'She was such a lovely person' Mara's sister remembers her family after their tragic murder

The heartbroken sister of Mara Harvey has spoken for the first time about the tragic murder of her beloved family.

Taryn Tottman lost her mum, her sister and her three nieces when they were killed in their own home in Bedford, Perth.

And poor Taryn only discovered what had happened when a friend told her to turn on the TV and she saw the news about the murders of all five of her family.

She told 9News that she knew life would never be the same after she had heard that her sister Mara, her mum, Beverly, and her nieces Alice and Beatrix, two, and Charlotte, three were all found dead in their home.

Mara's partner and the children's father, Anthony Harvey, has been arrested following the murders.

'The first way I found out was the television, and it was my sister's friend who rang me and said she'd seen it on TV,' she explained on TV. 

Talking with her husband, Alan, she said, 'You never recover from something like this.' 

Taryn admitted that she last saw the family two weeks ago and had no inkling that anything was wrong. 

Taryn and Alan Tottman revealed that it was difficult to tell their three children that they would have no more play-dates with their cousins and that they wouldn't see their cousins, aunt or grandmother again.  

'Grandma’s gone, Aunty Mara is gone. I think they understand that,' Alan Tottman said to 9News.