The Tragic Case of the Clarke Family Slayings

Who Were Hannah and Her Children

Hannah Clarke was born on September 8, 1988 to Sue and Lloyd Clarke in Brisbane, Australia.  She had a younger brother named Nathaniel, Nat for short, who she loved and cared for like she was his second mom.  Hannah was described as being energetic and someone who loved having an audience as a child.  She played sports throughout her life and was the school captain in college (for us Americans, this is like a class president thing – a student elected to represent the student body).  

As Hannah made her way through college, she found a love for crossfit and spent a lot of time at the gym.  In 2008, she met Rowan Baxter at the gym and the two became friends.  Rowan had just moved to Australia from New Zealand with his wife and young son.  Hannah was just 20-years-old at the time and Rowan was 31.  The two met during a boxing class and Hannah was quickly falling for him. 

When Hannah told her parents about Rowan, they felt pretty uneasy about the situation because of their eleven year age difference and the fact that he was still married.  However, he eventually won them over and they were happy for Hannah.  Rowan did end up leaving his wife and proposed to Hannah.  The couple married in October of 2012 and Hannah’s parents said that it was the best day of her life.  Hannah told them that she felt like a princess.  

At the time of their wedding, Hannah was 14 weeks pregnant with their first child.  Aaliyah Baxter was born on April 10, 2013.  Two years later, on March 19, 2015, Laianah was born, and a year after that on December 4, 2016, Trey was born. 

Aaliyah was described as being a smart, brilliant, and sassy young girl who was going to be somebody when she grew up.  Laianah was funny, cheeky, sweet, and had so much empathy for other people.  Trey was so young and had a full life ahead of him and it was said that he was just obsessed with his mom.

The couple both held jobs while raising their children – Rowan was a pharmaceutical sales representative while Hannah worked a retail job and had a part-time job working at a local gym.  In 2015, the couple opened a gym together with the help of Hannah’s parents and another investor.  

When Hannah and Rowan first got married, their relationship didn’t immediately send up any red flags to friends and family and the couple seemed to be happy.   According to Hannah’s mom, Sue, on the podcast, Hannah’s Story, which is our main source for this episode, things really took a turn when the couple’s second daughter, Laianah, was born. 

Sue and Lloyd were very involved when the oldest, Aaliyah, was born but that changed after Laianah was born.  During that pregnancy is when they first started to notice that Rowan would slap Hannah’s leg harder than necessary when telling a joke and once Sue saw him push her leg into a gate when he was angry. 

According to Hannah’s family, Rowan was very controlling at the gym the couple owned together as well.  If someone didn’t do what he wanted them to do, he would ostracize them.  Hannah’s parents also witnessed Rowan experience severe road rage and that really opened their eyes to his anger issues. 

Sue says that Rowan didn’t care for her and treated her very poorly.  Sue stood up to Rowan and that was a huge issue for him.  Lloyd says that Rowan would belittle him.  They also say that Rowan was very jealous of Hannah’s relationship with her mom. 

As time went on, Hannah’s family noticed changes with Hannah.  She was becoming withdrawn and was extremely worried about how she looked.  She was worried that she looked fat because Rowan would say she was a pig and call her fat.  Especially after she had their children.  

Rowan began controlling what Hannah wore.  She stopped wearing bikinis without cover ups at the beach and stopped wearing shorts.  He told her that pink was a color for children so she no longer wore anything pink. 

He also began controlling who she talked to and who she could be friends with.  He made her shutdown her Facebook page so that they could have a joint one and he controlled who she was allowed to be friends with.  Hannah’s best friend, Nicki, was someone he tried to force out of her life because Nicki would stand up to him.  He did the same with her brother as well.  

The relationship with Hannah’s brother became so strained because of Rowan that Nat almost didn’t invite them to his wedding.  Sue stepped in and in the end, Nat and Hannah made up and he said that in hindsight, he’s so happy that he did end up inviting her to his wedding.  

There were several incidents with Rowan where his anger was out of control that Hannah told her family about.  There was a time when he found out that she had texted someone that he didn’t want her to so he threw her phone across the room and broke the screen.  After that, he began going through her phone and questioning the kids about who mom had talked to throughout the day and where they had gone.  He was going through her purse and calling gym members to ask about her.  Anything that went wrong in Rowan’s life was taken out on Hannah. 

