As police prepare to arrest her, distraught residents disclose what they believe led a 66-year-old lady to allegedly kill two young boys, ages 6 and 7, in the Coonabarabran House of Horror.

Laundry was still dangling on a washing line by a basketball hoop outside the house.

At the entrance to Gumnut Road, the dirt road on the outskirts of town that leads to Emu Lane, locals started laying flower tributes to the lads on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday morning, the residence was still under police surveillance and had been roped off.