Inquest into the Death of Amy Lee WENSLEY
Deceased
Amy Lee WENSLEY
Demographics
24y, female
Date of death
2014-06-26
Finding date
2021-09-09
Cause of death
Shotgun injury to the head
AI-generated summary
Amy Wensley died from a shotgun wound to the head on 26 June 2014. Whether self-inflicted or inflicted by another remains undetermined. Detectives prematurely concluded suicide on the night of death without thorough investigation, forensic examination, or interviewing family members. Scene contamination and body movement occurred before police photography. Biomechanical experts concluded evidence inconsistent with suicide, particularly Amy's right hand position. Cold Case Review left three possibilities open: suicide, homicide, or accident. The coroner made an open finding, citing insufficient evidence to determine manner of death. Key failures included: premature PFA lifting, allowing scene cleaning, inadequate detective response to uniformed officer concerns about suspicious circumstances, lack of forensic field operations involvement, and premature closure before forensic reports were complete. Subsequent training and procedural changes in WA Police now mandate homicide consultation for all firearm deaths.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- premature determination of non-suspicious death without proper investigation
- failure to call forensic field operations to uncontaminated scene
- scene contamination from multiple people entering before forensic examination
- body movement before photographs taken
- inadequate interviewing of detectives by uniformed officers
- lack of consultation with family and friends about relationship context
- scene cleaning by trauma cleaners after PFA lifted
- firearms not seized as forensic exhibits but as evidence for prosecution
Coroner's recommendations
- WA Police should review training on police conduct reports and accountability, and consider lessons from this case regarding standard of supervision and accountability
- Encourage WA Police to provide formal apology to family for manner in which death was investigated, including failure to call forensics and failure of internal processes to trigger early review
- Recommend continued implementation of current procedural changes: mandatory consultation with Homicide Squad on all firearm deaths, involvement of Forensic Field Operations with Homicide Squad on suspicious deaths, lowered threshold for FFO callout, and 24/7 State Operation Command Centre supervision
- Recommend continued family violence training for all police officers to recognize coercive and controlling behaviours beyond physical abuse
- Encourage WA Police to foster better relationships and consultation between uniformed police and detectives through cultural change initiatives
- Recommend improvements to victim support processes, including manner of handling personal effects of deceased
Full text
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