The Daily Telegraph Mirror
Wednesday, November 1, 1995
Australia
A TEENAGER who committed suicide with her younger brother was influenced by the suicide of grunge rock singer Kurt Cobain, a coroner found this week.
Narelle, 14, and Stephen Henderson, 12, shot themselves with their father's rifle in the Mount Robinson State Park, near Kinglake, in Victoria last year.
In her finding returned on Monday, Coroner Jacinta Heffey, found Narelle had been influenced by Cobain's suidide on April 8, 1994 - - but said the children's prime motivation was their fear of attending a religious camp.
Narelle had written a note addressed to "Satan," mentioning Cobain in the weeks before she killed herself.
"I might have a seance and try to communicate with Kurt Cobain. I love him," Narelle wrote.
"When I die, can I meet him please, I need to."
The high school student also had written on her arm, "Kurt Cobain is a legend."
But Ms. Heffey said Narelle's and Stephen's fear of attending a religious camp was "uppermost in the children's minds and was the immediate motivation behind the joint suicide."
The children were due to attend a four-day camp being held by their mother's nameless, non-denominational Christian church group the next day.
"To whoever finds us, we committed suicide because all of our life we were made to go to meetings, like Church," the children said in a suicide note.
"They try to brainwash us so much and have ruined our lives. We considered running away or other things but we were afraid we would be found ad get into trouble and made to go back to our awful lives.........."
The children, described as reclusive and shy, said they were sorry, but believed suicide was their only option.
Narelle had also written a note backwards to "Satan," saying she loved him and wanted to become a demon after killing herself.
"Satan, I need help. I want to serve you and be a devil worshipper. I was planning to kill myself on Tuesday," she wrote in the note.
"When I die, let me be a devil or demon and destroy anyone who hurt (sic) me."
The children committed suicide on November 23 last year.
When the bus driver pulled up outside their home in Kinglake West, about 50km from Melbourne, they told him they would not be going to school.
They lifted their bicycles over the back fence and headed for the forest, a few kilometres from their family's small property where they killed themselves with a .22 rifle their father had owned for 20 years.
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An Extract from a letter written by Narelle:
"Satan, I need help, I want to serve you and be a devil worshipper.
God is dead and no one cares. I am planning to kill myself on Tuesday.
When I die, let me be a devil or demon and destroy everyone who hurt me.
I might have a seance and try and communicate with Kurt Cobain.
I love him.
When I die, can I meet him please, I need to.
Let me be a devil or demon, please Satan.
I love you."
Ms. Heffey said Narelle had shot herself first. She put a .22 rifle to her mouth and pulled the trigger.
Stephen took the gun from her hand, reloaded it, placed it inside his mouth and then he, too, pulled the trigger.
The children's father, John Henderson, said the children were merely bored, not afraid of the church group.
"I think they got a bit carried away......they may have thought they could get back from heaven," Mr. Henderson, an agnostic said.
He said his wife, Heather, remained a member of the cult and saw no reason why she should leave.
The fundamentalist group's senior minister, John Jones, told police the group met in private homes, had about 2500 members in Victoria and had no restrictions on music, dancing, television, sport and food.
Former member Owen Bassett had described the cult as fanatical and claimed nervous breakdowns among members were not uncommon, the coroner said.
Mr. Henderson said he went to the children's graves three or four times a week.
