Melissa Arbuckle, 32, killed her three-month-old daughter in Melbourne last year. Moments before, she texted her husband and said their daughter was ‘losing it after a feed’. Arbuckle laid the little girl on train tracks before laying down herself. Her daughter died in hospital after being hit by a train. For confidential 24-hour support in Australia call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyondblue 1300 22 4636. Melissa Arbuckle: Know Her Story.
Melissa Arbuckle Story Timeline
A court has been told that a Melbourne mother had “a significantly disturbed mind” when she threw her three-month-old son onto the railway tracks, according to Victorian lawyers.
On Tuesday, September 6, Melissa Arbuckle, 32, appeared in the Victorian Supreme Court after admitting to infanticide in July at Upwey, Melbourne’s east. According to the crown prosecutor, Robyn Harper, Arbuckle’s sister and mother arrived to see her three-month-old daughter Lily that day.
On the day of Dr. Arbuckle’s visit, she texted her husband and claimed their daughter was “losing it after a feed” and that they should go for a walk, according to Ms Harper. According to NCA Newswire, during her stroll, Arbuckle began looking for information on trains, including schedules, speeds, and train derailments.
According to court papers, Arbuckle was discovered walking on the tracks in Melbourne’s east. She was holding Lily at the time, and waved at the train with her daughter’s hand, it was said. Police claim that a train driver traveling towards Belgrave station saw the mother walking toward the track in a ‘suspicious’ manner and applied his emergency brakes immediately.
According to the testimony, Arbuckle then placed her daughter Lily on the tracks and attempted to lie down as the train struck them both. The driver of the train informed authorities that he shut his eyes expecting a collision.
Onlookers rushed to the scene and discovered a mother and child lying on the tracks. The court was told that following this, Arbuckle positioned herself onto the railway track in an attempt to be crushed by an incoming freight train, which resulted in her death.
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Melissa Arbuckle, 32, killed her three-month-old daughter
Ms Harper stated that Arbuckle was attempting to harm himself, according to a veterinarian. The baby was taken to the hospital, where he died shortly after from head injuries as a result of severe postpartum depression and psychosis caused by brain trauma.
When defending counsel Megan Tittensor decided to kill herself and her newborn daughter, Ms Arbuckle was suffering from severe postpartum depression and madness, according to defense counsel. The young mother mistakenly believed her child, who would have turned one on Monday, was afflicted with shaken baby syndrome and that she would soon die.
‘This act was committed by someone with a significantly disturbed mind,’ Ms Tittensor told the court.
‘She had a fixed delusional belief she had harmed her child and they were both broken.
‘She had a perfectionist personality and need for control … she wanted to be the perfect mother.’
Ms Arbuckle doesn’t plan on having another child, her barrister said.
‘She can’t bear the thought of being a risk to another child.’
The baby’s father, who has requested anonymity, says he struggles with feelings of hatred toward Ms Arbuckle, with whom he is now estranged.
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