Jake Kenny
October 2, 2023
Lauren Dickason has responded to her growing number of worldwide supporters in a handwritten letter after she was convicted of murdering her three daughters.
The Press has obtained a copy of the letter, in which she thanks the 1500-strong group for their love and support during what she describes as “a difficult time”.
The letter also reveals Dickason sleeps with teddy bears sewn from the dead children’s clothing.
South African doctor Dickason, 42, was found guilty by a jury of the murder of her twin daughters Maya and Karla, 2, and their older sister Liané, 6, on the night of September 16, 2021, in Timaru.
By majority verdict after two-and-a-half days of deliberations, the jury rejected her defences of insanity and infanticide.
Since the conclusion of her trial, Dickason’s support group has grown quickly.
Her letter was sent in response to a care package she received from the group on the two-year anniversary of the children’s deaths. The package included a peace lily plant and edible goods from a South African shop in Christchurch.
She is in regular contact with some women in the group.
“Thank you to everybody for your love and support during this difficult time”, the letter begins.
Dickason included a painting by numbers of sunflowers she did, writing; “to commemorate the girls passing on the 16th of September”.
A sunflower has become a symbol for the group, with members sharing photographs of them planting the flower in support of Dickason.
She also sent a photograph of three teddy bears she said were made with the children’s clothing, with their names embroidered on the feet.
“I sleep with them at night, to hold them close and remember all the wonderful cuddles my girls used to give me”, she wrote. The letter is signed with a love heart and “Lauren xxx”.
Last month, The Press revealed a book of supportive letters penned to Dickason, along with the group’s plans to host a peaceful march in Christchurch in November ahead of her sentencing the following month.
More than 1300 supporters have signed a petition asking that she be sentenced leniently for the murder of her children due to her postpartum depression.
The Facebook group ‘Support for Lauren Dickason’ was started in July 2022 and has roughly 1500 members, mostly women, from New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, the United Kingdom, United States, Namibia, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Netherlands, Vietnam and Mauritius.
They include doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists and members of Dickason’s family. The group felt empathy for the jury at Dickason’s trial, a spokesperson said.
“They (the jury) were unfairly placed in a position where they had to make a black and white decision factoring in complex and conflicting psychiatric evidence, where mental health is various shades of grey.
“The extreme negative focus from social media would no doubt have influenced them...how does a person remove all emotion in such a traumatic case?”.
The group hoped that the jury was getting the support they needed after being exposed to such traumatic evidence, the spokesperson said.
Dickason, who is in custody in Christchurch’s Hillmorton Hospital, will be sentenced on December 19.
Justice Cameron Mander will ultimately decide her sentence and where it is served and has ordered that Dickason be assessed and reports be filed to aid him in his decision.