Father awoke to horror of wife’s alleged murder-suicide attempt

When John Freeman woke up on a cold Sunday morning, he had no idea of the horror that awaited him.

The Blue Mountains man rose on August 24 to find his two adult sons, both profoundly disabled men in their 40s who lived with their parents, suffering stab wounds.

The Herald can reveal that in another room of the Leura home the family had shared for decades, his wife Debra Freeman was unconscious, the result of what police now believe was a failed murder-suicide attempt. The 67-year-old was covered in blood, according to police sources not authorised to speak publicly. Investigations indicate she had taken a large number of pills.

Freeman ran to his neighbours’ home, where he asked them to call Triple Zero. Investigators arrived at the Myall Avenue address on the edge of the Blue Mountains’ famous bushland and found the two men and their mother unresponsive.

Television footage from the scene shows one man, bloodied but alert, being stretchered up a long concrete driveway to a waiting ambulance. He is then conveyed to a nearby air ambulance and taken to hospital by helicopter.

The other man is taken from the home on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance.

In the vision, an older grey-haired man paces the length of the driveway.

Police sources not authorised to speak publicly told the Herald that both sons have been profoundly intellectually disabled since birth. They both remain in Westmead Hospital, while their mother remains in the Blue Mountains Hospital.

On Monday, a week after the incident, she was charged with two counts of causing grievous bodily harm to person with intent to murder (DV).

Freeman’s matter was briefly mentioned at a bedside hearing in Penrith Local Court on Tuesday, where she did not appear. She did not apply for bail, which was formally refused for her to appear in the same court next month.

An apprehended domestic violence order was also put in place, which prohibits Freeman from contacting her sons and her husband.

If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 131 114 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.

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