He often told Hannah that she wasn’t a good housewife, despite the fact that he rarely helped out around the home.  The only time Hannah’s family knew that he did any housework was when he would go on “cleaning rampages” where he would go around and just throw away the kids’ toys. 

If Hannah didn’t do what Rowan wanted her to do, he would use the kids as pawns.  If Sue was supposed to have them for the day, he wouldn’t let her take them because that would hurt both Sue and Hannah.  Not to mention the kids.  

The couple was also facing financial issues.  The gym they owned together was opened in 2015 and after three years, was moved to another location.  But they were struggling.  Sue and Lloyd helped as much as they could and even re-mortgaged their home so that they could pay bills and rent.  According to Sue and Lloyd, Rowan would spend the couple’s money on frivolous things so Hannah had to open a secret bank account just to pay their bills.  

The Events Leading Up to the Murders

According to Sue, Hannah was thinking about leaving Rowan shortly after Laianah was born, but then she became pregnant with Trey and she felt trapped.  She said that because it was a boy, she knew that Rowan wasn’t going to let his son go.  Despite Hannah’s hesitation, Sue and Lloyd began preparing their home for Hannah and the children.  

As we mentioned earlier, Hannah was big into crossfit and actually competed with some members from the gym.  One of her teammates was Dave Kramer, and he was very close with Hannah, the kids, and at one time, Rowan.  

In 2019, Hannah’s team qualified for a crossfit competition, and Hannah was really excited.  However, Rowan did not qualify for the solo competition and decided that he was going to join Hannah’s team.  No one on the team wanted him to join, but it seemed like they didn’t really have a choice in the matter.  

After Rowan forced his way onto the team, Hannah was in the car and apologized to a team member for his behavior and at the time, her daughter, Aaliyah had been playing with her phone.  When Hannah got home, Rowan blew up at her for disrespecting him in regard to apologizing on his behalf.  At the time, Hannah assumed that while Aaliyah was playing with her phone, she had somehow recorded this conversation and it got sent to Rowan by accident. 

After this blow up, Rowan decided to pull out of the competition because he believed that without him, the team would have to forfeit.  However, they were able to find a replacement. 

On the morning of the competition, Hannah had gone to the gym and when she got home, Rowan and the kids were gone.  There wasn’t a note or any sort of message left for her and he wasn’t picking up her calls.  She called her mom and her brother in a panic and then at lunchtime, Rowan finally called her.  He told her that it was all her fault and that he would bring the kids home when he was good and ready and that they were fine.  He said that he couldn’t believe that she had called both her mom and her brother about this.  That was when Hannah realized that Rowan was somehow listening in on her conversations. 

After this, Hannah talked with her mom and was going to pull out of the competition, but Sue told her not to because that was exactly what Rowan wanted her to do.  Hannah competed in the competition and when Rowan got home that afternoon with the kids, he acted like everything was fine and posted on social media about how proud he was of her. 

Sue says that this was when Hannah knew she had to get out.  Hannah told her parents to get their rooms ready at the house and even called a women’s center for advise on how to get ready to leave.

Hannah woke up on December 5, 2019, and went to the gym.  When she got there, she broke down and her best friend, Nicki, helped her get her things ready to break free from Rowan.  Nicki and Hannah went to Hannah and Rowan’s home where she had each one of her kids pick out two toys to take with them and left with two garbage bags for her and the kids.  

They drove Hannah’s car to a McDonald’s and left it in the parking lot along with her cell phone so that if Rowan was tracking Hannah via the car or the phone, he wouldn’t be able to locate her.  Hannah and the kids spent the night at Nicki’s house that first night because Rowan actually didn’t know where she lived. 

Sue has said that when Hannah picked Aaliyah up from school that day and told her that they were leaving, she told her mom, “Oh, good.”  Aaliyah, at six-years-old, knew the danger they were in and was afraid for her mom.  Nicki told Melissa Downes of the Hannah’s Story podcast that they had a party at her house that night to celebrate the best time of Hannah’s, Aaliyah’s, Laianah’s, and Trey’s lives.  Rowan continually called that night begging for Hannah to tell him where she was. 

