HER ONLY 'WAY OUT'

BY THE time she fell pregnant with her eldest daughter she’d already endured several rounds of in vitro fertilisation and had experienced a traumatic miscarriage at 22 weeks.

As a result she was constantly worried as she carried little Liané to term and she battled to form a bond with her unborn baby – something that seemed to carry on long after the birth.

Lauren Dickason’s pregnancy journey certainly wasn’t easy, a New Zealand court heard when forensic psychiatrist Dr Erik Monasterio provided his statements as an expert witness for the prosecution.

Although her mental health suffered when she tried to get pregnant she didn’t want Liané to be an only child so endured more IVF until twins Karla and Maya came along, Monasterio shared.

In about nine hours of interviews, he assessed Lauren, who’s on trial for murdering her three daughters. He believes she resented her children for affecting her relationship with her husband, Graham Dickason, who she’d said was her rock.

Although he acknowledged her history of mental-health issues, Monasterio doesn’t support the defence’s claim of insanity and infanticide (see box on page 13) and believes Lauren murdered her girls.

By now everyone who’s been following the tragic tale of the Dickason family knows what happened.

Lauren, Graham and the girls moved from South Africa to New Zealand in 2021 – and in September that year Lauren killed her three kids while Graham was at a work event. The case has made headlines around the world.