Heasman, 28, allegedly barricaded his partner Stacey Gammage, 29, and their seven children inside their housing commission home in Lalor Park, in Sydney’s west, before setting it alight at around 1am on Sunday.
Two children, aged three and six, were taken to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition but died from their injuries.
Once the firefighters extinguished the flames, they also found the body of a 10-month-old girl, whose body was removed from the building during forensic investigations on Sunday afternoon.
Family matriarch Neryle Heasman, 82, told Daily Mail Australia she knew her grandson Dean as “a nice kid” but said she had grown distant from him in recent years.
“I haven’t had much to do with him since his father, my son also named Dean, passed away,” she said.
“On the rare occasions I saw him, I remember him as a nice kid.”
Dying grandmother Neryle Heasman has spoken of her shock at discovering her grandson is accused of killing her three children in a horrific house fire.
Dean Heasman, 28, and Stacey Gammage, 29, are pictured together. Three of their seven children died in the fire.
Mrs Heasman, who is receiving palliative care at home for terminal lung cancer and has six months to live, said she had not met her great-grandchildren.
“I’ve kept in touch with his family through photos on Facebook,” he said.
But she was stunned to discover he was at the centre of the police investigation into the deadly fire.
“Are you sure we’re talking about the same Dean?” she asked the Daily Mail Australia, adding: “He’s an albino.”
Four other children, including a nine-year-old girl and three boys aged 11 and seven, who were trapped inside the house were treated at the scene and taken to Westmead Hospital in a stable condition in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Her mother, Stacey Gammage, 29, was treated for smoke inhalation, while her partner, Dean Heasman, 28, was arrested and taken to hospital in police custody.
Heasman allegedly threw a burning pillow at his partner, which was partly responsible for starting the fire, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Investigators are also looking into whether Heasman allegedly used an accelerant after a second explosion engulfed the home in flames moments after he threw the fully lit pillow at his partner.
The father of seven is known to have no significant criminal record, but in 2017 he ran into trouble with the Australian Taxation Office.
When he was just 21, he pleaded guilty to making a false statement and was convicted, but avoided jail and was instead placed on an 18-month good behaviour bond by the NSW Local Court, and was also ordered to pay $2,809 to the ATO.
On Monday, friends and community members arrived at the site, many leaving wreaths, stuffed animals and candles.
Neryle Heasman, an 82-year-old grandmother from Western Sydney, is receiving palliative care at home for lung cancer
Neighbors and family friends left wreaths for the three children who died Sunday.
The housing commission property in Lalor Park was quickly engulfed in flames in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Among the evidence removed from the house were two water bottles containing a tea-like liquid.
On Sunday, detectives raided the home searching for clues about how the fire started and whether any fire accelerant had been used.
Among the evidence removed from the house were two water bottles with a tea-colored liquid inside.
Police say Heasman held the front door closed as emergency services arrived and screamed, “Let me die here” as children screamed for help inside.
Heasman is reported to have suffered burns to his skin and throat and the effects of smoke inhalation during the tragedy and is now in an induced coma as detectives wait to interview him.
Neighbours told Daily Mail Australia that the three front rooms of the house were quickly engulfed in flames, before electrical wires began sparking and shorted out the house.
Local resident Jarrod Hawkins, whose daughter was friends with one of the surviving children, was hailed a hero after rushing into the burning house and saving a nine-year-old girl and her three brothers, aged four, seven and 11.
The older boy told his rescuers: “Dad tried to kill me.”
Once Mr Hawkins emerged from the burning house with four children, they were placed across the street before another neighbour, Damien Dubois, decided to move them away from the scene.
Emergency services, including at least 20 firefighters and six fire engines, were called to Freeman Street following reports that a house was on fire.
Dean Heasman, 28, was arrested at the scene and taken to hospital in police custody.
“I had all four kids and they were cold so we picked them up and took them into the back bedroom of my house,” Dubois told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I was trying to comfort them. The two younger children weren’t saying anything, so I picked them up and got them out of the way of all that trauma.
“They didn’t need to see everything.”
Mr Dubois recalled that just a few weeks ago Heasman was taking some of the children on quad bike rides around the local neighbourhood.