Probe into potential ‘Katherine underbelly’ slaying of Shane Tapp remains open, police confirm

Shane Tapp’s family has urged anyone with any information to come forward after a court heard the police’s theory was ‘implausible’, saying, ‘Let’s get this across the line for Shane’.

A man whose body was found floating in the Katherine River in 2021 may have still been alive when he entered the water and investigators’ conclusion that he died through “misadventure” is “implausible”, a court has heard.

In his closing submissions to Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage on Thursday, counsel assisting Michael McCarthy said while there was “some evidence” to support the police’s theory, it was “incomplete”.

“It does not explain why Mr Tapp was next to the river at that time of night with a machete and a large amount of money,” he said.

“The theory of misadventure does not accommodate for the purchase of these items on the day and the fact they appear to have been taken to the edge of the Katherine River later that night.

“It is not clear why Mr Tapp was at the edge of the Katherine River that night, it is not clear whether he was alone or in company, it is not clear whether he was involved in a confrontation by the edge of the Katherine River, though the evidence suggests he was not shot or stabbed and he did not have any broken bones.”

Mr McCarthy said it was also unclear whether a potential methamphetamine stash had been removed from a torn plastic bag found at the scene which the court heard may never have been tested for drug residue.

“As the evidence currently stands, your honour would not be persuaded that it is more likely than not that Mr Tapp died of misadventure and in my submission, you should return an open finding in relation to his death.”

Earlier, Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst confirmed the investigation remained open and detectives were “open to pursuing any further leads that arise”.

NT Police Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst outside the Katherine Local Court on Thursday. Picture: Jason Walls

Speaking directly to Mr Tapp’s family who had spent the week watching on from the public gallery, Ms Armitage said she was “not sure if it has allowed you to be satisfied that we’re very much closer to the truth”.

“But I think there is a difficulty with the conclusions reached by the police in relation to an accidental death,” she said.

“Certainly, the scene is a very curious one in relation to the proposition that it was an accidental entry into the river.”

Ms Armitage offered her condolences for the loss of “a somewhat complicated character” who was “loved by the family” and “obviously missed”.

Outside court, Mr Tapp’s cousin Megan Coutts said she was “a little bit dubious” about whether the investigation would progress but urged “anyone that has any information to come forward”.

“Let’s get this across the line for Shane,” she said.

Big-hearted larrikin fell through the cracks of town’s dark underbelly

Long before he met his untimely end on the banks of the Katherine River, 43-year-old Shane Tapp had fallen “through the cracks” of the town’s shadowy underbelly.

Speaking at the end of a three-day inquest into his death, Mr Tapp’s cousin Megan Coutts said the inquiry had laid bare the obvious “absolute failing” of society to support people who struggled with drug addiction.

“I think the reality is that there’s an underbelly here (in Katherine) that’s not spoken about and people like Shane fall through the cracks and society continually lets them down,” she said.

“I think a lot of people in this town are let down and I think it’s time we as a community step up and take action.”

Mr Tapp’s sister Danielle Black said there was a desperate lack of resources for anyone still facing the issues her brother had grappled with for much of his life.

“You are treated like a second rate citizen, you are pushed to the side, you are assumed to be a criminal constantly,” she said.

“Once you start on that path, the likelihood that you’re going to be able to get yourself out of that is very low because there is no support.”

Ms Coutts said while there was a lot to unpack among the conflicting testimonies and ugly rumours that flew around the courtroom, the family would never give up hope of finding answers.

Shane Tapp's cousin Megan Coutts and sister Danielle Black outside the Katherine Local Court on Thursday. Picture: Jason Walls

“I don’t think anyone that sat in that courtroom this week can really draw any conclusions,” she said.

“(But) you’ve got to have hope, because what’s really forgotten right at the core of the story is Shane is a person.”

Ms Black said she was grateful to Coroner Elisabeth Armitage for probing the police investigation, which the court heard had been plagued by missteps from the beginning.

“There was not one story that matched up but no matter what happened, at the end of the day I think it’s just so clear that it was not misadventure,” she said.

“I just can’t even comprehend how anyone would come to that conclusion, so it just feels really justified.”

Ms Black said her brother was more than just the methamphetamine dealer who died alone in the dark on a riverbank sketched out in court, tearing up as she remembered a hilarious, big-hearted larrikin.

“There was this other side of him that we knew,” she said.

“He was actually just intensely intelligent, he was so sharp-witted it was unbelievable, he was so quick to laugh.

“You did feel blessed to know him, to know that he was in your corner you knew that you were protected.”

‘You’ll be next’: Dead man’s chilling warning to childhood friend

A man whose body was found floating in the Katherine River told a friend he’d hidden $100,000 under a bollard to be distributed among his children upon his death, a court has heard.

