Murderous rugby star had string of affairs and was texting ‘hundreds’ of women before killing wife, kids and himself
A KILLER dad was having affairs and texting “hundreds” of women before he burned his wife and three kids alive, his cousin said.
Rowan Baxter, 42, stabbed himself to death after torching a car with his young family inside in Brisbane, Australia, on Wednesday.
It has since emerged that the twisted father subjected his wife Hannah to years of emotional abuse before she left him – including demanding daily sex sessions and dictating what clothes she could wear.
His cousin Sandra Taylor, 45, has offered an insight into the behaviour of the sick rugby star dad – branded “monstrous and frightening” by his in-laws.
She told Nine News: “Rowan believed that women are two things – to be a house cleaner, and to be a prostitute.”
TWISTED KILLER DAD
Sandra, who became close to Hannah after she left Baxter, believes her cousin was having affairs during his 11 year marriage.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, she said: “We were at a family barbecue and he was at the grill and I walked over to him and he was sending hundreds of texts to other women.
“I know Hannah believed she wasn’t the only one.”
Rowan was a man with a dangerous sense of possession
The killer's cousin Sandra Taylor
Sandra, who believes Baxter cheated during his first marriage, said her cousin became even more unstable in the last few months amid a bitter custody battle with Hannah.
The murderer threatened and assaulted his wife and also stalked her constantly before finally taking her life, she claims.
She said: “Rowan was a man with a dangerous sense of possession and entitlement over his wife and children, particularly in the last three months, that I was concerned for.”
'Abusive and controlling tactics'
Hannah’s gym friend Manja Whaley said Baxter, 42, used emotionally abusive and controlling tactics and regularly threatened to punish his wife and children.
Speaking out for the first time on Thursday, she told The Today Show:“Emotional abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse … she had experienced all of those.
“So when she first confided in me we spoke about the violence and for such a long time she didn’t believe she was in a domestic violence relationship.
“It hadn’t crossed her mind, because as she said to me, her words, ‘he didn’t hit me’.
“I then started unpacking with her the emotional abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse, and she had experienced all of those.
“And some of the things that she would explain was this excessive control of Rowan, the sexual abuse daily, and if she didn’t have sex with him, he would punish not only her but also the children.
“She wouldn’t be allowed to go to the gym which was not only her passion but her outlet.
“There was the checking of her accounts on Facebook, the accusations of her cheating, if she was having messages with males, even males he knew through the gym, he would accuse her of being flirtatious.”
She added: “He would say things to her – like ‘look at your stomach, that’s just disgusting’.
“She would always come to the gym in tights, and he didn’t like her wearing shorts because she would be promiscuous.
Sandra, who is first cousins with the killer on her mother’s side, offered Hannah and the kids a safe haven in the months leading up to their murder.
She said she understood Baxter’s unstable and controlling behaviour and wanted to help the family.
And tragically she said she was not surprised when she heard Hannah and daughters Laianah, six, and Aaliyah, four, and son Trey, were murdered by their twisted dad.
On Wednesday, Hannah was on her way to driving the children to school when Baxter ambushed them.
She jumped from the wreckage and was rushed to hospital with “significant burns”, but succumbed to her injuries and died hours later.
The heroic mum was able to give police a detailed account of what happened before she passed away, it has been reported.
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Hannah’s parents, Lloyd and Suzanne Clarke, have also publicly said their daughter had left Baxter after spending 11 years in an abusive marriage.
They said Baxter’s actions had been the end of a “downward spiral” of “frightening and monstrous” behaviour.
The couple had separated and were in the midst of custody arrangements.
Baxter died on the street after stabbing himself.