Grim details of the tragic final moments suffered by the three Fuller children have been revealed at their inquest.
Sam, 12, Rebecca, eight, and Charlotte, seven, from Milkwall near Coleford, died of stab wounds in Shropshire last July. Their father Ceri's body was found nearby.
A two-day hearing into the deaths began today, with evidence given by pathologists, forensics and eye witnesses. Family members are due to appear at the inquest, in Wem, tomorrow.
Sam died from knife wounds to his neck, while his sisters died of stab injuries to the chest, the inquest heard.
Dr Alexander Kolar gave the causes of death of the three children.
He said: "Regarding Sam there was an incised wound across the front of the neck.
"He had cuts to his left hand consistent with defence injuries.
"Rebecca also had a wound to the front of her neck but there was little or no bleeding suggesting the wound had been administered after her death.
"There were a total of five stab wounds to the front of her chest which was the cause of her death.
"Charlotte had a large wound to the front of her neck again with little bleeding. There were four stab wounds to the front of her chest."
No traces of drugs or alcohol were discovered in any of the three children.
Dr Nicholas Hunt carried out the postmortem on Ceri Fuller. He said: "There were multiple impact injuries to his body and a significant one to his head consistent with falling.
"His skull was badly fractured which had damaged his brain. Toxicology revealed no drug or alcohol use."
DNA found on a "hunting style" knife at the scene belonged to all three children.
It emerged during the hearing that Ruth Fuller, mother of the three children and wife to Ceri, tried to kill herself on the night the family went missing. This was revealed in a statement read on behalf of Ruth's sister Jo Ballard, who was at the inquest.
After Ruth was taken to hospital, Jo revealed she sat by her sister's bed through the night and at 5.30am Ruth awoke and said: "I think Ceri killed Rebecca."
"She stared right into my eyes for what seemed like forever when she said it," said Mrs Ballard, who admitted it was then that she began to have fears for the children's safety.
The statement also revealed that Ceri and Ruth had agreed to split up. Text messages described as "flirtatious" were discovered by Jo on Ruth's mobile phone.
They had been sent by Mark Lindley-Highfield, the lecturer on the humanities course Ruth had started in February last year.
Mrs Ballard said: "Ruth told me in the past in a throwaway comment that she had a crush on him and that she thought he was nice. I saw a text message on the phone from Ruth asking Mark out for a drink. She later backtracked and sent another one saying the message was for Ceri."
Mrs Ballard's statement went on to describe Ceri as a possessive individual who didn't like Ruth doing anything apart from being a mum.
Statements from colleagues of Ceri, who was a supervisor at Glatfelter, in Lydney, were also read out and all described him as someone who kept himself to himself and rarely, if ever, spoke about his personal life and his family.
They said they had never seen Ceri become aggressive or lose his temper.
The inquest is expected to conclude tomorrow.
