Family’s relief over coronial inquiry to investigate possible unlawful killing in the death of Shane Tapp

‘We all failed people like Shane’: The family of a man whose body washed up on the banks of the Katherine River two years ago may finally find peace in a new inquiry.

Shane Tapp was a 43-year-old Katherine father whose body was found on the banks of the river, near Knotts Crossing, on April 12, 2021.

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are warned the following article contains names and images of the deceased.

A mystery on the banks of the Katherine river could soon be solved, bringing relief and closure to the family of an Aboriginal father they suspect was murdered.

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage has announced a three-day hearing in Katherine to investigate the death of Shane Tapp to determine if there was any evidence the 43-year-old father was unlawfully killed.

His family said the inquest was a victory, after two long years of grief and pain.

Shane’s cousin Megan Coutts’ voice shook as she described her anxiety in the lead up to the October inquest.

“We feel there’s more to the story. We feel like Shane’s story has not been told,” Ms Coutts said.

The Katherine father was last seen leaving his Gorge Rd home on the evening of April 3, 2021.

Nine days later his body was discovered in an advanced state of decomposition by a fisherman on the banks of the Katherine River, near Knotts Crossing.

Within 24 hours police declared there were “no suspicious circumstances”.

Nine days later Shane Tapp’s body was discovered in an advanced state of decomposition by a fisherman on the banks of the Katherine River, near Knotts Crossing.

Ms Coutts said her family felt his death was never properly investigated, and she believed Shane was murdered.

“I feel it in my heart that he didn’t drown of his own misadventure,” she said.

“None of it stacks up … Somebody knows something.”

She said issues in the investigation were clear from the moment police put out the missing person’s alert — using a mugshot of the 43-year-old father.

“It started from there, how they thought of him,” Ms Coutts said.

“If I’m brutally honest, he was a black man that had a drug problem and didn’t always walk on the right side of the law.”

The prisoner, the drug addict, the missing man, the body — this was not the person Ms Coutts remembered.

“I feel angry — and I don’t want to be but I am,” she said.

“I feel like he didn’t matter.”

She started to cry as she described Shane, her eldest cousin, as the “protector” of all the Tapp children.

“If anything went wrong, or if we were being picked on, it was always him we went to,” Ms Coutts said.

“You know how they say humour is the best form of intelligence? He was extremely funny and very quick-witted.

“But he was a bit of a naughty kid.

“He was the type of kid that really got let down by the system”

Ms Coutts said growing up in the 1980s, there was little understanding of re-engaging troubled or traumatised children in school.

“Especially in the Territory it was pretty rough and tough and only the strong survived,” she said.

“So if you weren’t academic or sporty, you sort of missed out.”

But Ms Coutts said Shane was adamant that his younger cousins would not follow his path by wagging school or running away.

“He probably realised that he’d made bad choices in his life, but he didn’t want that life for us,” she said.

“He wanted so much better for us.”

Shane’s aunt Toni Tapp Coutts said her nephew was “definitely no angel”, but he was a caring man who respected his family.

Shane’s aunt Toni Tapp Coutts said her nephew was “definitely no angel”, but he was a caring man who respected his family.

“Drug addiction is such a terrible thing,” she said.

“It’s insidious in how it destroys people, not only users but people around them.”

Ms Coutts said between Shane’s jail terms, he tried to get clean and checked into rehab.

“It takes more than a couple of weeks to get over a lifetime of habits or hurt,” she said.

“I just think the cycle was too far. He just needed more.

“I think ultimately, as a society … we all failed people like Shane.

“Whether it be schooling, or in the jails, rehabilitation — as a society, as a community as a whole we fail those people.”

Ms Tapp Coutts said two years on her sister Shing Tapp was still distraught over her son’s death, and had joined with Shane’s grandmother June Tapp to demand answers in letters and calls to police and the Coroner.

Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage ahead of the Shane Tapp inquest in October. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Ms Tapp Coutts said her family was so grateful to Ms Armitage for approving the hearing.

“The coroner obviously also has some cause for concern that she will call an inquest,” she said.

“We’re trying to keep an open mind to it all.”

Ms Coutts said hearing could finally bring closure to her family, and free them from their “surreal type of living”.

“You never really understand the beast that is not having an answer,” she said.

“Grief can destroy people.”