Theresa Riggi, 47
Theresa Riggi, 47, killed her three children in her Scottish flat PA

Theresa Riggi had tried to commit suicide before.

In the aftermath of killing her three young children in August 2010 she threw herself off a flat's balcony in the hope of taking her own life.

She survived and was sentenced to 16 years in prison for stabbing to death her eight-year-old twins Austin and Gianluca and five-year-old daughter Cecilia at an Edinburgh flat.

But Riggi may have finally got her death wish, after she was found at Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire after a suspected suicide.

A spokeswoman at the hospital told IBTimes UK the death was "unexplained but non-suspicious".

Rampton Hospital

The hospital where Theresa Riggi was found dead after her suspected suicide is a high security psychiatric hospital near the village of Rampton in Nottinghamshire.

Originally opened in 1912 as an overflow facility for Broadmoor Hospital, Rampton houses about 400 patients who have been detained under the Mental Health Act.

Strained relationship

Riggi was brought up in California where she eventually settled with Shell engineer Pasquale, whom she married in 1989.

Pasquale Riggi
Pasquale Riggi married Theresa Riggi in 1989 and said his children's death would leave an 'indelible mark' on his life. Reuters

The couple moved to Colorado after Pasquale was relocated for work, but in 1997 they moved to Lowestoft, Suffolk.

The couple were wealthy, and despite their relationship showing signs of strain, they embarked on IVF treatment.

In December 2001 Riggi gave birth to non-identical twins Austin and Gianluca, who was known as Luke.

In August 2004 the couple then welcomed their first daughter, Cecilia, into the world after Riggi had a successful frozen embryo implanted.

Pasquale Riggi issued a statement outside the High Court, in Edinburgh, Scotland, in March 2011.

It said: "I will never forget Austin, Luke and Cecilia. They left everlasting impressions on me. I think about them at least 100 times each day. They are in my thoughts when I wake in the morning and before I go to sleep at night. As a father, my natural instincts were geared towards safeguarding my children from the dangers of this world.

"It pains me to the core that I was unable to protect them from the selfish, brutal and murderous act that ended their lives so unfairly.

"There is no justification for this heinous crime, repeated three times, nor is there any sentence that can provide justice for the overwhelming loss of three lives and the subsequent painful grief and devastation caused to surviving family and friends."

Possessive mother

During her trial jurors heard how Riggi became increasingly possessive of the children, to the point where she refused visits.

When the family moved to the Netherlands in 2004, Riggi and husband Pasquale's marriage was at breaking point, with Riggi blaming her husband for a bout of unsuccessful IVF treatment.

The pair then separated in 2006. One year later Riggi, who had remained with the children in the Netherlands, moved to Aberdeen, Scotland, where Pasquale was living.

Tagged children

The relationship sunk to new lows after Riggi permitted her husband access to their children when she tagged them with locators and gave them each mobile phones.

Then, just one month before the children were found dead, Pasquale reported the children had gone missing with their mother.