Exclusive Insight: Over a year has passed since a devastating inquest laid bare the horror that claimed their loved ones, and tomorrow, the families of those lost in the Wieambilla tragedy will finally receive long-awaited answers.

As the coroner prepares to deliver the findings, Wayne McCrow, father of slain officer Rachel McCrow, opens up about his sorrow, sharing that his daughter’s police badge is always by his side.

Rachel McCrow and her fellow officer Matthew Arnold were tragically killed on December 12, 2022, when they arrived at 251 Wains Road.

The two officers, along with their colleagues, were at the property for a routine welfare check when they were ambushed by conspiracy theorists Nathaniel, Gareth, and Stacey Train.

In the brutal attack, Arnold and McCrow lost their lives, and their neighbor, Alan Dare, was also fatally shot.

The Trains were later killed in a shoot-out.

Mr McCrow has been left to grapple with the reality of life without his daughter for almost three years.

“With the police force, when she joined and I was a bit sceptical, a bit worried about her,” he said.

“She said ‘don’t worry dad, I should’ve done this a long time ago, you know, I really love doing this.’”

Mr McCrow lives in western Sydney and is battling Parkinson’s Disease.

He couldn’t travel to attend his daughter’s funeral but has grappled with the unthinkable horror that unfolded at remote Wieambilla since the first gut-wrenching phone call.

“Shock, just my body, I screamed and threw the phone. It was just shattering,” he said.

McCrow’s precious memories with his daughter were marred by violence at the Trains’ Wieambilla property.

The officers’ body-worn cameras captured the entire ambush.

“He’s shot Rachel, I believe, I think she’s dead,” a police officer could be heard saying.

McCrow fought back and fired back 15 rounds.

“She was yelling, calling them bastards and shooting at them,” Mr McCrow said.

McCrow’s own bodycam rolling on her execution and the 29-year-old’s final message.

“‘I love you’ (she said). Yeah, she loved us all,” Mr McCrow said.

It’s Mr McCrow’s wish that after hearing the evidence of almost 70 witnesses at the inquest, Queensland’s coroner will have pieced together what could have been done to keep his daughter from coming face-to-face with pure evil. 

He hopes tomorrow’s findings will bring some closure but he doesn’t want his daughter’s legacy to end here.

“Why not make a public holiday?” Mr McCrow said.

“The Rachel Day and Matthew Day. And throw Alan Dare in there too. The Wieambilla people.”