On Friday, Daniel Kelly took the stand in the Katherine Local Court for an inquest into the mysterious death of 43-year-old Shane Tapp after he disappeared during the 2021 Easter long weekend.

Mr Kelly said he was a childhood friend of Mr Tapp’s and the pair later bonded over football and loud music.

“We also liked drugs,” he said.

“Back then we dealt drugs, we took drugs, we had fun, we were innocent, we done no wrong other than maybe the law would say so and I agree with that now as an older person.”

Mr Kelly said his old mate came to visit him at work shortly before he went missing, carrying a bowl of cereal with no milk.

“I grabbed the milk out of the office, come out, he done his thing, probably sucked it up in two seconds but that’s Shane, he’s a unit,” he said.

“I looked over to Shane and said ‘What’s the matter mate?’ I could feel his aura, he was whiter than myself, very scared and very sober, which for me was very interesting.”

Mr Kelly said Mr Tapp then asked for a favour, saying “I’m in a lot of trouble” before unzipping a black bum bag to reveal “easily $20,000 to $40,000” and a “large amount of amphetamine”.

“He said just in this bag mate I have enough for my children, just give me till this afternoon,” he said.

He said Mr Tapp told him he was “in danger” and that a police officer, whose name is suppressed, “wants me dead”.

Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage inspects the site where Shane Tapp’s belongings were found on the bank of the Katherine River. Picture: Jason Walls

Mr Kelly said when he guessed at the name of the detective in question, Mr Tapp “nodded back to me” and said “Yes, but you shouldn’t know about this, you’ll be dead next”.

Mr Kelly said Mr Tapp told him he would put $100,000 under a concrete bollard on Gorge Rd and asked him to give half to his daughter and half to his son if anything ever happened to him.

He said another man later told him a group of men had plotted to take Mr Tapp down to the river and give him a “hotshot” and leave him there before one of them “put his face into the water”.

“For two years I’ve been studying this, I’ve been living this, drinking this, eating this, I’ve been on amphetamines to stay awake at night to study this, I’ve talked to thousands and thousands of people in Darwin, Katherine, Alice Springs,” he said.

All the men named by Mr Kelly denied having any involvement in Mr Tapp’s disappearance and the inquest continues on Thursday.

Dead man in Breaking Bad style meth racket, ‘silent partner’ tells court

A Katherine man who disappeared in mysterious circumstances told a friend a cop “wanted him dead” while a rumour circulated that his partner wanted to kill him with a “so-called hotshot”, a court has heard.

Shane Tapp’s body was found floating in the Katherine River about a week after he went missing during the 2021 Easter long weekend, with his death now the subject of an ongoing Coronial inquest.

On Wednesday, the 43-year-old’s close friend of more than three decades, Adam Vanstone, told the court he was the “silent partner” in the pair’s methamphetamine dealing racket that had raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“My whole thing during this operation was I went and picked up the drugs, I bagged the drugs and Shane then picked it up and then I had absolutely no information or anything about what happened after that,” he said.

In a scheme reminiscent of the hit US television show Breaking Bad, Mr Vanstone said Mr Tapp’s involvement in the plot had been aimed at securing his young son’s financial future.

“The whole thing for him why this was ever started was to secure a large amount of money to be able to put into his son to make sure that he had the best upbringing possible,” he said.

“He had a sum of money, I think it was about $250,000 or half a million dollars, something like that, that he said once that target was reached that was the end.”

Mr Vanstone said the pair were finalising their final drug deal when his friend disappeared.

“It was the total wrap-up of the whole endeavour that we’d been on,” he said.

“He was looking forward to no more worries or anything else.”

Meth dealer Adam Vanstone (centre) leaves the Katherine Local Court after giving evidence at an inquest into the death of his business partner Shane Tapp. Picture: Jason Walls

Mr Vanstone said Mr Tapp also told him he and his partner Staceyanne Coull were having relationship issues before he disappeared, including “his disapproval in himself about his violent tendencies” towards her.

“A friend of Stacey’s (told me) Stacey had said she was going to kill Shane before he killed her and she was going to do this with methods of a so-called hot shot,” he said.

On another occasion, Mr Vanstone said Mr Tapp told him personally he was worried about being done in by law enforcement, but he left it out of his police statement because “if this could happen to my friend, well what’s to say it couldn’t also happen to me?”

“He then said to me, for the protection of myself, that he wasn’t going to give any names or anything else but he was very concerned because, well his exact words were there was a police officer who wanted him dead.”

In her own evidence, Ms Coull emphatically denied telling anyone she would kill Mr Tapp, saying “that’s stuff I wouldn’t say”.

“It’s just understanding how sad some of these people are,” she said.

The inquest continues on Thursday.

Originally published as Probe into potential ‘Katherine underbelly’ slaying of Shane Tapp remains open, police confirm