Neighbours speak out on day three after Mackay mum Natalie Frahm’s alleged murder

A distraught close friend of a Mackay mum shot dead in her driveway has spoken out as Red Cross counsellors door knock traumatised neighbours kept awake “hearing gunshots” in their head.

Tiffany Mulligan brought brilliant blue orchids and lit a gin-themed candle, the liquor of her best friend’s drink of choice. Picture: Heidi Petith

The quiet corner at Mackay’s Robb Place could be any suburban street this rainy Saturday morning if not for the police tape and growing shrine reminders of one of the most shocking alleged murders in Queensland’s recent history.

Behind the walls of these homes, shaken neighbours are “unable to sleep” and desperate for answers about what led to the alleged shooting of 34-year-old Natalie Frahm as she drove into her driveway with her teenage daughter in the back seat.

It’s what Tiffany Mulligan also wants to know as she sits at the growing shrine for her slain friend, having delivered brilliant blue orchids and lit a gin-themed candle in honour of Natalie’s drink of choice.

Ms Mulligan says she spent many hours inside the former Gympie girl’s home, telling this publication her friend never talked to her alleged murderer, Ryan Cole.

As the candle flickers against rain drops beginning to fall, just metres away officers comb through Natalie’s home and car as a police guard remains in place.

Tiffany Mulligan and Natalie Frahm had been close friends sharing the same passion for Thai boxing. Picture: Contributed

But while the streets are otherwise empty, the hearts of many remain heavy and full of disbelief.

Just across the street, Denise Home is still in her pyjamas, trying to move past the memory of the last days.

She’d been sitting in the house of upholsterer-turned hero of the hour James McGill on June 19 to visit him and his mother, when two young girls came running for help, one of them allegedly crying out that her mother had been “killed”.

Ms Home remembers calling the ambulance, while the daughter called police before more gunshots were allegedly heard.

This time it was her long-time friend ‘Jimmy’ who had allegedly been shot after he ran out to meet with the shooter.

Denise Home, pictured in happier times, says she called the Queensland Ambulance Service after Natalie Frahm was allegedly murdered. Picture: Facebook

Ms Home remembers being on the phone with the ambulance for a “very long time” and going through the worry of having to wait for paramedics to come through to the house, as they were not allowed in as long as the alleged shooter was still in the perimeter.

“It’s just devastating,” she said

“I met (the alleged shooter) a couple of times, he always seemed nice.

“It shakes you up, I was terrified when I got home because he was still on the loose.

“When I got home, I locked everything.

“I’m just grateful because it could have been anyone, but I’d like to understand why it happened.”

At the house next door to the crime scene, a young woman is getting ready to meet police for an interview.

The 23-year-old, who doesn’t want to be identified, says she was home on the afternoon of June 19 doing modules for a “new job”, when she allegedly heard gunshots.

Mackay police on day three of investigation after the alleged shooting of Natalie Frahm. Picture: Estelle Sanchez

When she first heard the two bangs, she thought they were not close to her, believing they may have been linked to the Mackay Agricultural Show which was underway at the time.

She soon realised what was really unfolding - a reality made all the more confronting as her partner was on his way back from working in the mines and she was alone.

“The first two days I couldn’t sleep, I was just hearing the gunshots in my head,” she said, adding Mr Cole had always “seemed bloody normal”.

“Hopefully a reason comes out,” she says.

“I need to know what happened because it could have happened to anybody on the street.

“It would bring us some peace knowing the full story.”