Father Accused Of Burning Daughter For Being Very Pretty

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

In Perth, Australia, a man accused of trying to kill his two daughters by setting them on fire admitted the crime to court but pleaded not guilty to being mentally incompetent.

According to The West Australian newspaper, in August 2015 Edward Herbert, the father of three children, went to his 3 and 7-year-old daughters' room, sprayed them with gasoline and set them on fire.

The youngest suffered burns to 13 percent of her body and, according to the prosecutor of the case, despite having undergone several surgeries, will have scars for the rest of her life. The oldest, who is autistic and has special needs, was unharmed.

Hearing the family's screams of dread, a neighbor came to his aid and wrapped the little girls in a blanket to put out the fire. The accused told him that, since they were his daughters, he could do with them whatever he wanted, and that he had burned the youngest because she was very pretty.

At the hearing, the statement was read as a witness by Herbert's partner, who had related how, in the hours prior to this crime, he had been consuming heavy amounts of alcohol and cannabis. Then he started laughing alone, talking about werewolves, threatening her with a dagger, and undressing before heading to the little girls' room and setting them on fire.

When the neighbor came to the rescue, the father confronted him enraged, threatening him with a knife and throwing bottles at him, but the man was not intimidated and hit him in the head with a fire extinguisher.

In the midst of the chaos, when a woman came to help the family, accompanying Herbert's son to leave the house, Herbert would have said: "Don't worry, my son would not have been burned."

Edward Herbert faces several criminal charges, including two for attempted murder and another for threatening to murder his partner. His judgment continues.