In New Zealand, a South African woman named Lauren Anne Dickason was convicted by a jury on Wednesday for the murder of her three young daughters.

The verdict carries a potential life sentence for each of the killings.

The tragic incident occurred in September 2021 at their residence in Timaru, shortly after the family had relocated from South Africa.

Following a month-long trial in Christchurch’s high court, a majority decision by the jury, consisting of eight women and four men, determined that Dickason was mentally sound at the time of the murders and thus held her guilty of the acts.

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The prosecution argued that she was fully aware of the moral implications and committed the act with intent, classifying it as murder.

Her husband discovered the lifeless bodies of their daughters and found his wife in a critical condition upon returning home from a dinner with colleagues.

Emotional scenes were observed as some jury members exited the courtroom.

The presiding judge, Cameron Mander, ordered that Dickason remain in a psychiatric unit within a hospital until her sentencing, as she had been hospitalized since the tragic incident.