The murder of Tasmanian police constable Keith Smith was “little more than an execution”, prosecutors told the Supreme Court in Burnie today.
Leigh Geoffrey Sushames, 47, shot Smith twice on his North Motton property on June 16, 2025, after officers arrived to serve a writ of possession on his home.
Director of Public Prosecutions Daryl Coates said the murder fell within the worst category of offending.
The court was shown body-worn camera footage of the shooting.
Smith greeted Sushames with “How are you, mate?” as he stood beside a blue Ford Falcon.
“No good,” Sushames replied, before standing up with a high-powered rifle and aiming it at Sergeant Gavin Rigby.
Rigby ran, yelling: “He’s got a firearm, get out of here.” Two shots followed about five seconds apart, killing Smith.
Coates said Sushames had told a friend in 2024 he would kill or shoot anyone who tried to take his house. The friend treated it as a figure of speech.
Sushames had stopped paying his mortgage years earlier and owed more than $200,000 by 2023, the court heard.
In police interviews he said God had chosen him to ‘kill all satanic life on earth’ and would pay his mortgage.
The Crown rejected as untrue Sushames’ separate allegations that he had been abused by police and sold by his mother to a paedophile ring as a child.
To arresting officers, Sushames said: “I’m not f–king moving, come and kill me.”
Defence counsel Greg Richardson said his client had a long mental health history and was deeply remorseful, but could not explain why he did what he did.
Justice Tamara Jago said she could not take Sushames’ mental health into account in sentencing without expert evidence linking it to the offence.
Smith’s brother Christopher and Rigby were among those who delivered victim impact statements.
Sushames will be sentenced on June 26.