After that first night at Nicki’s, Hannah and the kids then stayed with Sue and Lloyd for the weekend.  Rowan finally got in touch with Hannah and she agreed to meet him that Sunday morning for coffee to talk.   The kids stayed with their grandparents and after their talk, Rowan actually came back to the house with Hannah.  Sue asked Hannah if she was okay and Hannah told her that she wasn’t, but that she was going home with Rowan that night, but was going to leave the next morning.  She told Sue that she would be at the gym the next morning so that Rowan wouldn’t suspect that she would be leaving. 

On Monday morning, Hannah left and went to her brother’s house.  Rowan called Hannah and told her that what she was doing was hurting the children and Hannah almost left to go home.  Nat convinced her to stay and that was when Hannah opened up to her family about everything that had been happening. 

Nat says that every time Rowan messaged her, it was like Stockholm Syndrome and she felt like she needed to go back.  He said that it was like he was the puppetmaster and she was his puppet.  Sue said that mentally, Hannah was still with Rowan and it took a few weeks to break free.  Hannah kept telling her mom that Rowan couldn’t keep controlling her life and that she needed to move away.  Her family convinced her to not move away and she and the kids officially moved into Sue and Lloyd’s house. 

After Hannah left, the gym the couple owned closed as they were $75,000 in debt.  Hannah had gotten a new job at Athlete’s Foot before she officially left Rowan and while they were still together, he would show up for every shift she worked.  Once they were broken up, he would walk by constantly to see if she was there.  Sue and Lloyd began driving Hannah to work in fear of what Rowan might do. 

Rowan called several of their mutual friends after Hannah left, convincing them to be on his side, crying about how she left, and ultimately making himself out to be the victim.   At one point, Rowan tried to convince Dave that he was the reason that Hannah had left him.  Dave told Rowan that he didn’t support him, but also told Hannah that he needed to back off because he was in fear of what Rowan might do. 

There was an instance where Rowan got into the home and just stared at Hannah.  They had already begun padlocking all the gates and locked all the doors, but on that particular day, one door was missed.  Nat wasn’t initially worried that Rowan would hurt Hannah or the kids after the breakup, but that eventually changed.  Rowan snuck into Hannah’s parents house and took Laianah.  Hannah went to the police because Rowan was refusing to give Laianah back.  At this time, Rowan was allowed visitations with the kids.  

The police put a child protection order and a domestic violence order in place after this.  Hannah initially refused to do so because she was afraid of what the implications may have been.  Hannah told a female police officer that while she was still with Rowan, he forced her to have sex with him every night and if she didn’t look like she was enjoying it or she refused, he would become enraged.  This officer believed every word Hannah said and told her that that was rape.  The police also believed that she was being coercively controlled despite how hard it is to prove.

After the DVO and child protection order were put into place, Rowan became very angry about the custody of his children.  He told friends that they were his kids and it should be 50/50 custody and he didn’t care what advice he was given on what he needed to do to gain that custody.  They were his and he should have the 50% of the time. 

During this time, Rowan was allowed to see them, but Hannah was not to have  contact with him at all.  On one occasion, though, Hannah decided to go out and get Trey out of the car and found photos of herself in her underwear in Rowan’s vehicle.  When she tried to grab them, Rowan twisted her arm back and sprained her wrist.  When Hannah asked him about the photos, he said that he planned to submit them as evidence that she was a willing participant in sex. 

Hannah contacted the police as Rowan was in breach of the DVO and for assault.  Police gave Rowan 48 hours to turn himself in, but he took ten days later, his charges were downgraded and he was given another 48 hours to turn himself in.  In that 48 hours, Hannah, Aaliyah, Laianah, and Trey were killed.

On the morning of February 19, 2020, Hannah’s father, Lloyd, got up and left for work at around 5:00 am.  As he was leaving, he saw Laianah walking to the bathroom and debated whether or not to stop and give a hug and kiss goodbye.  He ended up heading out the door without doing so because she was half asleep and he figured he would see her later.  

