Inquest rules on 1983 cold case death of Cairns mum Gwen Lorraine Grover

The discovery of Gwen Grover in her car on Lake Street, with a single gunshot wound to the head, surrounded by beer bottles and cigarette ash, always troubled her siblings.

THE discovery of their sister in her car on Lake Street, with a single gunshot wound to the head and surrounded by beer bottles and cigarette ash, always troubled the siblings of Gwen Lorraine Grover.

Police at the time investigated and ruled the 32-year-old’s death on October 14, 1983, a “suspected suicide”.

It was followed by a decision by then Coroner Bernie Scanlon in January 1984 to not hold an inquest.

The matter was reopened following a request from Mrs Grover’s sister Sue Cole to then-Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath in 2019.

Giving evidence before a fresh inquest this year, Ms Cole said her family had discussed the circumstances of Mrs Grover’s death for years.

The Cairns Courthouse. Picture: Brendan Radke.

“It’s weighed on my mind so heavily and none of us are getting any younger and I have decided that before I got too old I would really like to try see some evidence myself to hopefully set my mind at rest before I die as to what happened to her,” she explained to the court.

The inquest examined the circumstances of Mrs Grover’s death and the adequacy of the original police investigation.

Making public her 35-page findings on Tuesday, Northern Coroner Nerida Wilson found Mrs Grover was experiencing a “significant situational crisis” at the time of her death, which was self-inflicted.

She was affected by alcohol, and her behaviour and rational thought was compromised at the time of her suicide, Ms Wilson said.

Ms Wilson found Mrs Grover was “overwhelmed by the circumstances of her life”, including the breakdown of her 16-year marriage, which despite a separation of almost two years, she was likely to have held out some hope of reconciliation with her husband Duncan Grover.

But the discovery her husband was in an intimate relationship with her close friend Elizabeth Potter after their separation “caused her great suffering”, Ms Wilson said.

The court also heard Mrs Grover’s emotional state was compounded by the recent breakdown of a new and very short relationship to Cairns man Ken Soper, and that she was “bereft” on the evening before her death as she was setting up a home for herself and her two children in a “small and dirty” flat in Lake Street.

She also had little money, the court heard.

Findings have been handed down into the death of Gwen Lorraine Grover

“The pressures of her life were largely unknown at the time to her siblings and they have been shocked and saddened to learn of her use of alcohol and her dire personal circumstances which is at odds with the happy and resilient sister they knew,” Ms Wilson said.

Ms Wilson said she considered the 1983 police investigation “perfunctory”.

“The paucity of information arising from the initial investigation is an issue for the QPS as a whole and not any individual officer,” Ms Wilson said.

“I am advised that the reporting officer was the most junior and that a chain of command provides necessary checks and balances.

“I could not find any review of that matter by a more senior officer. It is possible that relevant documents have been destroyed with the passage of time.”

Ms Wilson also said she completely understood and accepted the distress felt by Mrs Grover’s siblings when trying to unsuccesfully piece together her death, specifically regarding a police error in the taking down of a statement from Mr Soper which incorrectly referenced a missing .325 rifle and not the .22 rifle used by Mrs Grover.

Ms Wilson did however conclude the 1983 police finding of suicide was sound, though it was “left vulnerable because not all reasonable and relevant available evidence was obtained”.

Ms Wilson expressed her condolences to Ms Cole, Mrs Grover’s wider family, and children.

Originally published as Inquest rules on 1983 cold case death of Cairns mum Gwen Lorraine Grover