Woman accused of trying to drown sons in Murray river charged with murder...

A New South Wales woman accused of trying to drown her two sons in the Murray river has now been charged with murder as well as attempted murder.

The 27-year-old was last week charged with attempted murder after she allegedly took her two sons, aged five and nine, to the river on Thursday evening and tried to hold both boys underwater. 

The nine-year-old boy managed to escape.

A body believed to belong to the five-year-old was recovered on Saturday while his older brother remains in a stable condition in the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne after suffering bites from a dog.

The woman’s matter was heard briefly in Deniliquin local court again on Monday morning and she was additionally charged with murder.

A psychiatric report has been requested and the woman is due back in court in Deniliquin on 2 May.

The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has said agencies would urgently look into the family circumstances and make sure “any response is appropriate”.

She said there would be a thorough investigation into what she called “a human tragedy of the highest proportion”.

“We’ll be instigating investigations but also cooperating with all the authorities to make sure we get to the bottom of this,” she told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.

source:guardian