A New Zealand woman was found guilty Wednesday for the murder of her three daughters, with jurors rejecting appeals that she was suffering from postpartum depression at the time.
Lauren Dickason, 42, was convicted in the murder of her twin two-year-old daughters, Maya and Karla, and their six-year-old sister, Lianè, shortly after the family moved to Timaru from South Africa roughly two years prior, CBS News reported. Dickason previously admitted to killing her children by suffocating them with pillows, but pleaded not guilty, contending she had been suffering from severe depression that could be traced to postpartum depression.
The parents of South African doctor Lauren Dickason who was found guilty of murder in the High Court in Christchurch, New Zealand, say there are no winners in this tragedy. https://t.co/KagxH9xCR0
— News24 (@News24) August 16, 2023
However, prosecutors argued Dickason acted out of bitterness and anger in murdering her three children. Pointing to phone messages that allegedly indicated a desire to kill her children, including an internet search seeking the “most effective overdose in kids,” prosecutors claimed that while Dickason might have been struggling with mental health issues, that wasn’t enough to be used as a defense against her actions, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Mom Who Allegedly Strangled Three Kids Was ‘Overmedicated’, Lawyer Says)
After the four-week trial, jurors deliberated for three days before returning with a guilty verdict on all three counts of murder. Though Dickinson has not been sentenced yet, she faces a lifetime in prison, CBS reported.
“We would like to encourage families and individuals around the world to be aware of the symptoms of post-partum depression as early as possible, both for yourselves as well as close family and friends around you,” Dickason’s parents, Malcolm and Wendy Fawkes, said in a statement cited by the outlet.