Australian gets life term for killing three sons

MELBOURNE - A man who killed his three children by deliberately driving them into a dam was sentenced by a court in Australia Friday to life imprisonment with a minimum of 33 years, a media report said.

Robert Farquharson, 41, was found guilty of murdering sons Jai, 10, Tyler, 7, and Bailey, 2, by the court in July following an 11-week trial, The Age reported.

Farquharson drove his car into the deep, dark dam near Winchelsea, southwest of Melbourne in September, 2005, the report said.

Justice Lex Lasry of Supreme Court of Victoria said the three boys must have met terrifying deaths. “Your crimes have devastated a significant number of people,” he said.

“Primary among them is your ex-wife Cindy Gambino, the mother of these three children.” The judge said the tragedy of the case “almost defies imagination”.

The move comes as Farquharson’s ex-wife voiced her outrage over the sentence, saying the minimum term would never be enough.

“It’s a life sentence for me,” Gambino said. “It should be a life sentence for him,” she said.

The court previously heard Farquharson had killed the boys to get back at his ex-wife for ending their marriage.

Farquharsons lawyer Simon Northeast said his client intended to lodge an appeal.