EXCLUSIVE Devastated locals reveal what they fear triggered a grandmother to allegedly murder her two young grandsons, aged 6 and 7, in Coonabarabran house of horror - as cops wait to charge her
Friends of a 'nice' and 'beautiful' grandmother have described their shock at the news she allegedly reached 'breaking point' and killed her two young grandsons.
There were no signs anything was amiss with Kathleen Heggs, 66, or the boys, six-year-old Sam and seven-year-old Max, according to locals who knew the family.
Police rushed to Heggs property in Coonabarabran, in central-west NSW, at 2pm on Monday after a desperate call from the maternal grandmother.
Heggs had phoned the Department of Communities and Justice at 1.30pm to say her grandsons were dead and she needed help.
Officers forced their way into the property and allegedly found the bodies of the boys in different rooms of the house, and Heggs attempting to harm herself. Police believe the boys were suffocated and there were no weapons involved.
On Wednesday morning Heggs remained in a mental health facility in Orange, with police set to charge her over the alleged double murder when she is released.
Meanwhile, the small country town of Coonabarabran, with a population of just 2,400 people, has been rocked by the incident.
Family friend Kodi Brady, who has a boy the same age and used to see Max and Sam at the school gate, as well as at soccer games and karate lessons, described the incident as 'mind-blowing'.
'It's absolutely tragic now, but grandma, she was there for them all day every day,' Mr Brady told Daily Mail Australia.
He described Heggs as a 'beautiful lady', and added: 'It's mind-blowing, but she's the one who took care of them. It's (alleged) breaking point, I guess.'
He said Sam and Max were 'cute little kids, full of energy'.
Though the boys and Heggs were 'fairly new' to the area, having moved to Coonabarabran from the Central Coast about 11 months ago, Mr Brady said residents were struggling to come to terms with the news.
'This is a tragedy, and it's affecting so many. Petty crime happens and that, but it's a very safe community, we don't have problems like the cities.'
Peter Wilkie, the boys' karate instructor since December, said he heard the news from a parent after finishing a Monday afternoon karate class, where he had noticed the boys were absent.
'It was a hard hit, it's hard to take to be honest. They run around, they're on the go all the time, but they were working really well' Mr Wilkie said.
'I thought (Heggs) was quite a nice lady, I wouldn't have thought she would have done that.
'She helped in class, she would hold the pads, and she bought everything the boys needed - (karate) uniforms, clothes and gear and all that.
'It's just a sheer bloody waste.'
On Tuesday afternoon detectives in forensics gear could be seen examining a vehicle at the house.
Officers spent several hours searching a Mazda BT50 that was parked in the garage.
The doors of the vehicle were open and one of the detectives could be seen shining a torch into the front dashboard of the car, while the bonnet was covered in fingerprint dust.
Outside the house, laundry was still hanging from a washing line near a basketball hoop.
On Tuesday evening residents began leaving flower tributes to the boys at the entrance to Gumnut Road, the dirt road on the edge of town that leads to Emu Lane, where Heggs and the boys lived.
The house remained cordoned off and under police guard on Wednesday morning.
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