A woman discovered the bodies of a father and his sons when she was viewing a new flat.
Keeley Andrew-Hedge was being shown around the property in Tidworth, Wiltshire, with her twin babies when she came across the bodies of Graham Anderson, 36, and his sons Jack, 11, and Bryn, three.
An inquest in Salisbury heard that Ms Keeley Andrew-Hedge, her mum and children were being given a tour by Denise Evans, whose nephew owned the flat.
The inquest heard that ex-truck driver Mr Anderson had been due to hand over the keys to the ground-floor flat after being evicted by the owners for not paying the rent.
He had won a custody battle for the boys with their mum, Victoria Jones, the inquest heard.
The deaths of Jack and Bryn were believed to be suspicious but the coroner is yet to hear evidence from the police or a pathologist.
The coroner was told the night before the bodies were found a neighbour had been woken by 'frightening screams' and heard one boy yell 'what are you doing to me'.
Mrs Evans collected the keys to the property that day at 12pm. After a quick look around the property and an unanswered call to Anderson's home she returned an hour later.
She said: "Sarah and I went in the kitchen and Keeley wandered off upstairs. Then she started screaming that there was somebody lying on the floor.
"He was lying on his front to the side, I could not see his face. He was at the bottom of the bed. At first I didn't even think he was dead.
Mrs Evans added: "Immediately we called the emergency services. We picked Keeley's twin babies up and got out of the flat.
"I said to Sarah that Graham had two children. Their bedroom door was closed, I just couldn't open it, once I had discovered him, because of the fear."
A statement from Ms Andrew-Hedge read to the coroner described how the flat was littered with empty beer cans and a whisky bottle.
She explained how she felt an odd feeling prior to entering the second bedroom where she found Mr Anderson's dead body on the floor against his wardrobe.
She said: "I thought he might have taken an overdose of something but couldn't see any pills or tablets.
"I didn't know what had happened to cause him to die but when I saw him it was very obvious he was dead."
The coroner heard a statement from Sarah Dodman, who lived in the flat neighbouring Anderson in Auchinleck House.
Medical secretary Miss Dodman, who lived alone with her dog, said she was woken by a thud on the wall parallel to her bedroom.
She said: "I heard the older of the two boys begin to cry and scream. The little boy also started crying loudly.
"I heard little bangs on the wall which I believed was the older boy screaming and flailing."
Miss Dodman described the cries coming from Anderson's flat as 'frightened screaming'.
She said: "My stomach just clenched and I thought 'that's not right'.
"I could hear the older boy screaming 'what are you doing to me?' It was explicitly clear and he must have said it four or five times.
"I didn't hear any other voice, I still thought he was having a bad dream and could not wake up."
The inquest is expected to last three days.