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7 March 2011
Last updated at 07:45 ET
A mother has admitted killing her three young children at their Edinburgh home.
Theresa Riggi, 47, pled guilty to a charge of culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility. She was originally charged with murder.
Her eight-year-old twins Austin and Gianluca and their five-year-old sister Cecilia were found dead at their flat in Slateford Road on 4 August 2010.
They were discovered with multiple stab wounds after a suspected gas explosion at the property.
California-born Riggi denied a further charge of recklessly causing the explosion when she appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh.
The family had moved to the city from Skene in Aberdeenshire following the break-up of her marriage to the children's father, Pasquale Riggi.
The court heard that Mrs Riggi had been a protective mother who was involved in a custody battle with her estranged husband over access to the children.
The couple had spoken on the telephone 48 hours before the children were found dead.
During that conversation Riggi asked her husband if he was going to take the children away, to which he replied that she had left him no choice.
Riggi replied: "Say goodbye then" and then hung up the phone.
Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, told how the children's bodies were found by building manager Derek Knight, who heard a loud explosion at about 1500 BST and saw smoke coming from the second-floor balcony doors.
He opened the garage door and turned off the gas, then returned to see Riggi on the second-floor balcony "screaming loudly".
He noticed she had two cuts on her neck and watched as she climbed on to the railings.
While neighbour Jordan Cochrane urged Riggi not to jump, Mr Knight made his way upstairs to the property where, after forcing entry, he found the bodies of the three children.
He then stepped over the bodies and opened the curtains to see Riggi lying on the ground.
The court heard that Riggi had intentionally fallen head-first from the balcony.
Mr Cochrane attempted to catch her and push her on to the bonnet of a nearby car to break her fall, and both fell to the ground.
Riggi was arrested in connection with the children's deaths after post-mortem examinations were carried out.
One hearing took place at a specially-convened court inside Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where she was being treated.
Riggi still walked with a limp when she appeared in court on Monday, as a result of the injuries she sustained jumping from the flat's balcony.
In August Mr Riggi, a Shell employee in Aberdeen, said of the tragedy: "It's been shocking. You are paralysed with grief.
"The hardest moment was when I first found out.
"Your life is all about your children. In one instant that's gone."
One of Riggi's friends, Amber Sebold, told BBC Scotland about the "wall of shock" she experienced when she heard about the killings.
"She (Riggi) always seemed very together. They were always immaculately dressed, very well cared for," she said.
"She clearly loved them very much, that was never in question."
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Theresa Riggi, 47, pled guilty to a charge of culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility. She was originally charged with murder.
Her eight-year-old twins Austin and Gianluca and their five-year-old sister Cecilia were found dead at their flat in Slateford Road on 4 August 2010.
They were discovered with multiple stab wounds after a suspected gas explosion at the property.
California-born Riggi denied a further charge of recklessly causing the explosion when she appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh.
The family had moved to the city from Skene in Aberdeenshire following the break-up of her marriage to the children's father, Pasquale Riggi.
The court heard that Mrs Riggi had been a protective mother who was involved in a custody battle with her estranged husband over access to the children.
The couple had spoken on the telephone 48 hours before the children were found dead.
During that conversation Riggi asked her husband if he was going to take the children away, to which he replied that she had left him no choice.
Riggi replied: "Say goodbye then" and then hung up the phone.
Alex Prentice QC, prosecuting, told how the children's bodies were found by building manager Derek Knight, who heard a loud explosion at about 1500 BST and saw smoke coming from the second-floor balcony doors.
He opened the garage door and turned off the gas, then returned to see Riggi on the second-floor balcony "screaming loudly".
He noticed she had two cuts on her neck and watched as she climbed on to the railings.
While neighbour Jordan Cochrane urged Riggi not to jump, Mr Knight made his way upstairs to the property where, after forcing entry, he found the bodies of the three children.
He then stepped over the bodies and opened the curtains to see Riggi lying on the ground.
The court heard that Riggi had intentionally fallen head-first from the balcony.
Mr Cochrane attempted to catch her and push her on to the bonnet of a nearby car to break her fall, and both fell to the ground.
Riggi was arrested in connection with the children's deaths after post-mortem examinations were carried out.
One hearing took place at a specially-convened court inside Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where she was being treated.
Riggi still walked with a limp when she appeared in court on Monday, as a result of the injuries she sustained jumping from the flat's balcony.
In August Mr Riggi, a Shell employee in Aberdeen, said of the tragedy: "It's been shocking. You are paralysed with grief.
"The hardest moment was when I first found out.
"Your life is all about your children. In one instant that's gone."
One of Riggi's friends, Amber Sebold, told BBC Scotland about the "wall of shock" she experienced when she heard about the killings.
"She (Riggi) always seemed very together. They were always immaculately dressed, very well cared for," she said.
"She clearly loved them very much, that was never in question."
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