Mom In Ugly Custody Fight Burns Down Home With Her 4 Children Inside

A Missouri mother who set her own home on fire, killing her four children, was in an “awful place” due to ongoing custody disputes with both her ex-husband and ex-boyfriend, her family told police this week.

Bernadine “Birdie” Pruessner, 39, intentionally set fire to a mattress inside her home in Ferguson, Missouri, on Monday, in what was deemed a murder-suicide, according to a St. Louis County Police press release shared with HuffPost.

Police identified Pruessner’s children as Ellie and Ivy Pruessner, 9; Jackson Spader, 6; and Millie Spader, 2. Three dogs were also killed in the fire.

Pruessner made multiple social media posts about her children in the days leading up to the fire.

“All my kids, peacefully sleeping in my bed. Curled up together. Knowing they are loved so fiercely that I’d do absolutely anything for them. This is my favorite moment,” Pruessner wrote on Facebook,about four hours before police responded to the blaze.

Court records reviewed by HuffPost show that Pruessner was in a lengthy battle with her former husband to relocate their family, closer to school. In an interview with FOX affiliate KTVI, Pruessner’s attorney, Nathan Cohen, described the case as one of “the ugliest custody scenarios” he has witnessed.

Cohen said that Pruessner’s ex-husband, the father of her twin daughters, had objected to her moving into a family member’s home in Creve Coeur, Missouri, which would be closer to his home and the twins’ school.

According to the outlet, Pruessner’s ex-husband objected to the family member his ex wanted to move in with. He argued that the move was not in the kids’ best interest and would be “detrimental to their development, well-being, and safety.”

In a statement posted on GoFundMe, Birdie