Barbara Wyrzykowski

Background

Barbara Wyrzykowski was a 25-year-old mother who had five children. She drove the children in the family’s seven-seater van to a remote area in dense state forest bushland a few miles southeast of Perth and killed her children and herself by gassing.

The offence

Barbara Wyrzykowski took Mark, 8, and the twins Sarah and Luke, 5, along with Jessie, 4, and Jayde, 1, for a drive in the family’s seven-seater van to a remote track in dense State forest bushland. There, she gassed them all and killed herself the same day.

Investigation

No investigation details beyond the deaths by gassing were included in the provided material.

Arrest

No arrest information was included in the provided material.

Trial

No trial information was included in the provided material.

Sentencing

No sentencing information was included in the provided material.

Appeals

No appeals information was included in the provided material.

Outcome

Barbara Wyrzykowski committed suicide by gassing herself the same day. All five children and she died by gassing.

Aftermath

A similar murder-suicide was mentioned as occurring in Australia: Ronald Jonker, 32, gassed himself and his three children David, 7, Aaron, 5, and Ashlee, 17 months, on the northern outskirts of Perth. Another incident was also mentioned in the provided material: Mark Heath drove his four young children, Sarah 8, Holly 6, Jak 4 and Kaleb 2, to an isolated bush track around 250 kilometres south of Perth, Western Australia, and connected a hose to the car’s exhaust; on Saturday July 24, all five bodies were found in the car dead from acute carbon monoxide poisoning.

The provided material also included discussion of media coverage and other commentary, including quotations and references to counselling services, suicide statistics, and statements by named individuals:

• A police spokesman declared: “Life is never that black that you have to take your own children's lives.”
• Jim Leaman, who lived near Heath's former wife and children, commented: “You have to feel sorry for him. I know a lot of people would hate a bloke like this, but he has got a story to tell as well.”
• Forensic psychologist Tim Watson-Munro warned: “You are looking at a crisis situation,” and said: “Obviously something is failing in the system in terms of detection and, in a broader sense, in terms of prevention.”
• Allan Huggins, director of Men’s Health, Teaching and Research at Curtin University in WA commented: “I think it [Heath's response] very much reflects the lack of services available for people in crisis, particularly men.”
• The provided material quoted Leon Trotsky: “The point was not to laugh or cry, but to understand.”

Other details

Family and employment details mentioned

Barbara Wyrzykowski worked the night shift at McDonald’s from 10pm until 6am. Her partner, a builders labourer, left home for work as she arrived. School holidays meant her five young children were at home all day for two weeks. She was described as having been constantly pregnant since the age of 17, and she had her first child at 17. The provided material described her as working multiple consecutive graveyard shifts and having five young children to look after during the day.

Quotes and commentary included in the provided material

The provided material included a headline: “The family that mum killed”.

A named commentator, Stuart Munckton, provided commentary dated July 21, 1999, including the phrase “The tragedy and truth of a murder-suicide”.

Another commentary referenced a phrase attributed to “When the terrors of life outweigh the terrors of death...”.

Children listed by name and age

Mark was 8. Sarah and Luke were twins and were 5. Jessie was 4. Jayde was 1.