Published: 17.11.2024
Updated: 26.11.2024
5 min read

Truth About Amy podcast: Criminal behavioural analyst Laura Richards says evidence missed in Amy Wensley case

The enduring mystery surrounding the death of Amy Wensley, a mum-of-two who was trying to escape with her girls when she was found shot dead, is continuing as an internationally acclaimed criminal analyst now weighs in.
Cassie Woodward and Alison SandyBy Cassie Woodward and Alison Sandy

Major breakthrough in murder of young mum

Truth About Amy podcast: Criminal behavioural analyst Laura Richards says evidence missed in Amy Wensley case

The enduring mystery surrounding the death of Amy Wensley, a mum-of-two who was trying to escape with her girls when she was found shot dead, is continuing as an internationally acclaimed criminal analyst now weighs in.
Cassie Woodward and Alison SandyBy Cassie Woodward and Alison Sandy

Amy Wensley’s death is now being treated as a homicide thanks to new evidence uncovered by 7NEWS Spotlight and the groundbreaking 7NEWS podcast The Truth About Amy.

Amy died at the age of 24 after a shotgun blast to the head in 2014 at her home in Serpentine, about an hour east of Perth.

Her body was discovered by her then-partner David Simmons, who she was in the process of leaving at the time.

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At the time, Amy’s death was written off as suicide, but a Cold Case Review is now underway in the hope this case will finally be resolved once and for all.

“Once this investigation is complete, WA Police will present all findings of the taskforce to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for his consideration,” a WA Police spokesman said.

More than 10,000 people pushed for Amy’s case to be referred to the DPP in a change.org petition started by Amy’s family.

Amy spoke to her mum Nancy just minutes before she died.

“She was hysterical when I called, because there was a big fight they were having,” Nancy recalls.

Nancy said Amy told her Simmons grabbed her “by the throat” and threw her to the ground but after Nancy told her to pack everything up and come to her place, she calmed down.

“She said: ‘Hey mum, I will see you soon’”.

Amy Wensley’s death continues to be investigated.
Amy Wensley’s death continues to be investigated. Credit: Unknown/Supplied

Bags, birthday presents, even a passport were all packed, her two daughters were strapped into the backseat and Amy was preparing to drive to Nancy’s home.

Simmons says she shot herself in the right temple with his Boito 12-gauge shotgun.

Despite concerns from the three uniformed officers first on scene that Amy’s death was suspicious, detectives arriving later agreed with Simmons and called off forensics.

Key evidence has since been brought to life, including details of domestic violence Amy suffered at the hands of Simmons in the lead-up to her death.

The pair had a five year-relationship, which was often violent and volatile and exacerbated by Simmons’ alcohol and methamphetamine abuse.

Amy’s best friend Erin Gower supplied her old mobile phone to police in the hope they could find images and texts Amy sent which depicted the physical abuse she suffered.

While police couldn’t find anything at the time, 7NEWS cracked the phone within 30 minutes. A photo was uncovered, depicting bruising on Amy’s neck allegedly caused by strangulation.

“I tried so hard to make sure that I could get this available to back the stories of how he treated her”, Gower said.

Gareth Price speaks to Spotlight over the cold case investigation of Amy Wensley
Gareth Price speaks to Spotlight over the cold case investigation of Amy Wensley. Credit: Unknown/SPOTLIGHT

Natasha Celcer, another of Amy’s friends, was an eyewitness to the physical abuse.

One instance occurred when Amy was nine months pregnant, and Simmons returned home allegedly intoxicated.

“She was giving birth that weekend and he had his hands around her throat,” Celcer said.

A $1 million reward was introduced in 2023 for any information into Amy’s death but there was no active investigation.

That was until a 7NEWS Spotlight Special featuring American crime reconstruction expert Scott Roder.

The positioning of Amy’s body has been a matter of much contention, with two existing biomechanical reports already suggesting the evidence was not consistent with suicide.

Roder conducted a third independent assessment to test various scenarios of what was possible given the forensic evidence of the room and position of Amy’s body.

“The left hand can’t pull the trigger, the right hand can’t pull the trigger. And as an investigator, it’s becoming pretty obvious,” Roder said.

“She’s in a trapped space, confined, and to just put it in the basket of suicide is frankly against all principles of forensic science and homicide investigation.”

There remains reluctance among some members of the WA Police Force to accept the case as anything but suicide.

Internal communications obtained under Freedom of Information laws show a Detective Acting Inspector from the Homicide Squad seemingly criticising the introduction of the million-dollar reward.

“The scattergun approach to offering rewards is just ridiculous,” they said.

The case has garnered national attention, including from NSW Crime Commissioner and former State Coroner of NSW and QLD, Michael Barnes, who expressed concern about the way the case has been handled so far.

“There should have been a proper forensic examination of the scene. And most particularly… they (Simmons and friend Gareth Price who were present on the day) should have been exhaustively interviewed, kept apart until that had occurred”, Barnes explained.

He also raised concerns about the lack of accountability of the decision-making process by Directors of Public Prosecution.

“The DPP doesn’t like running or losing cases and thinks they’re in a position to make a water tight assessment of the assessment of the likely outcome. I think that’s questionable in in complex cases like this,” Barnes said.

“What I see as a gap in the system, the inability to have a formal review of DPP decisions, which seems to me to be inappropriate. All other officials need to justify their decisions. All other decisions that impact people are able to be reviewed. I don’t understand why it’s been left out of this system of review that everybody else is subject to.”

Internationally acclaimed criminal behavioural analyst Laura Richards said authorities are often reluctant to change their minds once a decision’s been made.

“You had two junior officers in training six months, and you have lead Detective Kirkman say one thing and everyone agreeing with him,” Richards said.

“That happens a lot. It’s in their career future to agree rather than have a dissenting voice who says ‘we actually do need to speak to other members of the family and get a history here. We should really do the toxicology, we should do the forensics. We need to know in her bag why there was her passport. We need to think about the fact that she was actually exiting the relationship with the children and the bags packed and gifts and she had future planned. We need to question the crime scene and actually we can’t make this determination in 15 minutes.’”

From the start, Amy’s aunt, Anna Davey, has tirelessly pursued justice for Amy after authorities failed to investigate.

“Ten years of my life has been trying to do that (prove she didn’t commit suicide) for Amy and to get her justice so that her girls can live in peace, so that her mother can have some sort of peace”, Davey explained.

Amy’s friends and family remain resolute that anyone who really knew her would know she would never have taken her own life.

“That’s not Amy at all – not Amy,” her former work colleague Natalie said.

“She would never ever do that. She idolised those girls.”

Amy’s family will attend the March Against Domestic and Family Violence in Perth, organised by the Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing, on Monday, November 25.

They’re encouraging anyone who wants to come along, to support their plight for justice and wear pink for Amy.

Details can be found at cwsw.org.au

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