ACT Supreme Court sentences Christopher Weaver over death of Laura Crncevic
“Come back to me! Don’t die!” a security guard yelled after giving his partner a lethal injection. Read what he was sentenced to in court.
Canberra Star
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A self-described “junkie” has been jailed over the “entirely preventable” death of his partner, who overdosed after he threw away an antidote and injected her with heroin.
Christopher Roy Weaver, 40, told his parents he loved them and asked if they would come to visit him after he was sentenced on Thursday to four years, one month and 15 days in jail.
Justice Belinda Baker imposed a non-parole period of two years and 24 days.
Weaver, a security guard from Kambah in Canberra’s south, had previously pleaded guilty to charges of manslaughter and administering a declared substance without authorisation.
Justice Baker said Weaver had committed those crimes in August 2021, when he was celebrating his seventh anniversary with partner Laura Crncevic, 41, at their apartment.
The ACT Supreme Court judge said the couple decided to mark the occasion by using heroin, so Weaver bought one or two points of the drug from his regular dealer.
Weaver then prepared two syringes at the couple’s former home in the ACT suburb of Florey, injecting himself first before administering the illicit substance to Ms Crncevic.
Justice Baker said Weaver did this despite being fully aware of his partner’s many “frailties”, which were the result of a significant number of pre-existing health issues.
Ms Crncevic immediately appeared unwell upon being injected and, after 20 seconds, she vomited and collapsed.
Justice Baker said Weaver called triple-0 but hung up without providing any information.
Three minutes later, he rang again and commenced CPR.
Paramedics eventually arrived to find Ms Crncevic unresponsive as a “distraught” Weaver yelled: “Come back to me! Don’t die!”
Emergency services took Ms Crncevic to Calvary Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Justice Baker said Weaver had subsequently confessed his involvement in Ms Crncevic’s death to civilians and police, admitting “at all times” that he had injected her with heroin.
She said he also disclosed that the couple had earlier “discarded” Narcan, a nasal spray that is commonly used to reverse the effects of a heroin overdose.
Earlier this year, Ms Crncevic’s three sisters provided what Justice Baker described on Thursday as “powerful” victim impact statements.
“Their grief has manifested in physical illnesses and distress,” the judge said.
While Justice Baker said Weaver had clearly been devastated by his partner’s death, “he has not expressed any remorse to the victim’s family”.
This was not the judge’s only concern about Weaver’s conduct in the wake of Ms Crncevic’s death.
She said he had continued to use illicit substances prior to being arrested in July 2023 and remanded in custody, where his behaviour had been “problematic”.
The judge said Weaver had been sanctioned for abusing jail staff, engaging in an altercation, failing to appear at his cell door for musters, and tampering with wires and jug handles.
Notwithstanding his bad behaviour behind bars, Justice Baker assessed Weaver’s prospects of rehabilitation as “reasonable” in light of his family support.
The sentence she ultimately imposed included discounts for Weaver’s guilty pleas and the assistance he had provided authorities by making admissions.
Justice Baker said the latter discount was appropriate because there was “a strong public interest” in encouraging people to provide authorities with a full picture of drug overdoses.
With time already served on remand, Weaver will become eligible for parole in August 2025.
Following the sentencing, an ACT Policing spokesperson said the force wanted to remind the community that “even small amounts of illicit drugs can be deadly”.
“We urge anyone using illicit drugs to reach out to support services,” the spokesperson said.
“Deaths such as this one are entirely preventable if people seek help.”
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