Australian held after dropping child off bridge
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MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — A man pulled over on a highway bridge here Thursday, took his 4-year-old daughter out of the car and dropped her 190 feet into the river below, police said.
Police pulled Darcey Iris Freeman from the Yarra River within 10 minutes after stunned witnesses called them, but she died four hours later of multiple internal injuries, Royal Children’s Hospital said.
Arthur Freeman, 36, of Melbourne was charged with murder, but he did not appear in court because police said he was mentally unfit. He faces a maximum life sentence if convicted.
Police did not speculate on a motive, but they and court officials said the man was involved in a custody battle with his wife over their three children and had appeared in a family court on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The two other children, boys ages 6 and 8, may have been in Freeman’s SUV when their sister was dropped, said Detective Inspector Steve Clark.
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