Hannah Clarke’s heartbroken parents have given an emotional TV interview, saying their daughter had feared her abusive husband would one day murder her.
Just days after their daughter and grandchildren were brutally burned alive, Lloyd and Suzanne Clarke explained the horrific extent of their family’s suffering.
The Brisbane mother-of-three, 31, was killed along with her three children after her abusive husband, Rowan Charles Baxter, set their car alight on the school run.
Her parents said she suffered burns to 97 per cent of her body – with only the sole of one foot left untouched.
Hannah’s devastated mother revealed she had even discussed writing a will, saying: ‘She said to me only last week, “Mum should I do a will?”
‘”What happens to my babies if he kills me? Because he’ll go to jail for murder, who gets my children?” She said, “I want you and dad to have them or Nat. I don’t want his family to have them”.
Hannah Clarke’s parents Lloyd and Suzanne (pictured) gave a heartbreaking interview on Friday night
Hannah Clarke (pictured with daughters Aaliyah and Laianah) made a final emotional post on Instagram after breaking free from her abusive husband
‘I didn’t think he’d hurt the kids. She was concerned he would kill her. I believed that could be possible.’
The family said the dedicated mum would do anything for the young kids, and was working to start a new life for them.
Despite suffering burns to 97 per cent of her body during the horrific attack, she remarkably managed to cling on to life long enough to file a police report.
‘She did everything for those kids,’ her father Lloyd explained.
‘To the end she fought to make sure if he survived he got punished doing to her babies. She was so brave.
Interviewer Tracy Grimshaw (pictured) was left in tears after the couple recalled their family’s horrifying ordeal
Suzanne Clarke (pictured) with grandaughters Aaliyah, 6 and Laianah, 4
‘Every time she came home from work, “My darlings where are you?”,’
‘This smile. Didn’t matter whether she had a s*** of day at work. She’d be there for the children.’
In a massacre which rocked Australia, Baxter attacked his family in Camp Hill, after putting his wife through years of emotional, sexual and financial abuse.
Despite heroic attempts by passersby, their children Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4, and Trey, 3, all died at the scene on Wednesday morning.
Their mother died later in hospital.
Lloyd Clarke (pictured with his granddaughter) enjoyed a day out at the water park with his grandchildren just days before they were burned alive
Sat clutching each other’s hand during the interview on A Current Affair, the Clarkes said they began to fear for their daughter’s safety when she finally left her abusive husband in November last year.
He hadn’t been physically abusive to her before that, instead using financial, sexual and emotional manipulation.
Asked whether she was concerned about her daughter’s life, her mother said: ‘More so when she was getting ready to leave.
‘While he felt he was still in control of the situation it was all not physically as dangerous.
Left: Hannah Clarke pictured with her ‘main man’, son Trey in a beach snap. Right: Mrs Baxter on her wedding with her husband
Lloyd Clarke (pictured, left) gave a harrowing account of the murder-suicides, alongside his wife Suzanne (centre) and son Nat (right)
‘But we knew there was no way she could say “I’m going” and walk out the door.’
Hannah (pictured, left) with her mother Suzanne Clarke
Her brother, Nat, called for more attention to be given to the signs of domestic abuse – saying his sister was ‘manipulated’ and ‘controlled’ by her husband.
‘Not all domestic abuse is physical,’ he said.
‘Mental is probably one of the hardest ones to pick up on.’
‘I just want everyone to know how much of a beautiful person my sister was.
‘How great her kids were. That this such a tragic event that, yeah, I hope future people don’t have to go through.’
Her mother said her controlling husband even banned her from wearing shorts, saying her ‘targeted’ and ‘manipulated’ her.
In the heartbreaking final Instagram post, Ms Clarke said she wanted her daughters to ‘grow up being strong women who understand their worth’
‘She was not allowed to wear shorts,’ she said.
‘She was big in the fitness industry. She’s a crossfiter she had to do competitions in tights. She wasn’t allowed to wear shorts.
‘She wasn’t allowed to walk off the beach in bikinis, she had to cover up.
‘Just little things like that in the beginning we thought, “Oh he’s a prude”, but in hindsight we know there’s more to it.’
Her devastated family are now planning to launch a charity in Hannah’s name to help other victims of domestic violence.
Aaliyah (left), 6, Laianah (right), 4, and Trey (centre), 3, were murdered by their own father
Before her death on Wednesday night, they had prints done of the sole of her foot – the only part of her body that wasn’t burnt.
‘My sister was so badly burnt that the only thing they could do for like a memorabilia of her was a footprint,’ her brother explained.
‘Because the soles of her feet were only part of her body that weren’t burnt.
‘They couldn’t even get a hand print or anything from her.
‘So we are wanting the symbol of her foot somehow to be a symbol for her and her legacy.
Despite heroic attempts by passersby, their children Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4, and Trey, 3, (pictured) all died at the scene on Wednesday morning.
‘We want to try and start something to help women who are in this situation who have suffered domestic abuse, mentally, physically, sexually.’
Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia earlier this week, her parents said their daughter had finally broken free from the monstorous fitness fanatic.
But he launched a campaign of stalking and harassment, and was due in court after breaching a domestic violence restraining order.
Ms Clarke and the three children had been living with her parents as she tried to escape her evil husband.
A shrine grows at the scene where Hannah and her three kids were doused in fuel and set alight, while one person leaves a poignant sign about domestic violence
They had even spent a fun day with their grandparents at a water park just days before the tragedy.
The murdered mum told friends she was a ‘survivor not a victim’ in a gut-wrenching final Instagram post just days before her death.
After finally breaking free from her evil husband, she said would ‘never let anyone mistreat her again’ and hoped her daughters would ‘grow up being strong women’.
Ms Clarke had suffered at the hands of her abusive husband for more than 10 years, before finally leaving him in November.
Writing on social media during the new year period, she said: ‘I am a strong woman.
The shocking murder-suicide that has left Australia reeling unfolded just metres from the home of Ms Clarke’s parents on Raven Street, Camp Hill, as she drove her children to school
‘I don’t sit around feeling sorry for myself nor will I ever let anyone mistreat me again.
‘I don’t respond people who dictate to me or try to bring me down.
‘I am a survivor not a victim.
‘I am in control of my life and there’s nothing I can’t achieve.
‘My girls will grow up being strong women who understand their worth.’
Friends revealed Ms Clarke was the victim of years of emotional, financial and sexual abuse.
Aaliyah (left), 6, Laianah (right), 4, and Trey (centre), 3, were killed in a quadruple murder-suicide on Wednesday morning when their father set their car alight on their way to school
On Friday morning, close friend Manja Whaley, who met the mum-of-three at a gym last year, said Baxter had even admitted threatening to kill his oldest child from a previous relationship.
He also threatened to harm their children if she refused to have sex with him and wouldn’t let her wear shorts to the gym in case she attracted other men.
Ms Clarke was staying at her parents house in Camp Hill when she was ambushed by Baxter as she drove their three children to school.