A man who veered his car head-on into a stranger’s SUV, killing a young mother on her way home from work, was carrying fuel drums in his vehicle as part of a plot to terrorise his girlfriend.
A man who veered his car head-on into a stranger’s SUV, killing a young mother on her way home from work, was carrying fuel drums in his vehicle as part of a plot to terrorise his girlfriend.
A source with detailed knowledge of the situation told the Daily Mail the 42-year-old Western Australian man flew from Perth to Tasmania, hellbent on burning down the house where his partner, Sarah, was staying.
The man, identified as Keith Mitton in Seven West media reports, carried out a frenzied stabbing attack on Sarah at her home in Exeter, in the island state’s north, on Friday, July 24, then fled south towards Launceston along the West Tamar Highway.
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The Daily Mail’s source said the man had veered his blue Skoda carrying fuel drums at other vehicles before he crashed into 39-year-old Elaine Gee’s Nissan Navara near Legana, causing an instant explosion.
The man died at the scene, with confronting pictures showing his vehicle engulfed in flames.
Ms Gee – a married mother of two boys who was returning home to Winkleigh after finishing a nursing shift at Launceston Hospital – died on Sunday from her injuries.
‘He was trying to collide with cars,’ the source said. ‘Why another car? Why not a tree, or a cliff?’
‘This whole thing is an absolute cluster of horrible circumstances and events. And it just gets worse and worse the more you know.’
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Tasmanian-raised Sarah is recovering from serious stab wounds in Launceston
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Sarah’s partner, who is yet to be named, caused a fiery wreck on the West Tamar Highway near Legana
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The driver was named in Seven West media reports as Keith Mitton
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According to the source, the man had flown from Perth to get to Sarah, his partner of six months.
She had lived in the Western Australian city but recently moved back to her home state.
Tasmania Police declined to comment on the presence of fuel drums in the Skoda due to an active police investigation.
It is understood Sarah remains ‘in a bad way’ after the man’s stabbing attack, but the unnamed weapon thankfully missed her vital organs.
Police said her two daughters were present at the home, but did not directly witness their mother being attacked.
Sarah’s devastated family – who were known to the Gees within the tight-knit north-western Tasmanian community – have described the horrifying series of events as ‘impossible to comprehend’.
They have now broken their silence via a GoFundMe created by State Labor Member for Bass Jess Greene, who launched the fundraiser in a private capacity as a family friend.
The fundraiser appeared to suggest Sarah’s two daughters had been transferred to the care of their aunt, Gravelly Beach teacher Coby Gore, and her husband Adam Gore, a union organiser, Army reservist, and former Labor candidate for Bass.
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The WA man veered into Elaine Gee’s vehicle. She died from her injuries on Sunday
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Ms Gee was driving home to Winkleigh after a nursing shift at Launceston Hospital
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Sarah’s children are now in the care of their aunt and uncle, Coby and Adam Gore
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A GoFundMe has been launched to support Sarah and her children
‘The girls have previously lived in Tasmania with Coby and Adam, so they are returning to people they know, love and trust, and to a home where they have already experienced care, stability and belonging,’ said Ms Greene.
‘Their nan also lives with the family, providing another familiar and loving source of support.’
Ms Greene said the money raised would go towards supporting the children, including schooling and counselling costs.
‘Funds will also be used to assist Sarah with medical, rehabilitation and living expenses as she recovers and begins rebuilding her life,’ she said.
Through Ms Greene, the family described their pain over not only the horrific injuries to Sarah, but the loss of Ms Gee.
‘Two families have been changed forever, children have experienced unimaginable trauma, and the broader community has been left shocked and grieving,’ read a statement.
‘As a family, we acknowledge the profound loss suffered by the Gee family, as well as Elaine’s friends and colleagues. Nothing can lessen their grief, and they remain firmly in our thoughts.’
Police announced at 9pm on Sunday that Ms Gee – a local nurse for 20 years – had died.
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Ms Gee leaves behind two young sons and her husband, high-school sweetheart Rodney Gee
She leaves behind her husband Rodney, who was her high-school sweetheart, and two sons aged six and ten.
Rodney shared a searing statement on Sunday evening, describing his wife’s death as ‘unfair, and crap’.
‘There are no clever words for it. The entire situation is completely unacceptable… and this is without question the worst day of our family’s lives,’ he said.
‘It is now going to take all of us – family, friends, teachers, the local community and everyone who knew and loved Elaine – to help me make the good boys we have raised together to become the great men she knew they could be.’
A source close to Rodney said on Wednesday that he was ‘not doing well – and let’s just say the guy is lucky he died’.
Ms Gee’s mother-in-law Louise told the Daily Mail on Monday that her son was ‘distressed’ and had lost his wife just a few years after coming to terms with the death of his father, also named Rodney.
A GoFundMe for the Gee family by a friend, which has already raised $213,000 of a $250,000 target, shed more light on Ms Gee’s death.
‘Elaine was tragically killed in a senseless act of violence. A man who had allegedly stabbed his girlfriend then deliberately drove straight into Elaine while she was driving home from work at Launceston hospital, where she worked as a nurse for the past 20 years,’ a post read.
