Adrian James Basham’s children’s suffering after he killed wife Samantha Fraser

Samantha Fraser’s three children were waiting for their mother at a flagpole at school and were initially confused when she didn’t come to pick them up.

That confusion gave way to unimaginable trauma, grief and anger as they realized she would never be there again because their father, who should have loved them, destroyed their lives by ending hers.

Mrs. Fraser, a psychologist, was full of ideas to help young people cope with trauma.

Adrian James Basham (pictured) killed his wife Samantha Fraser and tried to make it look like suicide

Adrian James Basham created that trauma for his three children, then aged five, seven and nine, when he killed their mother.

Fraser’s eldest daughter, now a teenager, read a heartbreaking statement to the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday, saying it was sickening to know that despite her mother’s boundless love for others, she was still being murdered.

“I’ve spent the past four months writing and crossing out words that can never compare to the damage this man, Adrian James Basham, has done to our lives, my life,” she said.

“He killed my mother. He took Sammy’s life and destroyed so many others in the process.”

Mrs Fraser (pictured) was a loving mother of three who were left traumatized after the shock incident and claim their father destroyed their lives

She spoke of the cruel comments from classmates, including a child who asked ‘What if (she) goes psycho like her father and kills us?’

She said she wanted to speak in court to get justice for her mother, her friends and family and for herself.

“I’m here today to show people that I am a fighter and that we will get justice for Mom,” she said.

Fraser’s youngest daughter, now only nine, said Basham had taken the best of her heart.

“(Mommy) will always be the angel that lights up my sky,” she said.

Fraser’s mother Janine told the court on Monday that she didn’t want to give Basham the satisfaction of seeing him hurt the family beyond repair, as he had previously promised, but the heartache they felt was deep and unrelenting.

She said her daughter had read about a domestic murder in a newspaper and told her mother it would be her.

“Don’t let him get away with it,” she told Mrs. Fraser.

Basham was found guilty in April of the murder of Mrs. Fraser in her home on July 23, 2018. He had been charged months earlier with raping his estranged wife.

The house (pictured) where Mrs. Fraser was murdered in 2018. Basham attacked her in the garage, before putting a rope around her neck and arranging the scene to look like a suicide

Basham (pictured) escapes after the murder of his children’s mother

Prosecutors said evidence showed Basham was lurking before attacking Mrs Fraser in her garage, before putting a rope around her neck and arranging the scene to look like a suicide.

The murder was not premeditated, his attorney Ashley Halphen argued Monday during a pre-sentence hearing in the Victorian Supreme Court.

But Judge Lesley Taylor disputed the submission, finding that he at least intended to attack her.

“Mrs Fraser had taken so many steps to ensure complete separation from Mr Basham and based on the evidence she was terrified of him,” she said.

“And he knew it.”

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

Lifeline 13 11 14

In a pre-sentence hearing in the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday, Judge Lesley Taylor said: ‘Mrs Fraser (pictured) had taken so many steps to ensure full divorce from Mr Basham and based on the evidence she was terrified of him’