Overview

• Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame ruled the 23-year-old's death a homicide and identified James Scott Church as the perpetrator.
• Evidence cited included CCTV of Smith entering Church's white ute at Tuggerah and point-to-point camera data placing his vehicle in the Upper Hunter on August 19, 2012.
• Grahame found Smith was killed before midnight that day and determined her remains were likely left in the Upper Hunter, though her body has not been recovered.
• Church's 2022 judge-alone trial abated after his suicide, sealing Justice Elizabeth Fullerton's completed judgment and leaving no criminal conviction.
• The coroner recommended the NSW attorney-general consider law reform to allow release of settled verdicts when an accused dies before delivery, noting the toll on Smith's family.