'Woman used samurai sword to butcher her twin daughters, 3, before slashing her own throat'



Accused: Monica McCarrick is suspected of stabbing to death her twin daughters Lily and Tori

A young mother is to be charged with murder after her twin three-year-old daughters were hacked to death with a samurai sword.

In horrific details about the double murder and attempted suicide, investigators say Monica McCarrick killed the little girls and then propped their bodies against the front door of the apartment in a bid to prevent rescuers from getting in.



Firefighters made the grim discovery of the girls, Lily and Tori, after being called last week to a fire in a flat where they lived with McCarrick.



The 28-year-old was found near the bodies of the twins with a self-inflicted sword wound to the throat. She will be charged with murder after being released from hospital.



Investigators said the head of one of the girls had almost been decapitated. The other suffered multiple stab wounds to the stomach.



McCarrick then set fire to the flat in Fairfield, California, and placed the lifeless bodies of her daughters against the front door before trying to kill herself.



Neighbours had desperately tried to force their way into the flat after noticing smoke seeping from under the front door and smoke alarms going off.

Traumatising: Investigators outside the Fairfield home where the murder/suicide attempt took place

Andre Douglas was able to break into the third-floor flat through a window and saw the alleged murder weapon on the floor.

'Once I actually got past her room, there was a sword, a bloody katana-style Japanese fighting sword, in the hallway, and a bottle of pills,' he said.



Police do not yet know a motive for the double murder and have been attempting to track down the twin's 38-year-old father Michael Ball.



They have been unable to interview McCarrick in hospital because of her injury.



Police reports show that McCarrick had previous arrests for using drugs. She was also involved in a domestic violence arrest in San Diego.



Scene of horror: An investigator carries a bundle from inside the burned apartment where the bodies of the two little girls were found

One report said McCarrick called her fiancée while the fire alarm was going off. It’s alleged that her fiancée called his mother and told her Monica had ‘lost her mind’.

Police said McCarrick will be charged with two counts of murder when she is released from John Muir Medical Centre. She will also face two counts of child abuse resulting in death, and one count each of arson and destruction of evidence.

Fairfield police lieutenant Darren Moody said it appeared to be a murder-suicide.

'We have no evidence that anyone else was involved,' he told local media. 'The doors and windows were locked from the inside.'