The Truth About Amy - Episode 10: Podcast leads to new team probing death of Amy Wensley

WA Police have set up a fresh team to investigate new information emerging in the troubling case of Amy Wensley — the doting mother shot dead in her own home more than a decade ago.

Following bombshell revelations broadcast during Seven’s investigative podcast The Truth About Amy, it can be revealed that senior officials have now ordered resources be allocated to specifically “review, assess and inquire into new information”.

“The increased media attention has led to numerous calls to Crime Stoppers,” a police spokesperson said.

“Part of the special crime squad’s role is to follow up and determine if any new information has been received that might open avenues for further investigation.

“To achieve this objective, a team has been formulated to assess new information received and investigate any new leads that may present.”

Precisely what the new information is about the 2014 death of Ms Wensley was not divulged.

But the development was relayed to Ms Wensley’s family late last week, who cautiously welcomed the news.

“It has been a long time coming. If (the police) did their job properly the night Amy was murdered, our family would not have to be living through this nightmare,” Amy’s mother Nancy said.

In 10 episodes of the podcast hosted by journalists Liam Bartlett and Alison Sandy, the death of Ms Wensley at a property in Serpentine — and how police initially investigated — has been forensically examined.

She was in the process of leaving the home on the day she died, having argued with her partner David Simmons.

Ms Wensley called her mother, who described her daughter as being extremely upset and hysterical as she arranged to come stay at her house with the two girls, and retreated to their bedroom.

Mr Simmons claims to have been outside helping to pack the car with belongings when he heard a “thud” — admitting at the inquest he had also been shooting birds using one of the guns they kept in their wardrobe.

He insists Amy was dead when he went into the bedroom to see what had happened. She died from a shotgun blast to the head.

Within minutes of arriving at the scene, uniformed police officers were treating the death as suspicious. But detectives who arrived soon after insisted the death was a suicide, despite their colleagues’ concerns.

Neither homicide detectives nor a forensic unit were called. And the room in which Amy died was then deep-cleaned just hours later, destroying any potential evidence inside.

Mr Simmons has insisted for a decade he had nothing to do with Amy’s death.

His friends at the property on the evening have backed up his story.

And while a coronial inquest held in 2021 would not make a finding of suicide, coroner Sarah Linton said there was also not enough for her to make a finding that foul play was involved.

That came despite two independent biomechanic experts reporting that in their view, Amy could not have possibly shot herself, and more than likely died because of a shot fired by someone else.

In this week’s podcast episode, the team consults with crime scene recreation expert Scott Roder, the boss of US-based forensic firm Evidence Room.

Mr Roder’s expertise and experience include being consulted on the murder allegations against Paralympian Oscar Pistorius and Derek Chauvin — the police officer convicted of killing George Floyd.

He oversaw a detailed recreation of the room in which Ms Wensley died, which even included a body double with physical attributes almost identical to hers.

His conclusion is stark.

“There’s no way the gun would be in the documented position that we had,” Mr Roder said.

“This clearly confirms for me, this was not an unassisted shot. This is not a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“The right hand is under the bum. The left hand has got burn marks around it, which means it was in contact with the barrel … as the gun was fired.

“So the left hand can’t pull the trigger, the right hand can’t pull the trigger. It’s becoming pretty obvious — she didn’t pull the trigger.”

In confirming their new investigative team, police said they welcomed the highlighting of “unsolved cases”.

“We don’t want to give loved ones false hope, but we can reassure them that the WA Police will follow up thoroughly and never stop looking,” the spokesperson said.

“We are always grateful to our media partners for highlighting unsolved cases and to the friends and family who work with us to seek justice.”

Amy’s aunty, Anna Davey, who has led the fight for answers over the death, urged the public to continue to provide any information they could, with a $1 million reward on offer.

“I welcome the news that police have put together a dedicated team to investigate Amy’s case,” she said.

“I can only hope that this time around it is conducted with a fresh set of eyes, void of tunnel vision and ignorant to previous investigations that wrongly tarnished Amy as a suicide.

“I encourage anyone with any information no matter how small you think it might be, to please come forward and assist the police.”