Slain officers’ families slam ‘insulting’ sale of Wieambilla murder site
A promise to turn the Wieambilla murder scene into a memorial fell through after the property was sold privately.
He was killed in December 2022 when Queensland Police officers Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold went to the remote home of conspiracy theorists Stacey and Gareth Train to search for Gareth’s brother Nathaniel Train.
The trio shot and killed the officers who approached the house, and also killed neighbor Alan Dare, who went to investigate.
Following their deaths, the Queensland police union offered to buy the site with the support of the state government, but negotiations stalled in 2025.
Earlier this year Nathaniel and Stacey Train’s son Aiden put the property up for sale, telling the media he was still open to selling to the union but could not delay it any longer.
QPU chairman Shane Prior said the listing was a “surprise” as the union was trying to keep the property out of public hands.
Aiden Train, along with his sister, publicly condemned their parents’ action, expressed condolences to the victim’s families, and distanced themselves from their parents’ religious beliefs.
On April 14 this year, the property was sold for $190,000 to two buyers based in Agnes Waters, near Gladstone on the Queensland coast.
The buyers have not publicly disclosed their plans for the property.
The McCrow and Arnold families told the Courier Mail on Saturday that the sale was an “absolute insult” to the memory of the officers and Mr Dare.
“For more than three years, we carried a modicum of solace based on the promise to dispel the memories of that terrible night and transform the property into a sacred space of remembrance – a place of solace, reflection and peaceful refuge,” they told the publication.
“The idea of an unknown person living there, or of the site becoming a target for those exposed to extreme violence, is something we should never put up with.
“We feel deeply disappointed by the institutions that promise to protect our children in life and honor them in death.
“The failure to secure this property goes against everything we have been led to believe.
“We call on the Queensland government and the Queensland Police Association to step in and ensure that the ground on which Rachel, Matt and Alan made the ultimate sacrifice is protected with the dignity and respect it deserves.”
Mr Prior said he was disappointed with the sale and the union was still working through the issues at the time the deal went through.
Stacey and Gareth Train originally purchased the property in 2015 for $95,000.
Stacey was previously in a relationship with Nathaniel, with whom she shares her children.
