The grieving sisters of a Perth grandmother who was killed along with her daughter and three grandchildren have travelled from New Zealand and Queensland to see their accused murderer face court.
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Anthony Robert Harvey, 24, allegedly used a blunt instrument and knives to kill three-year-old Charlotte, two-year-old twins Alice and Beatrix, and his wife Mara Lee Harvey, 41, at their Bedford home last week.
He then allegedly murdered his mother-in-law Beverley Ann Quinn, 73, when she came to visit the next morning.
Harvey appeared briefly in Perth's Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court via videolink from a Pilbara prison on Wednesday, when the case was adjourned until January 2 while his defence lawyer obtains reports and disclosure from the prosecution.
Ms Quinn's sisters Wendy Frost, from Russell Island in Moreton Bay, and Maureen Devereux, from Wellington, held back tears as they spoke with reporters outside court.
They said they mainly came to Western Australia to support grieving relatives but also felt they had to come to court.
"It's our road to closure," Ms Frost said.
Asked how she felt seeing Harvey, Ms Frost said: "It's not legal what I'm thinking".
"I am very, very angry.
"We don't talk about him if we can help it".
She spoke lovingly of Ms Quinn, who went to the Bedford house almost every day to help and would have turned 74 next week.
"My sister Beverley would not hurt anybody," she said.
"She was a loving, wonderful mother, she was a wonderful sister. She would do anything for anybody. She was so kind.
"Mara was following in her footsteps and those poor wee babies did not deserve to die. And I just want to know why - we all want to know why."
Ms Frost said she wasn't sure if she and her sister would remain in Perth for Harvey's next court appearance.
"We just have to wait the outcome of the police doing their investigation - we want to make certain that they do it absolutely thoroughly so that whatever retribution this guy has to suffer, it is the maximum," she said.
Ms Devereux said the family would eventually come to terms with their loss.
"We will have to go on but they will always be there. I'll never forget," she said.
Ms Devereux said she was left "dumbfounded" by the horrific crime.
But the family had been overwhelmed by support from the public, including flowers and toys left outside the house, and a stranger who left her a note on the flight over offering any help she might need while in Perth.
"We say thank you very much for your support."
Australian Associated Press
