Inquest into the deaths of Bruce ROBERTS and Shane SNELLMAN

Inquest:

Hearing dates: Date of findings: Place of findings: Findings of:

Catchwords:

File numbers: Representation:

Findings:

i ce oe MET a (TARE Sian

CORONERS COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Inquest into the deaths of Bruce Roberts & Shane Snellman 20 May 2021

20 May 2021

Coroners Court of New South Wales, Lidcombe

Magistrate Derek Lee, Deputy State Coroner

CORONIAL LAW - cause and manner of death, homicide, unascertained cause of death

2017/224507; 2018/168760 Ms T Xanthos, Coronial Advocate Assisting the Coroner

Shane Snellman

| find that Shane Snellman died between about 18 and 24 October 2002 at Greenwich NSW 2065. The cause of Mr Snellman’s death was gunshot wound to the supraclavicular fossa. The gunshot wound was most likely inflicted as a result of a firearm discharged by a known person, in circumstances where Mr Snellman had gained unauthorised entry into the home of the known person. The manner of Mr Snellman’s death is therefore homicide.

Bruce Roberts

| find that Bruce Roberts died between about 26 May 2017 and 21 July 2017 at Greenwich NSW 2065. The available evidence does not allow for any finding to be made as to the cause of Mr Roberts’ death. Mr Roberts died of natural causes, although the precise cause of death cannot be ascertained on the available evidence.

Table of Contents

Introduction Why was an inquest held?.

Recognition of Mr Roberts’ life Recognition of Mr Snellman’s life...

Last known movements of Mr Snellman .

Background to the events of July 2017.

What happened on 21 July 20177...

What was the cause and manner of Mr Roberts’ death?.

Examination of the Greenwich property in May 2018 ..

What was the manner of Mr Snellman’s death?

Findings - Shane Snellman dentity.

Date of death Place of death Cause of death Manner of death Findings - Bruce Roberts...

dentity.

Date of death Place of death

Cause of death

Manner of death.

Introduction

1. On 21 July 2017 police conducted a welfare check at the home of Bruce Roberts after it was noted that he had not been seen for an extended period of time. Mr Roberts was found deceased inside his home amidst a large quantity of material which had been hoarded over many years. A subsequent autopsy was unable to ascertain the cause of Mr Roberts’ death.

2. Several months later, as part of the administration of Mr Roberts’ estate, a cleaning service was arranged by Mr Roberts’ executor to remove the hoarded material from the home. During this process Shane Snellman was found deceased in one of the bedrooms of the property on 29 May

3. An autopsy determined that Mr Snellman had sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the upper chest. A number of firearms were found inside Mr Roberts’ home and investigating police formed the belief that one of these firearms had been used by another person to inflict the gunshot wound to Mr Snellman.

Why was an inquest held?

3. A Coroner’s function and the purpose of an inquest are provided for by law as set out in the Coroners Act 2009 (the Act). One of the primary functions of a Coroner is to investigate the circumstances surrounding a reportable death. This is done so that evidence may be gathered to allow a Coroner to answer questions about the identity of the person who died, when and where the person died, and the cause and the manner of the person’s death. The manner of a person’s death means the circumstances surrounding their death and the events leading up to it.

4. Section 6(1}){a) of the Act defines a reportable death to be one which occurs in circumstances where a person died a violent or unnatural death. As Mr Snellman died from an apparent gunshot wound his death was not due to natural causes, making it a reportable death. Further, section 27(1)(a) of the Act provides that an inquest is mandatory if it appears to a coroner that a person died or might have died as a result of homicide. In this case, the available evidence indicates that Mr Snellman died after having been shot by another person, meaning that he died as a result of homicide. It is therefore mandatory to hold an inquest into Mr Snellman’s death.

5. Section 27(1)(d) of the Act provides that an inquest is required to be held if the cause of a person’s death has not been sufficiently disclosed. As noted above, the postmortem examination of Mr Roberts was unable to ascertain a cause of death. Therefore, it is therefore also mandatory to hold an inquest into Mr Roberts’ death.

6. In this context it should be recognised at the outset that the operation of the Act, and the coronial process in general, represents an intrusion by the State into what is usually one of the most traumatic events in the lives of family members who have lost a loved one. At such times, it is reasonably expected that families will wish to attempt to cope with the consequences of such a traumatic event in private. The loss experienced by family members does not diminish significantly over time. Therefore, it should be acknowledged that both the coronial process and an inquest by their very nature unfortunately compel a family to re-live distressing memories and to do soina public forum.

