A man who admitted using knives to murder his wife, three young children and mother-in-law has become the first person in Western Australia ordered by a judge to never be released from prison.
Anthony Robert Harvey, 25, killed two-year-old twins Alice and Beatrix, three-year-old Charlotte and their mother Mara Lee Harvey, 41, at their Bedford home on September 3, 2018.
Grandmother Beverley Ann Quinn, 73, was murdered when she visited the next morning, the WA Supreme Court heard on Friday.
Harvey had written in a journal about embracing his "darkness and animal instincts" and "eliminating" his family, a sentencing hearing in the WA Supreme Court heard last month.
"I am no psycho. I feel. I feel too much, I always have ... I will regret what I do," he wrote.
Director of Public Prosecutions Amanda Forrester argued the killings were so degrading and abhorrent that Harvey should never have hope of freedom.
Today's sentencing makes him the first person ordered never to be released under laws changed in 2008.
Defence counsel Sam Vandongen said his client was remorseful and urged Justice Stephen Hall not to make the order.
The court heard Ms Quinn and Ms Harvey were struck on the head with a pipe and repeatedly stabbed with a newly purchased large knife.
Harvey said he quickly tried to "finish" his wife of three years, stabbing her at least 12 times.
The children were murdered with a smaller knife, with Charlotte stabbed 38 times.
They were all covered with a doona and flowers, as well as notes saying he was sorry and he loved them.
Harvey remained at the house for days and lied to his wife's employer to explain her absence.
He then travelled about 1500km north to the Pilbara town of Pannawonica where he turned himself in to police on September 9 with the help of his father.
Harvey said he had not been angry with his family and described his marriage as good.
The court also heard about Harvey's mental health and a suggestion he had symptoms consistent with high-functioning autism.
