Aaron Cockman, the father of four children killed by their grandfather near Margaret River in WA's south last month. Photo / Sky News
Aaron Cockman, the father of four children killed by their grandfather near Margaret River in WA's south last month. Photo / Sky News
The grieving father who lost everything in the massacre at Margaret River believes his four children – Kaydn, Rylan, Ayre and Taye – would still be alive if orders from the family court had been followed and enforced.
In an exclusive interview with Channel 7's Sunday Night programme to airtonight, an emotional Aaron Cockman claims specific orders over living arrangements were ignored with terrible consequences.
On May 11 at 4am, Cockman's former father-in-law Peter Miles walked from the main farmhouse to the converted shed where his daughter, Katrina Miles, and four grandchildren were sleeping.
He used a rifle to shoot all five of them as they slept in their beds, before walking back to the farmhouse to kill his wife of more than 40 years, Cynda Miles.
Katrina Miles and her family at a recent wedding. Photo / Facebook
As Cockman tells Sunday Night, it was an expensive exercise, with a high degree of emotional strain.
Katrina Miles and her four children were killed on the family property in Osmington, near Margaret River in WA's South West. Photo / Katrina Miles
"Myself and the kids and Kat, and even Peter and Cynda suffered so much through the court system.
"And for Peter to actually take on a farm with all my kids on it and be the father figure, it's a lot of pressure on someone that is not mentally capable and shouldn't be in that situation".
The custody battle was traumatic, and Peter and Cynda Miles were heavily involved.
They applied for a Violence Restraining Order against Cockman, claiming he was following them.
The order was dropped and dismissed because of a lack of evidence.
Cockman says they told him on several occasions he would "never see his kids again."
He claims Peter Miles was also in turmoil over several family dramas including the current predicament of his son Neil, critically ill and in need of a kidney transplant.
Years earlier, his son Shaun had shot and killed himself in his early 20s and Cockman believes Peter couldn't take the prospect of another loss.
On this, Cockman has a disturbing insight, recalling how Miles described "switching off" while killing sheep.
"I was out at the high school farm many times with him, killing sheep, and it's like, Peter, he just shut [his] mind off, and I know that's what he has done, he has shut his mind off, no feeling.
