Heartbreak ... people hug after a church service to remember the eight children killed in Cairns. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

Escorted by up to 40 family and friends, he could hardly walk as he approached the bed of flowers laid out beneath a towering fig tree.

Overwhelming grief ... a man, believed to be the father of the three youngest children, collapses as he approaches the bed of flowers. Picture: Getty Images. Source: Getty Images

Such is the grief that is starting to hit home in the northern Queensland city, and there is more to come.

The mother of seven of the children and the aunt to another, Mersane Warria, 37, was on Sunday charged with eight counts of murder at a bedside hearing in a Cairns hospital, where she remains remanded in custody under police guard.

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Mother ... Mersane Warria was formally charged with eight counts of murder at a beside hearing in Cairns Hospital. Source: News Limited

There are not yet any clear plans for funeral services for the four boys and four girls, all aged between two years and 14, who were massacred inside their family home.

Detective-Inspector Bruno Asnica said police did not yet have a clear impression of how the killings unfolded in the three-bedroom Housing Commission home on Murray Street, in the suburb of Manoora.

So much pain ... children attend a church service in Cairns to remember the eight children. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images

Autopsies have begun on the children and forensic work will continue at the house for days to come, but there is another important social role for police in the aftermath of the tragedy.

It has largely fallen on the shoulders of police liaison officer Kathy Lowah, 43, whose father is from Erub, or Darnley Island, the same Torres Strait island that Mersane Warria once called home, meaning she has direct links to the family.

Connection ... police liaison officer Kathy Lowah has direct links to the murdered children. Picture: Liam Kidston. Source: News Corp Australia

Ms Lowah said she was caught between grieving and acting as an interface between the police and the shell-shocked community.

“Here, when we say ‘immediate family’, we’re talking about two to three hundred people,” says Ms Lowah. “And then there’s the extended family beyond that.”

Her role is important because, while the police will not be deterred in the clinical aspects of the investigation, they are mindful of maintaining the cooperation of the people, with more than 100 witnesses already interviewed and more to come.

Unbearable grief ... relatives and friends of the family are overwhelmed at the scene of the stabbings. Picture: Getty Images. Source: Getty Images

They also need to ensure they are not stumbling over cultural sensibilities.

“What people are telling us is they want to grieve in peace,” says Ms Lowah.

“I am there not to tell them what to do, but to receive directions from them on how they want us to handle the situation. There’s one mother involved who is so distraught we can’t even talk to her yet.

Agony ... a woman cries during a church service to remember the eight children. Picture: AP Source: AP

Normally, says Ms Lowah, a deceased child “should be close to the mother”. But in this case, the mother will have little or no involvement in the burials.

Typically, the deceased would be brought home for burial to the island with which they most strongly identify.

In their memory ... a woman prays during a church service to remember the eight children. Picture: AP Source: AP

“We believe that without that, there will be spiritual unrest,” says Ms Lowah. “That can result in a number of things — let’s call it ‘bad luck’.”

But here, again, the grieving process has been turned on its head. There are five or six fathers involved, from different places. It is yet to be decided where the children will be buried, or whether together or apart.

It is usual for one family to receive the hundreds of relatives who come to pay respects, bringing food, money or gifts. The family is allowed to grieve while in-laws, known as the “marigedth”, are appointed to handle all the arrangements.

Police briefing ... Cairns Detective-Inspector Bruno Asnica discusses developments. Picture: Mark Calleja. Source: News Corp Australia

At this time, a number of fathers are holding their own grieving sessions — and they have made it plain they do not want the media interfering.

In the Torres Strait belief system, the house where the children were killed is not likely to be occupied by any island people, if anyone, ever again.

Some discussions are underway with family members to get their views on what should become of the house, which some may want to see razed.

Mersane Warria will not be required to attend a brief court mention in Cairns court on Monday morning.