The young woman who was one of the last to see Amy Wensley alive — in the hours before the mother-of-two died from a shotgun blast to the head — was threatened and abused as a “snitch” by her own sister on the fourth anniversary of her shocking death.
In 2014, Rachael Makiri was the wife of Gareth Price.
Mr Price was best mates with David Simmons, who was the partner of Ms Wensley.
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Ms Makiri was also a good friend of Ms Wensley and on the last day of her life, spent it with her and their children shopping and baking.
She was not there when the shot that killed Ms Wensley was fired.
In the hours after Ms Makiri found out the terrible news, she told police there had been no signs of problems — and there had never been any inkling of self-harm.
“Amy seemed fine and I didn’t notice anything was wrong,” she told them.
However, Ms Makiri’s husband later told police that his wife had remembered something else — Ms Wensley, out of the blue in the middle of a conversation that afternoon, had asked: “Have you ever thought about committing suicide?”
It prompted police to take another statement from her, in which she confirmed that Ms Wensley had asked the question.
It was question Coroner Sarah Linton later placed some significance on, despite it having first been raised by a second-hand source.
“I accept that Amy loved her daughters unconditionally but many people who love their family sadly do commit suicide in moments of despair, without thinking through the tragic consequences,” Ms Linton said.
In their investigations for Seven’s gripping podcast The Truth About Amy, journalists Liam Bartlett and Alison Sandy tracked down Ms Makiri to ask her about the out of character statement made by Ms Wensley.
“We made Mars Bar slice for the kids. We got the vegetables ready for the for dinner? And then the boys were late. So I went home. And that was it,” she said.
“It was just an every day — it was just another day.”
When asked about Ms Wensley’s mention of self-harm, Ms Makiri simply said: “I don’t want to answer these questions.”
There was no time to ask her about a Facebook post by her sister Renae on June 26, 2018.
“Rachael, you’re a give up dog. I no longer have a sister. It’s gloves off when I see you next maggot. I’ll be coming for you. So take your big hole and f**k off somewhere for good you,” it read.
Alongside a picture captioned: “Once a snitch, always a traitor … at school, on the job, in the streets.”
The profile used by Renae said that she with David Simmons, along with 39 others.
Another Facebook post uncovered by the podcast revealed that Mr Simmons’ previously skintight bond with Mr Price may have loosened.
“Sorry, Gareth mate for what has happened in the past and now recently. It means I have no one around me because I don’t want to be a burden on you or the others no more,” Mr Simmons wrote in November.
“If you don’t hear from me anymore, it is because you don’t need the drama that follows me.”
