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7 months ago
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EXCLUSIVE
The home where a 17-year-old girl allegedly stabbed her little sister, 10, to death is in a brand new housing estate still under development on the fringes of a city.
The sisters, their mother and another adult woman, were the first occupants of the new rental home in Boolaroo, 20km west of Newcastle, where the 'unthinkable tragedy' unfolded on Monday.
They had been living there for almost three years at the property with four large bedrooms, two bathrooms, a stone bench kitchen, a tiled outdoor patio, two car spaces and a grassed back yard.
Police said they had never been called to the house before the alleged murder and previously had no 'interactions' with either girl.
The sisters and their family are believed to have moved to the 'Weemala At The Lake Estate' in mid-2021, around the same time Bunnings and Costco opened up its nearby store at a $90-million retail complex in Lake Macquarie.
The sisters, aged 17 and 10, are believed to have moved into the four bedroom, two bathroom home (above) with their mother and an older woman in mid-2021
The house where the alleged murder took place is in a new housing estate at Boolaroo, a suburb of the city of Lake Macquarie about 20km west of Newcastle
The $650-a-week rental house has a large tiled open plan living area which is air-conditioned, and carpeted bedrooms with ceiling fans.
The neighbourhood, with 150 houses and another 150 being built, is normally filled with scenes people walking their dogs and kids playing.
But the tranquility was shattered on Monday at 3.45pm with the death of the young girl which Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty described as 'very hard to imagine. It's unthinkable'.
The fatal alleged stabbing attack is believed to have happened while at least one of the adult woman had left to go shopping.
When emergency services arrived at the crime scene, paramedics frantically worked to try and save the young girl's life.
But she died at the scene from multiple stab wounds from 'a sharp implement' to her upper body.
Police arrested her older sister at the scene and took her to Belmont Police Station where she was charged with murder and remanded in custody to face Broadmeadow Children's Court on Tuesday.
Horrified neighbours in the mostly family-occupied houses of the estate were shocked as they watched forensic officers swarm the house.
One neighbour told Daily Mail Australia that that none of the residents were very familiar with the family.
The two sisters and their family members are believed to have been the first occupants of the new build home which has tiled floors, a stone bench kitchen and a large air-conditioned open plan living area
A forensic officer photographs the home where the sisters lived with two adult women, one believed to be their mother, in the four bedroom rental
'My daughter is the same age and she's freaking out that someone will stab her too, so she's really shaken,' the neighbour said.
'The woman has lost everything,' she added, referring to the two sisters' mother, 'she's lost her family. It's a tragedy.'
Advertisements for the housing estate, where most homes are owner-occupied, promote its proximity to lakeside parks, a swimming pool complex and waterfront walking tracks in nearby Speers Point.
It is 'an easy commute to the Newcastle CBD' and 'within minutes of the spectacular Lake Macquarie waterfront'.
Boolaroo last made headline news in 1989 when it was the epicentre of the Newcastle earthquake which destroyed buildings, but has been the site of property developments since such as the Weemala estate.
The real estate agency, which leased the property to the family, refused to comment 'under the privacy act'.
The 17-year-old girl was not required to come up from the cells when her matter was heard in court on Tuesday and no family members attended the short hearing.
The teenager did not apply for bail and next appear in court on June 24 via video link.
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