Murder-suicide was act of revenge, court hears

A SYDNEY father murdered his teenage daughter before killing himself as an act of revenge to punish his wife for divorcing him, a court has heard.

In an inquest into the tragic murder/suicide, Deputy State Coroner Malcolm MacPherson yesterday found the 53-year-old man, who cannot be identified, strangled or suffocated his 13-year-old daughter in the family's Pennant Hills home before hanging himself.

The court heard divorce proceedings instigated by the man's wife were due to be finalised in the Family Court just five days after his "vindictive" act of revenge in January last year...