A mother and her infant were found dead in a residence in central Queensland, and a double murder suspect has been charged.
On Thursday, Matthew James Cox allegedly told police his wife and her 11-week-old daughter were dead at the farm hundreds of kilometres away in Rockhampton before strolling into a Brisbane police station. Cox was then detained.
When his case was briefly discussed in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday, Cox, 31, was not present.
Due to the seriousness of the charges, he was unable to request bail.
When his case is brought up once more in the same court on August 21, Cox will be permitted to appear by video.
Police believe that Tayla Cox, 30, and her infant daughter Murphy Margaret Cox perished on Tuesday and that Cox had flown that same evening from Rockhampton to Brisbane.
Cox and his wife were unknown to the police, and there was no history of domestic violence in the relationship, according to Detective Superintendent Darrin Shadlow on Thursday.
Officers were not searching for anyone else in relation to the deaths when they found the victims in a “quite confronting” scene at the residence, he said.
Shadlow responded that it “will obviously form part of our investigations” when asked if the incident had anything to do with mental health.
Shadlow dismissed rumours that a gunshot had been heard at the residence, but he did not elaborate on how the mother and child died other than to remark that officers found “quite a confronting scene.”
For first responders, a dead infant child is always upsetting, he claimed.
The mother’s family had been informed, and as one could anticipate, they were upset, according to Shadlow.
Parents Denis Cox and Linda Lind said, “The family is devastated by the news today that we have lost not only a beautiful daughter-in-law Tayla but also our much-loved granddaughter Murphy.”
We currently know very little else and are in a complete state of shock.
“While we grieve and attempt to understand what has happened, we ask that the media respect our privacy.”
Police will spend days on the spot.
At the airport in Rockhampton, Cox’s car was taken for forensic analysis.
The investigations will continue, according to Shadlow, who added that there are scientific and forensic investigators at the area right now. They will be there for a while to examine the situation.
Police also established a crime scene at the Fortitude Valley flat they suspect Cox was residing in.
Tayla was on maternity leave, and Cox is a TV account manager with Southern Cross Austereo.
In June, the couple gave birth to a daughter named Murphy Margaret.
The tragedy stunned the nearby residents.
“I feel queasy inside. They are a typical, wonderful family, according to a neighbour.
