Mother jailed for 16 years for killing children

Theresa Riggi, 47, from the US, stabbed her eight-year-old twins, Austin and Luke, and her five-year-old daughter, Cecilia, to death at their Edinburgh home last August.

The youngsters’ bloodstained bodies were discovered lying side by side at the townhouse following a gas explosion at the building, each with eight stab wounds and multiple abrasions and bruises.

Riggi was initially charged with murder but last month admitted three counts of the lesser charge of culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Passing sentence at the High Court in Glasgow, judge Lord Bracadale told her a “devastating family tragedy” had resulted from her actions.

He said: “The father of the children, Pasquale Riggi, and the wider family have been left utterly bereft by the loss of the children. And you, who had a genuine but abnormal and possessive love of your children, have lost them and are brought to this sorry pass. You, and others, must understand that, while your responsibility is diminished, you are still responsible for your actions.

“The effect of the diminished responsibility is to reduce these crimes from what would have been exceptionally wicked crimes of murder to what are still very serious crimes of culpable homicide.”

He added: “The number and nature of the stab wounds to each child is indicative of a truly disturbing degree of violence which, in order to bring about the deaths of three children, must have been sustained over a significant period of time. It is difficult to envisage the physical commission of such acts.

“It is clear that any degree of responsibility for such ghastly and grotesque acts must be visited with a lengthy sentence of imprisonment.”

Outside court, Pasquale Riggi stood as a statement was read out on his behalf, in which he remembered his “wonderful, energetic, bright and happy” children.

In the statement, read by David Sinclair of Victim Support Scotland, Mr Riggi said: “They are in my thoughts when I wake in the morning and before I go to sleep at night.

“They were such wonderful, energetic, bright and happy children. We are so thankful for the opportunity we had to know and love them and the memories that we made together, allowing us to cherish them so dearly now.”

He added: “The horrific manner in which my children died will leave an indelible mark on the rest of my life. As a father, my natural instincts were geared towards safeguarding my children from the dangers of this world. It pains me to the core that I was unable to protect them from the selfish, brutal and murderous act that ended their lives so unfairly.

“There is no justification for this heinous crime, repeated three times, nor is there any sentence that can provide justice for the overwhelming loss of three lives and the subsequent painful grief and devastation caused to surviving family and friends.”

Riggi cried openly throughout the proceedings but her tear-stained face showed little emotion as the judge passed sentence.

As Lord Bracadale spoke of the “disturbing degree of violence” inflicted on the three children, she cried out: “No. No” towards the bench.

Dressed in the same white suit she had worn for previous hearings, Riggi clutched a tissue and rosary beads.

Her husband, who watched the sentencing from the public gallery, wore a red, a yellow and a pink ribbon, one for each of his children.

Riggi was badly injured after plunging from a balcony in an attempt to kill herself. Her fall was broken by a neighbour who had rushed to her aid. She also had stab wounds which were believed to have been self-inflicted. The scars were still visible on her neck and wrists as she sat in court.

Defence QC Donald Findlay said Riggi is “tortured” every day by what she has done and remains “resentful” that someone saved her life. The court heart she had suffered a “brief psychotic episode” brought on by the thought of losing her children.

Mr Findlay said she had been motivated by love for them, a desire to protect them and her strong religious belief that convinced her all four would then be in heaven together following the deaths.

He said: “The lady in the dock behind me was not someone who was driven by cruelty, resentment and anger at the three children. They were part of her and she was part of them: one and indivisible. The children were her whole life.”

She was driven to a “deep, dark and desperate corner” by the belief she would lose them and they might be harmed by their father.