Judge can’t hand down verdict after alleged killer of Leisl Smith dies day before ruling

The judge presiding of the murder trial of NSW woman Lisel Smith has declared a verdict cannot be released— because the accused killer suicided the night before.

Liesl Smith was described as ‘a beloved daughter, adored sister and fabulous friend’.

Missing woman Leisl Smith’s mother wept in court as a judge announced she could not release a ruling in her murder trial because the accused killer suicided one day before the verdict.

Meanwhile Ms Smith’s father gave an emotional defense of the man he says has been falsely accused of killing his daughter – and insisted she is still alive.

James Scott Church, 51, killed himself on Thursday morning at his home near Inverell.

He was expected to face the NSW Supreme Court on Friday morning to learn if Justice Elizabeth Fullerton found him guilty of Ms Smith’s 2012 murder.

Instead Justice Fullerton convened the packed and tense court room to confirm Church’s death and hand down devastating news - she can not legally rule in the trial.

“The trial was conducted with every fairness to (Church), I regret the trial processes have concluded without verdict. I hope the public, and more importantly Ms Smith’s family and friends, understand the position as I’m obliged to abide by it as matter of law,” Justice Fullerton said.

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Family and supporters of both Ms Smith and Church wept in court as the judge said her reasons had been ready to be released but could now never be published.
She adjourned the court as distraught onlookers hugged and shook their heads.

The man accused of one murdering Leisl Smith, one of the most infamous cold cases in the state, has died the day before he was to learn his fate in court.

NSW Police said a 51-year-old man was found dead on Thursday morning at a property and there were no suspicious circumstances.

The Daily Telegraph understands the dead man was James Scott Church, and he killed himself just one day before he was expected to walk into Sydney’s Supreme Court and hear the verdict from the judge hearing his case.

Ms Smith vanished without a trace from Tuggerah train station in 2012, she had been seen getting into a white ute on CCTV.

James Scott Church leaving Wyong Local Court in 2019, when he was committed to stand trial for the murder of Leisl Smith. Picture: Richard Noone

Crown prosecutors, earlier this year, told the NSW Supreme Court that ute belonged to her ex-boyfriend — Church.

Church pleaded not guilty before Justice Elizabeth Fullerton, the case was being heard without a jury.

Prosecutors argued he had killed Ms Smith to pursue a relationship with another woman.

Outside court Ms Smith’s father, Storm Smith, told waiting reporters that his daughter “took off”.

“I do believe, and I said in court, that she’s still alive and I’m hoping it goes to the coroner,” Mr Smith said.

“I believe there has been contact, she made sure when it first happened I knew… Something came through that was only relevant to her and me.”

Mr Smith said he is “positive” he saw his daughter at Windsor and Church died an innocent man.

He said he believes her daughter would be upset at Church’s death and said the man Ms Smith was fleeing was a prior partner.

Church’s lawyers had argued that former partner, who drowned in the Hunter River in 2015, may have been the man who killed Ms Smith.

Her father told reporters Ms Smith had fled that partner, and not Church.

His legal representatives pointed to other explanations for her disappearance, including other former partners and bikies.

A missing poster Ms Smith’s family put up after she disappeared.

Church was on bail and expected to hear Justice Fullerton’s verdict on Friday at 10.30am.

Instead he has died before being found guilty or not guilty by the court.

“Today, the day before the verdict is to be announced, Church met his maker by his own hand,” the official Find Leisl Smith account posted on Facebook.

Ms Smith’s body has never been found and prosecutors said their case was entirely circumstantial.

They claimed Church had killed Ms Smith and buried her in the Upper Hunter.

If Church was guilty, he has taken the location of Ms Smith’s body to the grave.

The case transfixed the tight-knit community where Ms Smith vanished.

The Find Leisl Smith page, which is run by her family, shared an image posted by Ms Smith at about the time she disappeared in 2012.

It showed Christopher Robin speaking to Pooh Bear: “And Pooh, promise you won’t forget me” the image reads.

“Leisl is a beloved daughter, adored sister and fabulous friend,” the page says.

“Her family have been left shattered with her disappearance. Her family life was complete and happy. She was happy.”

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