Cop killer Leigh Sushames sentenced to 40 years in jail after Constable Keith Smith was shot dead while trying to serve a repossession notice
A man who killed a police officer while being served a repossession notice has been sentenced to 40 years’ jail.
Leigh Geoffrey Sushames, 47, was sentenced in the Supreme Court in Burnie, north-west Tasmania, on Friday over the fatal shooting of Constable Keith Smith, 57, on June 16, 2025.
Constable Smith attended Sushames’ property in North Motton to serve a repossession notice because he had not paid his mortgage for years.
At a sentencing hearing in May, the court heard Sushames had been in contact with authorities the day before and knew they were coming.
Footage from a body-worn camera worn by Constable Smith’s partner, Sergeant Gavin Rigby, showed Sushames hiding behind a blue Ford Falcon in the carport and holding a rifle.
‘How are you mate?’ Constable Smith asked, before two gunshots could be heard.
He died immediately and Sushames was taken into custody.
In court on Friday, Justice Tamara Jago described the killing as a ‘premeditated, intentional killing’ of an officer who ‘stood no chance against murderous intent’.
Leigh Sushames told a friend he would ‘kill anyone’ who attempted to repossess his home, a court heard
Constable Keith Smith (pictured) was shot in the back and head
‘The callousness you displayed … is almost beyond comprehension for any person with a decent sense of morality,’ the judge said.
‘It is the gravest of criminal conduct.’
In May, the court heard Sushames stopped paying his mortgage because he believed God would ‘sort it out’.
Crown prosecutor Daryl Coates SC said Sushames had avoided contact with bank representatives who went to his home, prompting the courts and police to become involved.
Mr Coates told the court that Sushames showed bank documents to a friend in 2024, saying words to the effect ‘I will kill them or shoot them but nobody is going to take my house off me’.
The friend believed it was a figure of speech, the court heard.
Sushames had previously held a gun licence which was suspended in 2016 due to information police had acquired about his mental health.
The killing was akin to an execution, Mr Coates said, saying Sushames had no relevant prior convictions and police had assessed the job as low risk.
‘He must have contemplated a violent confrontation,’ Mr Coates said.
‘There was nothing in the police conduct that would have caused (Sushames) to become enraged.’
More to come.
