Helen Cowan

Published in "The Sydney Morning Herald" of Monday 5 May 1952:

"FAMILY OF FIVE SHOT DEAD IN HOME CESSNOCK, Sunday.—A man, his wife and their three children were found last night shot dead in their home at Wollombi.

"Police believe that Beryl Elsie Cowan, 26, shot her husband, Leslie Murdoch Cowan, 35, through the head while he was writing at a table in the dining-room. They think that Mrs. Cowan then shot her three children while they were asleep in their beds. The children were Robin, 8, Helen, 7, and William. 5. Each child was shot through the forehead.

"RIFLE NEAR Mrs. Cowan's body was found in the kitchen. She was shot through the roof of the mouth. A .22 rifle was lying near one of Mrs. Cowan's hands. Police believe the tragedy occurred last night.

"FOUND BY CHILD At 11 a.m. to-day a child, Lionel Sternbeck, went with his little sister to play with the Cowan children. The boy found one of the children covered in blood. He ran home and told his mother, who went with other neighbours, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Cord, to the house and found the bodies. The Cowans were a popular couple in Wollombi, which ¡s a small township 18 miles from Cessnock. Cowan was a timber worker. Detective-sergeant O'Neill and Detective Pratt, of Newcastle, with Detective White, of Cessnock, are investigating."