Frank Hingston

21 days after his wife left him Francisco Javier Miranda (aka Frank Hingston) strangled to death his two children Dominique Frances Hingston (aged 6) and Nikkita Hingston (aged 5). He then committed suicide by hanging himself in a shed at the rear of the property, leaving his estranged wife to find them the following day.

Mr Hingston said the girls' father changed his surname from Miranda several years ago. He was Chilean, and had 11 brothers and sisters living in Auckland. His parents had died. Frank Miranda met Pauline Hingston in Sydney and they went to live together near Uluru (Ayers Rock) in the Northern Territory. He worked as a bus driver and in several other jobs. The family shifted to Christchurch, then to Riwaka where Pauline Hingston had grown up and where her parents lived. Source: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/school-flag-at-half-mast-for-lost-gir...

Frank grew up in Quillota, central Chile, moved to New Zealand in the later 1970s after a military coup in his homeland. Lived in Christchurch, Auckland, before moving to Sydney where he met Pauline. Frank and Pauline split on 13 July 2001.

Pauline Hingston expected to hear her two girls playing as she pulled up outside the old weatherboard house. She was greeted by silence as she stepped out of her white Toyota Corona onto the gravel driveway about 10am. Pauline and her partner, Frank Hingston, were in the middle of a separation and living apart. The girls, Dominique, 6, and Nikkita, 5, stayed the night with Frank at his home in Little Sydney Valley Rd, Riwaka, a small rural settlement an hour's drive from Nelson. They'd planned to watch movies together. That Saturday, August 4, 2001, Pauline knew something wasn't right. Her children didn't sleep past 10am, even if they had stayed up late. As she walked through the three-bedroom bungalow she found Nikkita in the lounge lying on a couch covered with a blanket. Her lips were purple and her face was grey. Dominique was tucked up in bed. She was cold and her hand was heavy. Pauline's screams echoed around Little Sydney Valley as she ran from the house and called 111. Police found Frank in a shed at the rear of the property. The 44-year-old had taken his own life. The children had been strangled with a thin yellow cord. An autopsy revealed Frank had smoked cannabis several hours before he killed himself. There was a small amount of alcohol in his system. Several days later the house was set alight and burned to the ground – taking with it many physical memories of the children. The question remained: How could a man described by his family as a "gentle soul" come to kill his own flesh and blood? Fourteen years on, Pauline says there was no warning of Frank's intentions. She would not have left her daughters in his care if she thought they were in danger. "He didn't show any signs of losing it or anything," she says. Authorities say the family had not come to the attention of police or any other agency before the incident, but there were warning signs. Frank was obsessed with Dominique and Nikkita, and had talked with at least two people about committing suicide. He had regular access to the girls, but Pauline had filed for custody. Frank's family, who have never spoken publicly about what happened until now, say he was under financial pressure and didn't trust Pauline to look after his children. Frank was born Javier Miranda but later changed his name by deed poll.. He grew up in Quillota, central Chile, the 11th of 12 children. He lived in Christchurch and Auckland before moving to Sydney, where his relationship with Pauline began. The couple moved to Alice Springs, central Australia, where Dominique and Nikkita were born. The family lived there for about nine years, buying a home, before returning to Christchurch in May 1999, where the girls attended Russley School. The girls were enrolled at Riwaka School where they made friends quickly. They were both good swimmers; Dominique was a budding artist and Nikkita was fond of gymnastics. Pauline and Frank split up on July 13, 2001. They had never married. Pauline told police after Frank's death that he had never hit her, but she was sick of his "verbal abuse and mental cruelty". "He used to say I'd never see the kids again if I split up with him. He meant that he would get custody – that he would win them over me." Pauline and the girls moved in with her parents at their home nearby in Lodder Lane and she applied for custody. Frank had regular access to Dominique and Nikkita and the arrangement seemed to work well. On August 3, Frank biked to Lodder Lane to pick up the children. He drove the girls to United Video in Motueka in the Toyota Corona he and Pauline shared. Frank rented seven videos: Five children's videos, one wrestling video, and the horror/thriller Confessions of a Serial Killer. He took the girls to KFC for dinner before they headed home via Lodder Lane. Pauline dropped the trio off at the Little Sydney Valley Rd property about 7pm so she had the car to pick the girls up the next morning. She had made chocolate éclairs for them. "He's thought, 'If I can't have my children then no one is going to have them and I'm going to kill myself and take them away so I'll be with them forever and [Pauline] won't'." Nicholls believes Frank had decided what he was going to do on the Wednesday before he killed himself. That's why he appeared happy to his co-workers in the orchard. Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/72850632/child-killer-frank-...

Sisters Nikita and Dominique Hingston were strangled by their father, Frank, who then committed suicide. He has separated from the girl’s mother and had become depressed, isolated and had a fear of losing his daughters. Source 4theKids.