“I don’t know how to tell her”: Best friend of little girl murdered by evil father still unaware of death
The best friend of slain Hannah Clarke’s youngest little girl is still unaware that her mate has passed away.
Four-year-old Laianah Baker was murdered last Wednesday after her father set her, her mother and her two siblings, Aaliyah, six, and Trey, three, on fire in a quadruple murder-suicide.
Ms Clarke's best friend Lou Farmer told A Current Affair on Tuesday she is still having trouble to tell her young daughter, Heidi that her best friend was killed in the incident.
“My ten and seven-year-old they understand. I can't even go there with Heidi. Heidi and Laianah were best friends,” she said, as she choked back tears.
Ms Farmer says she had known her dear friend Hannah Clarke for four years, and revealed they had recently gotten together for a party shortly before the tragedy unfolded.
“We had the most perfect pool party, and wines, and the best afternoon. I just don't know how to tell my little girl that Laianah, her best friend is gone,” she shared.
Three close friends of Ms Clarke’s spoke out about the tragedy in a tolling interview where they revealed they had fears her estranged husband Rowan Baxter would harm the family.
Nikki Brooks, a friend Ms Clarke’s for over 17 years, admitted she’s spoken with Queensland Police just one week before the murders to give a statement regarding Baxter's breach of his Domestic Violence Order.
“I looked the detective in the eye and I said, ‘I think he's going to take them all out,’” Ms Brooks said.
“She said, ‘I've got a bad feeling too.’”
It had been Ms Brook’s home that had proven to be a haven for the mum-of-three when her relationship with Baxter turned abusive in 2019.
Ms Clarke had confided in her closest four girl friends of the abuse, and it was Ms Brooks who says they now feel “a lot of guilt” over what had happened.
“I feel like we've definitely influenced her decision. We said, ‘Han, enough's enough’.
“It was getting bad and we had to get her out of there.”
“The day she came back she stayed with me and we felt safe. He [Baxter] didn't know where I lived.
“She just looked relieved and she seemed really happy. She knew she made the right decision.”
Ms Brooks spoke in front of more than 1,000 mourners at a vigil held for Ms Clarke and her family at Whites Hill State College in Camp Hill on Sunday.
“We are a nation in pain,” she said.
“Don't back away from your friends for the sake of convenience.
“Time's up on domestic violence.”