A father who murdered his two young children before ending his own life posted a music video gushing about his four-year-old daughter before the horrific attack.
Police believe Indika Gunathilaka, 40, murdered his four-year-old daughter Lily and six-year-old son Kohan in their beds before taking his own life in the garage of their home in the southeast Perth suburb of Huntingdale.
Authorities were alerted after they failed to arrive for a meeting with their mother and rushed to the home about 6.30pm Friday.
A music video Mr Gunathilaka created and had professionally filmed has since emerged, dedicated to four-year-old Lily.
The video alternates with clips of the father and daughter laughing together on the couch with snippets of him singing on beachside cliffs.
In the chilling footage, Mr Gunathilaka described Lily as a “bossy pants” and said all he wanted for her was “happiness”, even when he is “worm feed”.
“I don’t love you more than your brother but it’s true what people say, there is something about a daughter that a father could never fray,” the dad sings.
“One look from you is all I need to turn gloom into glee, remember that I loved you before our first meet.”
The video was recorded in 2019 and has since garnered more than 57,000 views, attracting hundreds of comments since the incident on Friday.
Two days before the bodies of Mr Gunathilaka and the children were discovered, he shared a photo on Facebook of them all holding hands on a beach watching the sunset, their backs to the camera.
“Indika I know why posted this picture to say you were leaving with the kids,” one Facebook friend commented on the photo.
WA Police assistant commissioner for the metropolitan region Allan Adams said initial investigations led police to believe there was no other person involved in the deaths.
“The exact cause of death and the circumstances will be thoroughly investigated and this will take some time but I tell you at this stage, we are treating this incident as a double murder suicide,” he said.
“The incident came to police attention upon the mother attending a predetermined location to pick up the kids and they weren‘t at that location.
“She made some inquiries with her broader family, who attended the Huntingdale address and then called police.
“The early assessment … is that this is a domestic homicide-suicide, so investigations will determine ultimately whether that scenario is what they are confronted with or whether there are some other issues at play.”
He described the deaths as “extreme in the tragedy and sadness” and “extremely difficult to comprehend”.
The confronting scene had been highly traumatic for first responders, he added.
Police who made the grisly discovery were reportedly left so distraught they had to be comforted nearby afterwards.
Before Christmas, Mr Gunathilaka used his Facebook profile to post a public 18-minute video in which he confirmed he suffered from depression, had been prescribed medication and had been seeing a psychologist.
He admitted to having attention seeking behaviour but said he would not check the number of likes on the video.
“I have been told before that I need attention. I need views or hits or whatever. Probably. I do have a bit of attention seeking in my nature, I do admit to it,” he said.
He spoke of a “deep dark hole” people struggling could find themselves in and said “people suiciding always don’t intend to terminate their life”.
“What they want to end or terminate is the pain they’re in which is unbearable … there’s no coming back from it.
“Depression is one of the biggest killers … I know it too well.”
In the video, he said “we all make mistakes” and urged viewers to reach out and seek support for any issues they were having.
Mr Gunathilaka previously worked as a town planner and set up his own business IMG Town Planning and Development Solutions in 2014.
He was also a singer and founding committee member of the Western Australia Royal College Old Boys Association, a social group for Sri Lankan men.
As the family and community grappled with what had unfolded, a toy bear and rabbit were laid outside the home in a touching tribute to the two children.
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