Neighbours reported hearing screams and the sound of an explosion about 6.40am.
Her estranged partner Brian Johnston, 34, has since been charged with her murder.
He remains in a serious condition after being found a few blocks away in a semi-conscious state, with burns to his body.
Mr Johnston’s lawyer Chris Hannay today said his client was “in a pretty bad way”.
“I’ve been told his injuries are fairly substantial in relation to burns,” Mr Hannay said.
“I’ve been told he’s at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.”
Mr Hannay said he had met with Mr Johnston in the days before Ms Wilkinson’s death.
He said Mr Johnston was “pretty coherent” and took “suitable instructions” about a “whole lot of things” in relation to domestic violence issues.
“Obviously no one expected this to happen,” Mr Hannay said.
Neighbours told police they saw a man run from the scene injured and bloodied.
“He turned up in the bushes in the house next door to me – his left arm was heavily bandaged,” one neighbour told 9News.
“(A passerby) saw the fella and asked you know, ‘are you okay mate?’ He made some remark like, ‘I’m fine’, but he had his head down.”
A fundraiser launched to pay for Ms Wilkinson’s funeral and the schooling of her three children has raised $65,000 in less than 24 hours.
Ms Wilkinson’s death came less than two months after her mother died suddenly at age 55.
This content first appear on 9news