Australian Father Googled 'How To Kill My Ex-Wife' And Then Kill His Daughters

A Melbourne father who dressed his young daughters in ballerina dresses before killing them had Googled 'how to kill my ex-wife', a court has heard.

Charles Amon Mihayo, 36, has pleaded guilty to murdering four-year-old Savannah and three-year-old Indianna on Easter Sunday.

Chief Crown prosecutor Gavin Silbert QC said Mihayo dressed the girls in ballerina dresses and filmed them dancing to 'Let It Go' from the movie Frozen before smothering them with a pillow, bathing and redressing them and then calling police.

He said there was ongoing hostility between Mihayo and his ex-wife regarding access to the children, exacerbated when he found out the girls' mother had a new partner, and Mihayo killed the girls as revenge.

'It will be submitted by the Crown this is the root cause of the offences,' Mr Silbert told the Victorian Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Mr Silbert said after the relationship broke down, Mihayo told a co-worker he had been thinking about ways to kill his ex-wife and get away with it but he would make sure his daughters were in a safe place.

Four days before the girls died he Googled 'how can I kill my ex-wife', the court heard.

Defence barrister Tim Marsh said Mihayo did not want to try to justify what had happened in any way.

But he told the court the murders should not be considered premeditated, pointing out certain things Mihayo told police after the act.

He said Mihayo told police: 'That just happened, it just happened right then and there.'

Mr Marsh said Mihayo indicated he decided to kill the girls while they were playing hide-and-seek, after dancing.

'Mr Mihayo instructs he was consumed by a particular thought, a particular idea, and made the decision to kill the children,' Mr Marsh said.

Tanzanian national Mihayo had indicated 'some particular horror' that his children would grow up not knowing their father, as he himself had done, Mr Marsh told the court.

'Mr Mihayo says, "I thought, well, if the kids are not there, they are not going to suffer the way I suffered, knowing their dad is somewhere but you never get to see him",' Mr Marsh said, referring to a police interview.

The pre-sentence hearing continues.

[Dailymail]