Fiona Anderson tucked the three children into bed and kissed their heads before jumping to her death from a nearby car park
A pregnant mother killed her three young children before scrawling "I love you" on their bodies, an inquest has heard.
Fiona Anderson, 23, then kissed the children good night, tucked them up in bed and went to a nearby car park where she leapt to her death.
An inquest at Suffolk Coroner's Court heard how after police discovered the tots in their mother's double bed at the house in Lowestoft, Suffolk, on April 15 last year.
The children, Levina, three, Addy, two, and 11-month-old Kyden, appeared to have been drowned in the bath but a post-mortem found they had not been restrained or assaulted.
When officers visited the home, police found Miss Anderson had written on the walls using a green marker pen.
One of the messages read: "I put them to bed with their bear bears - they loved their bears."
Another read: "I love them and I'm going to keep them safe."
A final message said: "They're cuddled up together sleeping. They look so peaceful."
Each of the children had a heart drawn on their torso in green ink to create the message "I love you x", Chief Inspector Andy Smith said.
Police also found evidence of a lipstick kiss mark on each of their foreheads.
Miss Anderson had written the names of each of the children on her body, with the name "Eve" which she intended to name her unborn daughter, the inquest heard.
Mr Smith said the day before the killings, she had argued with the children's father, Craig McClellan, after he began a new relationship.
She stabbed him during this confrontation but he initially lied to police and said he had been stabbed in the street by a stranger.
Mr Smith said: "He later told us he lied to protect Fiona and stop the children being taken into care.
"It is clear that Fiona Anderson loved her children but that she was extremely emotionally disturbed on April 13, 14 and 15."
He added a torn-up letter recovered after her death provided "a harrowing insight into her life".
"She felt unable to cope with the situation and apologetically outlined her intention to take her children with her," Mr Smith said.
"In her words: a mother never abandons her children."
The family had been known to a variety of care agencies since she first became pregnant in 2009, coroner Peter Dean said.
Child protection plans were in place after concerns over possible physical and emotional neglect were raised.
Social services were considering taking the children into care.
The inquest is expected to last two days.
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