A couple of hours later, Hannah, Sue, and the kids were all up getting ready for work and school.  Sue had gone to the gym and Hannah had gone to get coffee.  Once back home, they fed the kids breakfast and Sue gave them all a hug goodbye, told them she loved them, and headed off to work.  

Meanwhile, Rowan made the 10 minute drive from his home, making a stop at a gas station, then going to a cafe around the corner from the Clarke home sitting outside drinking coffee.  

About an hour after Rowan ordered his coffee and told the barista that he was in a fight with his wife, he drove over and parked across the street from the Clarke home.  When Hannah and the kids walked outside to head to school around 8:15 that morning, Rowan grabbed a gas can he had in his car, walked across the street, and jumped into the passenger side of Hannah’s silver Kia.  

He told her to drive.  Hannah did as she was told, but was on high alert.  She saw the gas can and knew that they were in imminent danger.  Hannah turned onto Raven Street and saw a man outside washing his car and began driving toward him.  There was one window rolled down and the man saw that Rowan had Hannah in a bear hug while she was slowly driving down the street.  She yelled out the window that she needed help, he had covered them in petrol, and someone needed to call the police. 

Hannah pulled the car over and continued to scream for help.  Another man in the neighborhood ran over to help and as he was trying to help Hannah get out of her car, Rowan flicked open his lighter and the car went up in flames.  The man who tried to break into the car to help Hannah was flung backwards and didn’t know that there were kids in the car.  

Because of the impact of the explosion, which witnesses say was felt from ten meters away, the door of the car finally burst open and Hannah was able to exit the vehicle.  Two tradesmen that were in the area at the time of the explosion, pulled Rowan out of the car.  The man who had been washing his car ran over and began hosing Hannah and then Rowan down.  When he looked into Rowan’s eyes, he said they were black, and returned to Hannah to continue helping her.   This same neighbor suffered burns from the fire as well as the gentleman who initially tried to pull Hannah out. 

The daughter of one of the neighbor’s called 000 at 8:26 am.  One man heard Hannah screaming that her children were in the car and when he opened the back door and saw them, he said that the human spirit had left his body.  Unfortunately, no one could get close enough to the car due to the flames and the fact that the car was slowly rolling backward down the street. 

Then, to everyone’s surprise, Rowan dove into the passenger seat of the car and then right back out.  He wasn’t trying to save his three children, though.  When he emerged from the vehicle, he had a knife.  After retrieving the knife, Rowan knelt on the ground just meters away from the car, with burns on 80% of his body, he leaned forward onto the knife.  Twice in his abdomen and once in his chest. 

As this was going on, sirens could be heard and fire and rescue were on the way.  The fire crews arrived first and began putting out the flames.  When paramedics arrived, they went to Hannah first.  Hannah was able to tell the police everything that had transpired, despite having burns to almost 100% of her body.  

Rowan was also tended to and it was determined that he was going to be sent to the hospital for care despite the amount of burns and the stab wounds he had suffered.  It was then determined that Hannah was going to be intubated and anesthetized before being taken to the hospital.  Then Rowan went into cardiac arrest and an open surgery was performed in the ambulance.  They were able to fix the laceration to his heart caused by the stab wound to his chest, but they were unable to get his heart pumping again.  Rowan Baxter was pronounced dead at the scene at 9:14 am and his cause of death was the self-inflicted stab wound to his chest.  All three children – six-year-old Aaliyah, four-year-old Laianah, and three-year-old Trey – were all pronounced dead at the scene.  Hannah was taken to the hospital where her friends and family were eventually able to see her.  

Sue had heard sirens all morning while she was at work and while in the breakroom, a coworker told her that three children had been burned to death in Camp Hill.  When the coworker said that it was on Raven Street, Sue said she just knew.  Just after she found this out, two police officers walked in to tell her the news of the deaths of her grandchildren and the condition that her daughter was in.  Then Sue had to tell her husband and son what had happened.  

Hannah’s parents, brother, sister-in-law, and her best friend, Nicki, were all by her side when the decision was made to unplug the life support.  Nicki held her hand until the very end and her mom told her to go to her babies.  Hannah Clarke passed away at 5:40 pm that day.  

