Wieambilla coronial inquest hears from slain cop’s family
A police officer recorded a message of love to her family on her body-worn camera when she knew she was likely to die, an inquest has been told.
A slain police officer bravely recorded the message “I love you” to her family as an armed religious extremist approached her before executing her at close range, a coronial inquest has been told.
Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow were murdered during what was supposed to be a routine job at a rural property in Wieambilla on December 12, 2022.
The two officers attended the property alongside constables Randall Kirk and Keely Brough, who were following up on a missing persons report for Nathaniel Train, who was believed to be staying at his brother Gareth and his wife Stacey’s property.
But when the four officers jumped the locked gate to carry out their duties, Constable Arnold was fatally shot within minutes, and Constable McCrow was killed at close range moments later.
On the final day of the coronial inquest, the families of the two constables murdered in cold blood shared the heartache they each continue to live with since the deaths.
Mammoth coronial inquest comes to a close
Counsel assisting the coroner Ruth O’Gorman KC concluded the five week long coronial inquest into the deaths at Wieambilla on Friday.
In her closing submissions, Ms O’Gorman had made several recommendations for Coroner Terry Ryan to consider ahead of making his findings - which are expected to take several months to complete.
Ms O’Gorman said the coroner might consider making a recommendation that the Queensland Government consider implementing an introduction of mandatory mental health assessments for weapons licence applicants.
It comes as QPS Deputy Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon told the inquest on Wednesday she was meeting with her state counterparts in Canberra next week and planned on discussing several matters raised throughout the inquest.
Ms O’Gorman also said the coroner could consider recommending the Police Commissioner prioritise a review of current drone capability and policies and if an expansion of assets into remote locations was feasible.
Condolences extended
Coroner Ryan again offered his condolences to all those who lost a loved one at Wieambilla.
“I aslo extend my coldonlunces to the firends, family and colleagues of Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow,” he said.
“I also extend my colondosluce to Aidan and Madeline Train.
“I appreciate that listening to the evidence over the past month would have been traumatic for all the families and officers involved in the events of December 2022.
“I trust they’re being supported at this difficult time.”
Coroner Ryan also extended his condolences to the family of Mr Dare.
He also acknowledged the efforts of the Queensland Police Ethical Standards Command who had carried out their own investigation into the December 12 incident. “There are clearly lessons to be learned from this tragedy,” Coroner Ryan said.
McCrow family statement
Constable McCrow would have been celebrating her 31st birthday on Friday.
Her mother, Judy, told the inquest that August 30 would always be a day “marked by impossible grief”.
“Not only for the loss of our beautiful ‘Rach’ but for the many years of promise we’d looked forward to sharing with her as a family,” Dr McCrow said.
“Time isn’t healing our wounds, our trauma remains intense, and our memories are so hard to let go of.
“We can’t escape the fallout from the calculated, premeditated evil which claimed Rachel on December 12, 2022, at Wieambilla.”
Dr McCrow said her youngest daughter deserved “open disclosure and full transparency” about what happened on that horrific day.
“The inquest has exposed to the public the many despicable, disgusting and hate-filled acts which so brutally ended Rachel’s hopes and ambitions,” she said.
“Ambitions that would certainly have seen her quickly attain the position of a commissioned officer, as claimed by many.”
Dr McCrow revealed her family shared concerns about Constable McCrow being stationed at Tara.
“She had genuine concerns about her transfer to Tara,” she said.
“In fact, she wasn’t keen to go, and we weren’t either because we’d heard stories about the large number of people with guns in that community.
“The whole time she was there, we worried about her.
“Just another of life’s cruel ‘what if moments’”.
The inquest was previously told that Constable McCrow, in her final moments, recorded a message of love to her family on her body-worn camera when she knew she was likely to die at the hands of Gareth Train.
“Bravely, according to her body-worn camera she’d been wearing at the Trains’ ambush site, and in the chaotic moments leading up to her brutal murder, she was telling us over and over, “I love you”,” Dr McCrow said.
“Messages we were not told about until three-months after the event. Rachel also recorded information about the murderers and the actions they were taking.
“Even in those last moments, she continued to use all of the skills she’d been trained for. For nearly eight minutes she fought back alone.
“Rachel – we want you to know – “we love you so much, too. We will never stop loving you.
“We will never forget your commitment, passion and dedication to your job.”
Dr McCrow said her family will “never stop asking questions” about the fatal ambush and is demanding change so other families won’t have to endure the same pain.
“We want to ensure other families of officers, injured or killed while on duty, are informed in a timely and supportive way,” she said.
She told the inquest that media had reported her daughter’s death before the family had been told at 9.20pm, more than four and a half hours after she was fatally shot.
“Adding to our stress and sadness – we’ve been kept in the dark in terms of some of the official investigation into the circumstances surrounding what unfolded on December 12, 2022,” she said.
“We’ve been told things which have turned out to be wrong – or not told other relevant things in a timely manner during the investigation process.
“In addition, the constant changes in witness scheduling and the inquest process has heightened the distress of our already fragile emotional wellbeing.
“Rachel must never become just another statistic and every police officer must be able to feel safe.”
Dr McCrow said she was “intensely proud” of her daughter not only in her role as a police officer “but in life”.
