Overview
- Justice Tamara Jago sentenced Leigh Geoffrey Sushames to 40 years’ jail with a 25-year non-parole period for the murder of Constable Keith Smith.
- Constable Smith was shot at Sushames’ North Motton property while serving a repossession notice on June 16, 2025, and court evidence described the attack as an execution.
- Sergeant Gavin Rigby’s body-worn camera footage shown in court captured Sushames crouched in a carport producing a rifle before he fired and fellow officers later apprehended him.
- Sushames pleaded guilty to murder, aggravated assault and multiple weapons offences, including possessing unregistered firearms, holding firearms without a licence and possessing a silencer.
- The killing prompted a ceremonial police funeral, community memorials and ongoing trauma within Tasmania Police and could prompt closer scrutiny of officer safety and repossession procedures.