Hannah, Aaliyah, Laianah, and Trey were all laid to rest in a single white coffin with pink flowers on and around it three weeks after their deaths.  Her brother Nat remembered Hannah saying that he loved her since the day he was born.  In his farewell, he told her that she was “One of the greatest mum’s to walk this earth,” and that it was no wonder her kids were just the same.  

Nat told Aaliyah that she was everything a big sister should be – brave, strong, and quite bossy.  He told Laianah that she was sweet and caring and that there was so much of her mum in her.  He said to Trey, “Trey, mother’s little man and her best surprise.  I am so sorry I couldn’t protect you.”   

The Investigation

Autopsies were performed on Hannah, all three children, and Rowan.  Hannah’s autopsy showed that she had died from multi-organ failure due to the effects of the fire.  Six-year-old Aaliyah died from the effects of the fire – including burns and smoke inhalation.  One hundred percent of her body had severe burns and though toxicology showed positive for a potential toxic blood level of carbon monoxide, it was unlikely to have caused her death.  Four-year-old Laianah was killed due to the effects of the fire including direct thermal effects, effects of smoke inhalation, and other products of combustion.  The baby of the family, three-year-old Trey, died from the same causes as Laianah.  Rowan’s cause of death was the stab wound to his chest, but the extensive burns he suffered may have contributed as well.  It is noted that he was not suffering from any disease of brain injury at the time of his death.  

An investigation into the fire was conducted and it was found that the fire started in the cabin of the vehicle and moved to the engine bay.  There was minimal damage to the fuel cover which shows that the fuel in the fuel tank had not yet started to vent and minimally contributed to the fire.  Clothing of all three kids, Hannah’s clothes, burnt fabric from the rear passenger floor, and the remains of the gas can all contained gas residue.  However, none was found on Rowan’s body or clothes.  It was concluded that the fire was ignited after gas was poured on the occupants of the car. 

The deaths were investigated as a homicide and it was concluded that Baxter had premeditated the murder of Hannah Clarke.  It is believed that he intended to drive her to a secluded place, stab her, and burn her body.  They believe this plan was obstructed when Hannah pulled into the neighbor’s driveway and that the deaths of the children could have been made at that time.  They believe that once Baxter realized what he had done, he killed himself. 

An inquest into all five deaths began on March 21, 2022 at the Brisbane Magistrates Court and ran until March 31.  There were 35 witness testimonies that included evidence and statements.  

Witnesses who had assisted Hannah on February 19, 2020 testified about their experience, as well as first responders and police officers.  Senior Constable Skaines was the first officer to speak with Hannah upon arriving at the scene and he detailed to the court the domestic violence training he received while in the academy.  He had the option to take a DV course, and did so, but that program no longer exists.  He stated that in 2022 every officer up to a certain rank had to complete an online program in relation to coercive control.  He stated that when a defendant breaches a DVO, they don’t always get charged.  It depends on the circumstances of that breach.

There were witnesses that were friends and/or associates of Rowan Baxter that provided evidence of his personality to the court.  It was stated that he was controlling, driven, didn’t like to be told no, and always had to be the “alpha male.”  He always had to be better than his clients at the gym and if someone was better, he accused them of cheating.  He trained his clients as hard as he could and enjoyed watching them become exhausted and vomit because of the work.  He would lie when he needed to.  

After Hannah left him, he became obsessed with seeing the children and wouldn’t eat or sleep and continually painted himself as the victim.  He claimed to friends that he wanted to change to get Hannah back, but they said that he had no intention of changing and just wanted things to go back to the way they were.  

A mutual friend of Hannah and Rowan’s stated that Hannah was “warm, loving, caring, and resilient.”  He stated that she was tough and would never play the victim and took responsibility for her actions.  He said that after the separation, she was very reasonable in regard to the kids seeing Rowan until he began acting out.  He said that Rowan was a great father, but was intense and couldn’t see someone else’s point of view.  

Around Christmas of 2019, Hannah told this friend that she wanted Rowan to have 50/50 custody because he was a good father and wanted them to be involved in their lives.  At the same time, Rowan was telling him that Hannah was crazy and was trying to destroy him.

