An ex-pro rugby player, his estranged wife and their three kids were killed after he allegedly set their car ablaze in Australia, reports said.
Rowan Baxter, 42, formerly with the New Zealand Warriors, allegedly filled up a gas can Wednesday morning before dousing the car with his wife, Hannah, and young children inside and torching it in Brisbane, Australian outlet 9News reported.
His 31-year-old wife jumped from the car and shouted, “He’s poured petrol on me,” ABC Australia reported. She was rushed with serious burns to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
Baxter also got out of the burning vehicle, but died at the scene from a self-inflicted stab wound, authorities said.
Police discovered the bodies of his children — ages 6, 4 and 3 — inside the vehicle.
“It is a horrific scene,” Queensland police’s Mark Thompson told ABC.
Thompson declined to comment on whether the family’s deaths were considered a murder-suicide, citing the ongoing investigation.
The couple separated last year but were still working on a custody agreement for their three children, 9News reported.
Baxter had run Brisbane-based fitness company Integr8 with Hannah, but the facility recently closed down, the outlet reported.