Fear is gripping the North Epping community after the brutal murder of a family of five while they slept in their home.A 15-year-old girl now sleeps with a hammer under her pillow and a 16-year-old boy needs the light on in the most painful signs of how the crime is affecting the community.Detectives continued a painstaking examination of the three bedrooms yesterday where Min and Lillie Lin, their two boys, Henry, 12, and Terry, 9, and Lillie's younger sister, Yun Bin Lin, were murdered, as it was revealed Lillie Lin was held at knifepoint during a robbery at the family's newsagency a month ago.
Police launch appeal for Macquarie University studentsLast night more than 200 residents, including the federal MP Maxine McKew, attended a meeting at which they discussed how to deal with the crime and speak of it to their children.Held at All Saints Anglican church - one street away from where the Lins lived - many parents or grandparents arrived, some with children who were schoolmates of Henry and Terry, and whose primary school was in the same street where the Lin family lived. The meeting lasted about an hour and a half.Jennifer Lugsdin, mother of a three-year-old and a five-year-old, said parents were told the best way to help their children was to lead by example."They said that the healing process starts now and the best way to help each other is not by talking about the case, and speculating . . . but rather moving forward and talking about our love for the family and how special they were to us . . . children learn a lot from what they see and hear you doing."Ms Lugsdin said they were told the only information children under five should be given is that the family had died - any more was unnecessary. Parents were also told about signs to watch for in teens."One lady said her 15-year-old [daughter] was sleeping with a hammer under her pillow and at that point everyone just burst into tears," Ms Lugsdin said. "Another man said his 16-year-old son was sleeping with the light on. A lot of people were feeling really moved by how much it's going to affect that age group, particularly next week when they go back to school."Alex, a local man with an adult son, and a regular customer at the Lins' newsagency, said he had friends who had moved to the area because it was such a friendly neighbourhood."We've got friends who are from other countries who have chosen to come and live here because of the type of community it is, and it hits them pretty hard." Details from autopsies about whether the victims were physically or chemically restrained are not expected until Friday. Police have described the attack as "targeted" and said there were no signs of a forced entry or anything having been stolen. smh.com.au
