This archive report was first published on 15 July 2019.
On Monday, Australian court Justice Martin Burns heard Esther Arunga's guilty plea in the 2014 death of her three-year-old son Sinclair Timberlake. The case has been ongoing since 2014, when Sinclair died as a result of severe blunt force, contradicting Arunga's initial claim that the boy had fallen down the stairs.
Arunga, a former KTN news anchor, admitted to lying to authorities about the incident to protect her husband Quincy Timberlake. The couple's home in Kallangur, Brisbane, was the scene of the crime.
According to Australian Associated Press (AAP), Arunga initially told police that her son had fallen down the stairs, but later revealed that she had found Timberlake hitting their son on the stomach in the bathroom on the night of June 17, 2014. She claimed Timberlake 'threw him against the wall' and said 'there's a devil in his stomach, I have to get it out.'
Arunga also stated that Timberlake had a strong arm and 'even a grown man can't survive that punch.' She added that she was 'terrified of being alone' and felt 'terrible because my husband was sick as well.'
Arunga's defence lawyer, Katarina Prskalo, argued that both Arunga and Timberlake had mental issues. The court has now set a sentencing date for Thursday.
Published on July 15, 2019, by Citizen TV.