She called for improvements in radio and equipment available to police, including the use of drones, to ensure others are safe in the line of duty.
“We believe their deaths were preventable,” she said.
“Every moment of every day, we think about our beautiful daughter – and sister – being murdered.
“We go to bed each night knowing we will never see our beautiful Rachel again.”
Arnold family statement
Constable Arnold’s mother, Sue, said the pain of losing her son – who was a triplet – “never fades”.
“Our pain in losing Matt isn’t a singular event … it never fades, has become a constant presence,” Ms Arnold said.
“Each day brings a fresh reminder of what’s being lost, a stark realisation that he is gone.
“Each anniversary of Matt’s death starts a regular chain of misery and missed family events.
“He won’t get to be a groomsman at his sister’s upcoming wedding.
“He won’t be here on Father’s Day this Sunday.
“We love you, Matty, we miss you every day, and we will speak your name with pride always.
“Matt did not die in vain.”
Ms Arnold said her son and his colleagues had walked into a “deadly trap”.
“We have seen the evidence and the video footage showing the markers where he took his last breath,” she said.
“We have visited the site, and we have stood in the spot when Matt was executed.
“We have looked up that track and seen where the coward took aim and took our son and brother and cold blood; a single bullet ended his life and the life that we wanted to share with him.
“It was a life that included him being just two days away from doing a relieving stint at the Child Protection Unit in Logan and coming home to us.”
Ms Arnold said she hoped police in future would provide better communication with families of police officers who had been injured, shot or killed after they had to wait several hours before being told Constable Arnold was dead.
“Unfortunately, we had to wait five hours to officially find out Matt had died,” she said.
“Why did it take Matt’s sister repeatedly refreshing shared Apple Watch fitness data to know something was wrong?
“As the media were reporting three police officers were unaccounted for, family members began flocking to our home.
“We packed our bags in case we had to head out west to visit Matt in hospital.
“The media followed up those initial reports by saying two officers had been killed, mistakenly revealing the wrong ages of those deceased.
“We were able to breathe a sigh of relief … to only then receive the dreaded knock on the door about 9.20pm, confirming our worst fears.
“Matt and Rachel’s families deserved better that night.
Ms Arnold said the inquest had revealed to their family the “critical operational failings that could have prevented this tragedy”.
“We know who pulled the trigger and killed Matt, but systemic failings and negligence on behalf of many others sent him to Wains Rd,” she said.
“What could have been done to prevent Matt and Rachel’s death?
“What policies and procedures were adhered to regarding interstate missing persons reports?
“We know Matt and Rachel were diligent officers.
“They did all the relevant checks before attending, but you can’t find information when it hasn’t been entered into the system.
“Why would communication breakouts, which rendered their radios and iPads useless, be allowed to persist. This put them at unnecessary risk.
“Better communications must be available to all police officers. Trying to find the best radio channel should not be a decision that officers need to make or having to put up with communications that we have heard is patchy at best.”
The lengthy inquest previously heard evidence that the Train family’s religious ideologies and shared delusion played a significant role in the fatal ambush.
‘Still unanswered’: Slain cop’s mum breaks silence
Outside court, Ms Arnold told reporters the inquest had been “extremely traumatic” and had “deeply impacted” the families’ emotional wellbeing.
She said their families had been comforted by the kind words and actions of many people, including police officers.
“The past five weeks have brought mixed emotions, many tears and hugs and anger,” Ms Arnold said.
“Back on July 29, in this spot, we spoke to the media on the first day of the inquest to convey our hope it would be open and transparent.
“While we respect and appreciate the role of the court in gathering information about what unfolded in Wieambilla, we leave with some critical questions still unanswered.
“That’s disappointing.”
Ms Arnold said the inquest not only exposed the evil acts that “brutally” ended the two officers’ “hopes and ambitions, it also highlighted “serious operational failings”.
Ms Arnold referenced evidence given by Detective Senior Sergeant Duncan Gorrie, who confirmed Nathaniel was not a missing person, rather someone who had “lost touch” with his family.
She asked: “So, our children were executed for what? A loss of contact?”
Ms Arnold also said it was disappointing to hear the similarities to the 2017 murder of Toowoomba Senior Constable Brett Forte, especially “in relation to shots fired and jobs not being properly recorded or investigated thoroughly”.
“Why wasn’t Brett’s murder a catalyst for change?” Ms Arnold asked.
“It’s vitally important the coroner now recommends fundamental interventions to ensure deficiencies, or gaps, that were identified in the inquest are appropriately responded to at all levels, right across the nation.
She said there must be a “blueprint” to improving training, tactical options and equipment, risk assessment and data and intelligence sharing and analysis.
Ms Arnold lamented that any recommendations were “too late” for the two constables and neighbour Alan Dare, who was also murdered.
“We desperately miss Matt and Rachel – the pain so excruciating and unimaginable is with us every breath and every step we take,” she said.
Ms Arnold revealed that Friday would have been Constable McCrow’s 31st birthday.
Instead, it will be a day marked by “impossible grief”.
Ms Arnold said her son too would not be able to celebrate his birthday with his siblings ever again.
“He won’t be here for Father’s Day on Sunday,” she said.
“Once again, we will be forced to dry our tears and to try and move on to the best of our ability.
“Matt and Rachel’s deaths must not be in vain.”