Builder murdered own kids by putting foam down throats to get 'revenge' on wife

A builder has been jailed for life for murdering his own kids by putting building foam down their throats to get revenge on his estranged wife.

The Frenchman, identified only as 55-year-old Laurent F. because of local privacy laws where he lives in Dresden, Germany, had put little Leo, 5, and Maya, 2, into bed to make it look like they were sleeping after blocking their tiny airways with the foam.

He then tried to murder his estranged wife and the mother of his children, but her thick wig cushioned the blow as he struck her on the head from behind with a heavy object.

Laurent F. only admitted killing his young children once his trial had already got underway.

He will have to serve at least 20 years in prison and has already been in investigative custody since he was arrested over the murder in May last year.

The construction boss had been living in Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony, since 1992.

His building firm had got into serious financial difficulties, and two years ago his wife moved out of the family home.

In January last year, he was arrested with a kilogramme of crystal meth he was trying to smuggle into the country from Poland.

The court heard he increasingly blamed his ex-wife for his troubles and wanted revenge, putting his twisted plot into action when the two children were staying with him.

Prosecutor Till von Borries told a court he was acting out of revenge because his wife had separated from him and injured his self-esteem.

He said: "The indictment alleges that on May 9, 2019, the building subcontractor strangled his two children Maya, 2, and Leo, 5, in his apartment until they were unconscious.

"In order to make sure that nobody was able to resuscitate them at the last minute, he then injected fast-acting construction foam into their mouths in order to close off their airways."

On the day of the murders, Laurent took pictures of his children, with Leo smiling with his bike and Maya holding an ice cream.

The court heard that, not satisfied by the shocking killing, he had then tucked the tiny bodies up in bed to make it seem as if they were sleeping, and waited for his ex-wife to turn up.

He telephoned his wife - identified only as 27-year-old Marieta F., of Senegalese descent - to bring some cuddly rabbit toys Maya had left at home.

When she arrived, he refused to let her see the children and, after a row, attempted to kill her by hitting her from behind with a heavy object.

But the blow was softened by a thick wig that prevented the blow from being fatal.

He then continued trying to attack her, strangling her as she tried to make it to the entrance to the building, where she collapsed unconscious.

He was then disturbed by witnesses.

When the neighbours tried to awaken the children, they at first thought they were sleeping, and when they realised that they were not breathing and tried to resuscitate them, they discovered their mouths filled with construction foam.

An expert testimony, which was rejected by the defence, alleged that the action was designed to cause the "maximum damage to his wife".

He was found guilty of two counts of murder, and one count of attempted murder for the attack on his ex-wife.

A psychologist found Laurent was an aggressive narcissist who showed a lack of empathy, but he was found fit to stand trial, MailOnline reports.

Laurent's other previous offences included rape and arson, the paper reports.