Hannah’s family and friends testified that even though they saw that Rowan was controlling, verbally abusive, manipulative, and dominating, they never thought that he would take the lives of his wife and children. 

Several officers testified and said that there need to be more services for both the victim and perpetrators of DV in Australia.  

Susan Beattie, the manager of the Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Unit of the Coroners Court of Queensland provided expert testimony of the quadruple homicide/suicide.  She stated that it is evident that Rowan used coercive control toward Hannah from early on in their relationship.  There were witness statements Susan wrote about that said that Rowan forced Hannah to have an abortion when she became pregnant six months into their relationship and shortly after this he told her that he had previously driven to his ex’s home with a rope in his car and planned to kill her, their child, and himself.  

Before her death, Hannah had repeatedly reported to services that this comment was always on her mind and made her feel controlled by Rowan.  She was very fearful of what he was capable of. 

Susan detailed every incident between Hannah and Rowan from the time she left him until the day of the murders.  There were several communications with police and protective services.  Susan testified that there were several missed opportunities to address Rowan’s behavior. 

During the inquest, CCTV footage was played of the days leading up to the murders and Rowan’s suicide.  Two days before the murders, Rowan is seen at a hardware store at 5:40 pm holding zip ties and continually picking up gas cans and putting them back.  He was seen at the checkout buying the zip ties, a gas can, and mineral spirits.  Then the next day he was seen at a service station filling the gas can with gas and then buying three Kinder Surprise eggs inside.

The court was also read a letter that Rowan had written in the notes on his phone three weeks prior to the murders.  He had written this to Hannah, but it wasn’t found until after the deaths occurred.  He wrote that he was hurt and that Hannah had never told him how she felt.  He wrote that he was sorry, but he was finishing the game and that he was going to see the children and no legal team or her were going to tell him otherwise.  He wrote, “I have told the kids that you love them and they will miss you, I’m sure.  You’ve destroyed my life and I cannot move on.  I hope all of this was worth it for you and your family.”  He signed it with his and the children’s names.  

There was also testimony from a psychologist that Rowan saw after Hannah had left.  He had two meetings with her and at the inquest she stated that Rowan was sincere and should have contact with his children because he wanted to change.  She claimed that he never spoke about harming himself, Hannah, or the kids.  He was supposed to have a third session with her on the day before the murders, but he had canceled. 

After several testimonies on coercive control, domestic violence, and the actions perpetrated by Rowan Baxter on February 19, 2020, the inquest found that it was unlikely that any further actions taken by police, service providers, family or friends, could have stopped Baxter that day.  It was found that he was not mentally ill and was a master of manipulation.  The coroner also found that the psychologist Rowan saw was an unreliable witness because she wrote her notes after the murders and was essentially covering her ass.  

The Aftermath

At the inquest, the coroner made several recommendations to improve policing, child safety, and system responses.  He recommended having a trial of a specialist domestic violence police station, increased training for all specialist domestic violence police officers, and increased funding for behavior change programs for men in both the community and prisons. 

There has also been reform throughout Australia that includes legislation designed to enhance domestic violence risk assessment and management practices as well as legislation to introduce information sharing schemes that are essential to a whole-of-system response to domestic violence.  

Sue and Lloyd founded Small Steps 4 Hannah in memory of Hannah, Aaliyah, Laianah, and Trey.  Small Steps 4 Hannah was created to raise awareness and educate children and young people how to identify the behaviors associated with coercive control.  Dave Kramer, one of Hannah’s friends from the gym, is a part of the team and helps to educate the public.  There will be a link in the show notes for this website for more information, resources, and a place to donate if you are so inclined. 

In 2022, Sue and Lloyd won the Queensland Australians of the Year award for their work at Small Steps 4 Hannah.  According to the Australian of the Year website, they received this honor because they empower victims to speak up, they guide family members to be aware of potential unsafe environments, and also create safe environments for those who need them most.  

There is an area inside the Bill Hewitt Reserve in Camp Hill that is dedicated to Hannah, Aaliyah, Laianah, and Trey.  It is called “Hannah’s Place.”