Australian Story: July 3

Australian Story on Monday is Part 2 of “Jumping the Gun”, introduced by Rosie Batty.

Anna Davey continues her investigations into the unsolved death of her 24-year-old niece Amy Wensley, exposing fundamental failings by West Australian police on the night.

When the mother-of-two died of a gunshot wound to the head in 2014 on a property south of Perth, detectives quickly ruled it a suicide but the family were suspicious.

In this concluding episode we hear how the three uniformed police officers first on the scene shared those concerns.

“Two detectives came out with the conclusion it was suicide. I sort of straight away questioned that,” says former constable Larry Blandford.

In a rare and candid interview, the former police officer criticises the work of detectives on the night pointing to the ongoing impact of those mistakes.

“The gun wasn’t treated for forensics. The trajectory of the firearm, the blood splatter, all this evidence is now gone.  And that’s really devastated this investigation.”

The mystery surrounding Amy Wensley’s death deepened with the discovery by the WA Cold Case unit of a selfie photo taken shortly before her death in which she is holding the shotgun that killed her. The photo was taken not long after an argument with her partner.

“I’ve always been troubled by that photo. Why did she take that photo? I don’t think anyone will ever know. She must have taken it for a reason,” says barrister Peter Ward.

In the meantime, biomechanical experts engaged by the WA Police Force came to some startling conclusions about whether Amy could have killed herself.

When a long-awaited coronial inquest begins, it is uniformed cops versus detectives and a battle of experts as they search for answers to the unsolved case.

8pm Monday on ABC.