Theresa Riggi: mother admits killing her children
Mother Theresa Riggi admits killing her three children on the grounds of diminished responsibility after stabbing them at home in Edinburgh last year.
Theresa Riggi entered a plea of guilty to the “culpable homicide” of her three children on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Edinburgh’s High Court.
She stabbed her three children at their home in Edinburgh on 4 August last year – eight-year old twins, Austin and Luke, and their five-year old sister, Cecilia. Their bodies were found inside their home, a modern townhouse in Edinburgh’s Slateford Road, after a suspected gas explosion. Ms Riggi was found badly injured after apparently falling from a second-floor balcony.
She was arrested in connection with the children’s deaths after post-mortem examinations, and a specially-convened court was held inside Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where she was being treated.
She was later transferred to Cornton Vale Prison for women, near Stirling.
Witnesses
Riggi originally faced three charges of murder, but has now admitted the lesser charges.
Prosecuters alleged the children were repeatedly struck on the body with a knife, or knives, between 2 and 4 August 2010. Ms Riggi was also accused of recklessly causing a gas explosion.
Witnesses said that they had heard a loud explosion at 3pm on 4 August and seen smoke coming from the balcony.
(Theresa Riggi’s children Austin, Cecilia and Luke)
Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, said that building manager Derek Knight heard the explosion and went to turn off the gas, before returning to see Ms Riggi on the balcony, “screaming loudly”, with cuts on her neck.
As neighbour Jordan Cochrane pleaded with Ms Riggi not to jump, Mr Knight made his way upstairs to the property and forced entry, where he found the bodies of the three children.
‘Paralysed with grief’
The Riggi family moved to Edinburgh from Skene, Aberdeenshire, after Ms Riggi’s marriage to the children’s father, Pasquale Riggi, broke down.
The oil engineer described himself as “paralysed with grief” after the deaths of his family.
Riggi and her husband were involved in a legal action over the children at the Court of Session in Edinburgh at the time of their deaths.