2 days ago
Inquest into suspected murder of Leisl Smith told sightings were 'red herrings'
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following article contains the name and image of a woman who has died. The family has given permission to use the image and the name.
An inquest into the disappearance of a New South Wales woman has heard there have been unconfirmed sightings of her since her alleged killer was found dead before a verdict was reached in his 2022 trial.
It has been 13 years since Leisl Smith disappeared at the age of 23.
Her car was found abandoned at Tuggerah railway station on the Central Coast in August 2012 and she CCTV footage showed her getting into a white ute that then drove away.
Ms Smith's body has never been found but is believed to be buried in bushland in the Upper Hunter Valley.
James Scott Church pleaded not guilty to her murder and stood trial before Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Fullerton in 2022.
The trial heard Ms Smith had told Mr Church she was pregnant with his child.
The court was told he wanted to pursue another woman.
A day before verdict the 51-year-old took his own life.
As a result Justice Fullerton said she was bound by law to seal her judgement.
This week an inquest is being held before Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame into Ms Smith's suspected death.
On Wednesday family members were given the chance to deliver statements paying tribute to Ms Smith.
Her mother, Sandi Harvey, read out a poem in court.
"My heart aches, my tears flow, friends support me, I say, 'why did you go?'" Ms Harvey recited.
"Your future was taken, all too fast, and now we all wait for the dye to be cast."
Ms Smith's sister, Jerildine Cane, said the lack of a verdict added to her grief.
"It has repeatedly crossed my mind what she felt, how terrified she must have been," Ms Cane said.
Mick Jones, the police officer in charge of the investigation, told the inquest that searches on the Central Coast and in the Hunter had returned no sign of Ms Smith.
He told the inquest Ms Smith's bank account had not been touched.
But Detective Sergeant Jones told counsel assisting, Gabrielle Bashir SC, that Crime Stoppers had received reports of several suspected sightings.
"Have there been any more reported sightings of Leisl since the trial and have they been investigated?" Ms Bashir asked.
"Yes, they have to a degree," he said.
"There were a couple of sightings and they came through the form on Crime Stoppers.
But Sergeant Jones said the information led nowhere.
"Unfortunately we can't investigate something like that," he said.
"The information came in as anonymous, so we have no way of testing the veracity of that."
Sergeant Jones said the descriptions "were very, very general" and "red herrings".
Sergeant Jones told the inquest he had no doubt Ms Smith was dead.
"I believe Jim Church collected Leisl and took her up into an area which I believe is in the Goulburn River National Park," he said.
The inquest heard about a second person of interest, Craig Elkin, who Ms Smith had reconnected with after his stint in jail, a month before she vanished.
Ms Bashir SC said Mr Elkin was subject to an apprehended violence order (AVO) relating to Ms Smith.
"He had been arrested on drug-supply charges and a breach [of] AVO related to Leisl," she said.
Ms Bashir then went through dozens of telephone and SMS messages sent by Ms Smith to Mr Elkin.
Sergeant Jones said she was "a prolific communicator on the phone".
He said based on the evidence available Mr Elkin had been ruled out as a potential killer.
Mr Elkin's body was found in the Hunter River in 2015.
Police did not treat his death as suspicious.
