Amy Lee Wensley

A young mother's violent death in a quiet Australian town was quickly dismissed as suicide, but a bungled investigation and a determined family point to a far more sinister story.

Amy Lee Wensley, a 24-year-old mother of two, was found dead in her home in Serpentine, Western Australia, on June 26, 2014. She had sustained a gunshot wound to the head. At the time of her death, she was living with her partner, David Simmons, and their two young daughters. The initial police response controversially concluded her death was a suicide within hours, a determination that has since been heavily scrutinized and challenged by her family and forensic experts.

The circumstances leading up to Amy's death involved a heated argument with her partner. She had been packing her belongings and her children's, intending to leave him and move in with her mother. Friends and family reported that she was in the process of secretly saving money to escape the relationship. The scene of her death was compromised shortly after the incident; the shotgun was moved twice, once by a friend and once by her partner's father, and the house was professionally cleaned the next morning, destroying crucial forensic evidence.

Subsequent investigations and a coronial inquest have cast significant doubt on the initial suicide ruling. Biomechanical experts have testified that it was highly unlikely Amy could have inflicted the fatal wound herself. The position of her body, the location of the shotgun, and the presence of gunshot residue on her left hand—suggesting a defensive posture—all point towards the possibility of homicide. The inquest heard that her partner's father, upon finding her, called emergency services and stated he believed his son had shot her. Despite these inconsistencies and the family's persistent fight for justice, the case remains officially unsolved, with an open finding from the coroner, leaving the question of whether Amy Lee Wensley took her own life or was murdered unanswered.