Family of the police officers slain in a Queensland massacre have expressed devastation over the sale of the Queensland home where they were killed.
Constables Matthew Arnold, 26, and Rachel McCrow, 29, were shot dead during a visit to the Wieambilla home in December 2022, alongside neighbour Alan Dare who was gunned down while investigating the noise.
The home was owned by two of the gunmen, Gareth Train and his wife Stacey, as they sought to find Train’s brother Nathanial, who was the third gunman. The trio were killed by specialist police hours after the massacre.
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Now the two-bedroom home on Wains Rd at Western Downs has been sold for $190,000, in a move the families of Arnold and McCrow believe is an insult to the memory of their loved ones.
They say the property should have been turned into a memorial instead.
“We are speaking out today with a profound sense of disappointment, shock, and deep pain,” the families of Arnold and McCrow said in a statement.
“We have learned through public real estate listings that … the site where our beautiful Rachel and Matt were ambushed and executed — has been sold to an unknown buyer.
“For over three years, we carried a shred of comfort based on a promise to tear down the reminders of that horrific night and transform the property into a sacred memorial site — a place of solace, reflection, and a peaceful sanctuary.
“To discover this land and ‘house of horrors’ was quietly offloaded on the open market to a mystery bidder, is an absolute insult to the memories of Matt, Rachel, and brave neighbour Alan Dare.
“This land should never have been sold as a commercial property or marketed as a standard ‘lifestyle block’. It is a crime scene marked forever by one of the darkest acts of domestic terrorism in Australian history.
“It is where Rachel, Matthew and Alan took their final breaths.
“The idea of an unknown person living there, or of the site becoming a destination for those drawn to extremist violence, is something we should never have to endure.
“We feel deeply let down by the institutions that promised to protect our children in life and honour them in death. The failure to secure this property is contrary to everything we were led to believe.
“We urge the Queensland Government and the Queensland Police Union to step in and ensure that the ground where Rachel, Matt and Alan made the ultimate sacrifice is preserved with the dignity and respect it deserves.”
Union negotiations on the house stall
The Queensland Police Union said shortly after the 2022 massacre that it wanted to buy the block and had asked the government for help resuming the land.
The union head at the time, Ian Leavers, told The Courier Mail that he “would never want to see” the land fall into the hands of other conspiracy theorists “who may seek to utilise the reputation of this site to promote their own dangerous and warped views.”
“That is why the QPU has an obligation to safeguard this property to protect the memories of the police who gave their lives.”
Leavers told The Courier Mail the land could be used for a retreat for officers, a training centre and be the site of a memorial, and the union then entered into negotiations to buy the property.
But Nathaniel and Stacey’s son Aidan told the outlet this year that negotiations stalled with the union and said, after the public sale listing, that his preference was to sell the property to the union.
It is not the first time that the families of Arnold and McCrow have spoken out about how police have handled the matter.
They launched legal action against the New South Wales and Queensland police forces last year, accusing authorities of negligence and seeking compensation for “severe and debilitating psychological injuries”.
The families were left disappointed by inquest findings, believing pertinent evidence was “overlooked or not fully considered” — are sought damages for nervous shock.
