By Charlene Macaulay
A 45-year-old Albion woman has been arrested and charged over the stabbing deaths of a 60-year-old Albanvale woman and her four-year-old grandson.
Chinese national Cia Liao was last week charged with two counts of murder, one count of causing intentional injury and one count of assault and unlawful imprisonment following the discovery of the bodies of 60-year-old Mai Mach and her four-year-old grandson, Alistair Mach, at a house in Varsity Court on Tuesday.
Ms Liao faced an out-of-sessions court hearing at St Kilda Road police station on Wednesday and was remanded in custody to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday, after
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Detective Leading Senior Constable Tony Harwood told the out-of-sessions hearing that Ms Liao allegedly attacked four-year-old Alistair Mach with a pair of garden shears and lay in wait for Mai to return home from work.
When police arrived at the scene shortly after 5pm last Tuesday they found Mai’s body in the backyard, Alistair’s body in one of the bedrooms and Mai’s husband, Brian Mach, bound and gagged in the lounge room.
An autopsy report revealed Alistair suffered 18 stab and slash wounds, some of which were defensive, and Mai had 23 stab wounds.
Detective Leading Senior Constable Harwood told the hearing the accused, who was arrested at the crime scene, was in Australia on a tourist visa and, until recently, had been in a relationship with Brian for the past three years. Brian was treated for minor injuries and taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
The homicide squad’s Detective Senior Sergeant Bailey said Alistair’s parents, who live in Maidstone, were “inconsolable and devastated” by the tragedy. It is understood Alistair was their only child.
“It’s an extremely distressing situation for police as well … the members who uncovered this are quite distressed,” he said.
Neighbours gathered near where police had cordoned off a section of the Concord Circuit last week, all in disbelief at the news.
Neighbour Shelley Meaney, 19, who lives a couple of doors from the house, said the family had seemed “normal”. “I spoke to them a couple of times and they seemed nice,” she said. “There were no arguments or anything.”
Twins Nikki and Amy Brook, 21, also of Concord Circuit, said they were in shock.
“It’s scary knowing that there was a kid involved,” Amy said.
– with The Age
