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On Thursday morning, the bodies of a mother and her two sons were discovered by police at their home in south-east London.
It is believed that the 47-year-old Swede Nadja Nada de Jager strangled her two boys, Alexander, 9, and Maximus, 7, before taking her own life.
The police said officers forced entry into the property after being called about concerns for the welfare of the occupants at Mayfield Road, Belvedere, near Bexleyheath in south-east London.
Police confirmed the identities of the three victims and said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the tragedy.
The BBC reported that officers in that part of Bexley have been knocking on doors and trying to speak to neighbours so that they can try and piece together exactly what might have happened.
Police forensics teams are combing the scene here in Belvedere following the deaths of Nadja De Jager and her two sons Alexander and Maximus pic.twitter.com/ktdFGykkAT
— Harry Low (@HarryLow49) March 10, 2023
Detective Inspector Ollie Stride said that “this is a deeply sad case and we are continuing to establish the circumstances that led to this tragic incident”.
Police have named two boys found dead alongside their mother at a property in south London. The bodies of Alexander, 9 and 7-year-old Maximus De Jager were found alongside their mother Nadja at the flat in Belvedere. No one else is being sought in connection with the inquiry. pic.twitter.com/sHgje7nL1K
— Mark White (@markwhiteTV) March 10, 2023
One resident told The Daily Mail “God knows what happened”:
One neighbour [said]: ‘I didn’t know her [Ms de Jager] well, only to say hello to, but she was always smart and her kids were well looked after. In the summer the boys would play happily in the garden. God knows what happened.’
She added that the family appeared recently to be preparing to move out but then changed their minds.
‘A couple of weeks ago it looked like they were moving out. She’s taken the curtains down and thrown a load of old toys away,’ she said. ‘And then everything went back to normal.’
Post-mortem examinations are being arranged and the next of kin have been informed.
Image: LinkedIn
SAPeople notes that the father of the two boys, Herman de Jager (36), has ties to South Africa and “has suffered an unimaginable loss after his ex this week murdered their two sons”:
It’s unclear when Herman moved to the UK, but his mother is still based in South Africa. Originally from Bloemfontein, she now lives in Margate, KZN, according to her Facebook page. The captions to her public photos and during the last couple of years on her son’s new partner’s page are filled with love for her beloved family.
Nadja’s FB page shows a few videos of the boys, as well as many sad posts about love and loss:
She describes herself as: “Single mother of two beautiful boys, a professional that loves travelling and fitness.”
Today one of her friends wrote: “I wish you had asked for help. Rip Nadja and Boys.”
So terribly sad to learn of the tragic passing of my friend Nadja De Jager & her beautiful boys
Life is short & I will miss you 😢💜 pic.twitter.com/zvusBSXsSM— Victoria Hills MRTPI (@VictoriaRTPI) March 11, 2023
Ms de Jager is understood to have worked as the managing director of a local property company:
According to Companies House, Herman and Nadja created a real estate company, New Frontier Properties, in April 2015, but she resigned in December 2016. The company name was changed to Blue Velvet Properties in early 2017, and in June 2019 she was re-appointed as a director with a different address. Her nationality is registered as Swedish, and his as British.
The children’s school paid tribute to the two brothers, saying they were “loving and caring” and “model pupils”, adding that it was “clear that they were each other’s best friend”.
Heartbreaking video shows two brothers, aged seven and nine, joking together just days before they were found dead with their property firm director mother, 47, inside London home
Nadja de Jager has been identified as the mother found in the Belvedere home pic.twitter.com/SjCDYjmoAA— MassiVeMaC (@SchengenStory) March 11, 2023
This is tragically reminiscent of the Dickason case, where Lauren Dickason, a doctor who immigrated with her family to New Zealand, murdered her three young daughters before attempting to kill herself.
It was noted that Lauren had stopped taking chronic medication for apparent depression before moving to New Zealand from South Africa.
Last we heard, her husband Graham had stood by her despite his devastating loss.
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