Coroner wants woman’s death reinvestigated

A FRUSTRATED former coroner is urging police to reinvestigate the death of a Toowoomba mother who was shot in the back by her husband when a snake slithered over his foot. No charges were ever laid against Geoffrey Sleba, who years later was jailed for causing someone else’s death – a cyclist he hit with his truck. Mother-of-four Leanne Sleba was 33 when she was killed in 2008 by her husband as he carried a loaded shotgun with his finger on the trigger while the pair searched for a brown snake. Her death was examined by a coroner in 2011 but no determination was made on how “the firearm came to be discharged and whether or not the events occurred by accident”. Retired coroner John Hutton said he has been in contact with police over Leanne’s death and compared it to a case in Victoria where a man was jailed for manslaughter after accidentally shooting his friend. Victorian farmer Angelo Russo stumbled – possibly on an eggplant – as he approached his friend David Calandro with a loaded shotgun. The gun fired, killing Mr Calandro. The farmer was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to five years jail with a minimum of two and a half years. Mr Hutton said it was “absolutely” unusual that no charges had been laid against Geoffrey Sleba at all. He said Leanne’s death was “the same” as the accidental shooting of the Victorian farmer. “My heart goes out to her,” he said. “There’s a case where, in similar circumstances, we have someone charged and found guilty of manslaughter. This is the same. “She was in front of him. What the hell was she doing in front of him (while he was carrying) a shotgun?” The 2011 inquest into Leanne’s death heard a police investigation conducted by local detectives had been very thorough but led to no charges being laid. Leanne Sleba’s parents declined to comment when contacted by The Courier-Mail.