‘Things didn’t add up’: Woman who found girl reveals disturbing list of death scene anomalies

“There were so many things that were wrong. Straightaway, I did not think it was suicide.” The woman who found the body of a St Helens teenage girl has spoken out publicly for the first time>

Eden Westbrook, 15, was deemed to have died by suicide in the Tasmanian east coast township of St Helens during 2015. Picture: Supplied

The woman who first discovered the body of Eden Westbrook has spoken out publicly for the first time – saying she “straightaway” thought the teenager’s death was a murder staged to look like a suicide.

More than nine years after she found Eden’s body hanging in a tree in central St Helens, the soft drink delivery driver has come forward to reveal a disturbing list of anomalies she said she witnessed that were “wrong” and just “didn’t add up”.

Her claims match the observations of Eden’s parents Jason and Amanda Westbrook, who have long maintained their daughter was in fact murdered – in stark comparison to a 2016 coronial finding of suicide.

The Hobart woman, who has asked for her name not to be published, said she was driving out of St Helens before 7am on February 18, 2015, when she spotted what she thought was a mannequin – because of the “odd angle” – hanging from a tree in Fishermen’s Memorial Park.

She said not another soul was in sight at that time of day.

A memorial at St Helens in the tree where Eden was found. Picture: Supplied

“Right from the get-go, there were so many things that were wrong. Straightaway, I did not think it was suicide,” the woman told the Mercury.

The woman said the scene looked like a “staged set-up”.

While waiting with Eden for help, the woman - who worked for a country St John Ambulance in the past and who had received some training in forensics - said she observed several concerning problems with the scene.

She said one of Eden’s arms was “sticking out at a funny angle, like rigor mortis had already set in”, compared to her other arm, which was hanging by her side.

The woman said Eden’s body and light grey track pants showed no signs of bodily discharge, “which generally happens upon death”.

Most concerningly of all, she said the rope involved in the apparent hanging was “really weird”.

“It was wrapped around the tree and then it came down. There was no noose or anything. It just came down beside her ear, under her chin and back up and then wrapped around the tree,” she said.

“It was a fair drop. And because of the rope just being under her chin, you’d think it would have slipped off if she dropped from that height.”

Later that day, she said a police officer phoned her as she continued along her delivery route.

“The first thing I said to him was, ‘is it suspicious?’ And he said: ‘What? Huh? No.’ They’d already made a judgement call.”

She said six months later, Tasmania Police phoned her again because “the coroner has a few more questions”.

She said she went into a police station and was asked if she noticed anything about Eden’s wrists – to which she replied she didn’t.

“They said the coroner questioned because it looks like at some stage her hands have been tied behind her back,” she said.

“How can the corner rule suicide if her hands have been down behind her back at some stage? You can’t do that yourself.”

The woman said she thought “finally the truth might come out” after reading a Mercury article last year, which revealed an anonymous person told Eden’s parents he’d been told Eden had been tied up in a tree by an adult man and a younger female accomplice.

She decided to speak up herself after watching Eden’s story featured earlier this month on Channel 9 television show, Under Investigation with Liz Hayes.

Eden’s parents Amanda and Jason believe her body was left in central St Helens as a message or a warning to others.

They said they had always wanted to speak to the woman who found their daughter that day, and felt enormously grateful she had come forward.

“It’s exactly how I felt when I got to the scene. I felt that it was wrong,” Mrs Westbrook said.

Jason and Amanda Westbrook at Fishermen's Memorial Park, St Helens, where Eden died in 2015. Picture: Amber Wilson

“I smelled Eden’s hair because I wanted to see if someone had washed her hair. It was coarse. It wasn’t soft. We all use the same shampoo and conditioner and it didn’t have a scent like that.

“Right away, in my mind, I thought someone’s f…ing washed her. That was my view when I went to hug her. And I just said ‘no, I’m going to get them for you baby. I’m not going to stop now’.”

Mr Westbrook said he was “lost for words” after hearing the woman’s revelations.

“I’d really like to thank that woman for coming forward,” he said.

“It’s another piece of the puzzle, that perhaps we’ll get to the bottom of what happened to Eden on that night.

“We both think foul play, without a doubt. This is more proof.”

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