It should also be noted at the outset that although the evidence gathered during a coronial investigation may give rise to the appearance that a person has died as a result of homicide, such a conclusion (if one is eventually made) does not impose any criminal liability on any person. Indeed, section 81(3) of the Act explicitly precludes a coroner from making a finding that indicates, or in any way suggests, that a criminal offence has been committed by any person. It should be remembered that the functions of the coronial jurisdiction are, in this way, entirely separate from the functions of the criminal jurisdiction.

Recognition of Mr Roberts’ life

Understanding the impact that the death of a person has had on their family only comes from knowing something of that person’s life and how the loss of that life has affected those who loved that person the most. Therefore it is extremely important to recognise and acknowledge the lives of both Mr Roberts and Mr Snellman in a brief, but hopefully meaningful, way.

Mr Roberts was born to Athol and Joyce Roberts in Coonabarabran in September 1956. Mrs Roberts had a daughter, Denise Miller, from a previous marriage. In his early years Mr Roberts lived on a property in Coonabarabran, with his parents and Ms Miller. His parents later separated and Mr Roberts and Ms Miller went to live with their mother at her previous home in St Peters in Sydney.

Throughout his childhood Mr Roberts periodically returned to Coonabarabran and to stay with his father during school holidays. Mr Roberts later attended a boarding school in Orange, but subsequently returned to live at the property in Coonabarabran. Mr Roberts attended Coonabarabran High School until Year 10.

Between 1972 and 1977 Mr Roberts and his mother spent time at both properties in Coonabarabran and St Peters. Following the passing of his maternal grandparents, Mr Roberts and his mother went to live at their former home at 31 Greendale Street, Greenwich (the Greenwich property). They remained living at the Greenwich property until the passing of Mr Roberts’ mother in March 1989. In July 1991 Mr Roberts became the registered proprietor of the Greenwich property.

Recognition of Mr Snellman’s life

Mr Snellman was born to his parents Herbert and Pamela Snellman in Sydney in November 1963.

Mr Snellman had a younger sister, Belinda. In 1967 Mr Snellman’s parents separated and Mr Snellman remained in his father’s care. Three years later Mr Snellman’s father became ill and, consequently, unable to care for his children. As a result Mr Snellman and his sister were placed in an accommodation facility and a Catholic convent school. Over the following years Mr Snellman stayed at a number of accommodation facilities before finishing high school at the age of 14.

Following this, Mr Snellman went to live with his grandmother in Arncliffe. In 1980 Mr Snellman went to live with his father and his de facto partner in East Hills.

Between 1979 and 2002 Mr Snellman had numerous interactions with police involving a range of criminal offences. Some of these interactions resulted in convictions and periods of imprisonment

for Mr Snellman. During this period Mr Snellman was also involved in illicit drug use. Upon being released from his various periods of imprisonment, Mr Snellman lived at a number of different locations, as described below.

In 1985 Mr Snellman went to live with his sister and her husband on the Central Coast. Mr Snellman subsequently lived at a number of locations on the Central Coast before returning to Sydney in 1987 to live with his grandmother, and also his father. Whilst living on the Central Coast Mr Snellman worked in an abattoir for a period of time. In 1989 Mr Snellman’s sister and her husband moved west of Sydney. At this time Mr Snellman was reportedly in a de facto relationship.

In 1985 Mr Snellman again went to live with his sister and her then partner in Wollongong. Mr Snellman later formed a relationship with Philippa Denney and together they travelled to Queensland several times in the period between 1996 and 1999, and also lived for periods in Palmerston, Northern Territory and Canowindra. In 1999 the relationship between Mr Snellman and Ms Denney ended, although they remained friends and stayed in contact with each other.

Between October 1999 and June 2002 Mr Snellman had a number of further interactions with police and spent some time in custody. Upon being released from custody on 27 June 2002, following a sentence of imprisonment, Mr Snellman commenced living at a supported accommodation facility in Camperdown. At around this time Mr Snellman met with Ms Denney who noted that, from Mr Snellman’s appearance, he appeared to be engaged in illicit drug use.

Last known movements of Mr Snellman

Following his release from custody in June 2002, Mr Snellman opened a credit union account. Mr Snellman’s fortnightly social security payments were deposited into this account. An examination of the records for this account reveals that these deposits were routinely withdrawn by Mr Snellman very soon after the deposit was made, and usually on the same day.

On 15 October 2002 Mr Snellman made a $1.00 cash withdrawal from his account, leaving a balance of $0.66. On 18 October 2002 Mr Snellman was stopped by police in Dulwich Hill, whilst in the company of Nicole Bennett, after the pair was observed to be behaving suspiciously. No further action was taken by police and this interaction was the last known occasion when Mr Snellman confirmed to be alive. On 23 October 2002 Mr Snellman’s fortnightly social security payment was deposited into his account. However, contrary to Mr Snellman’s usual practice, it was not withdrawn.

During the latter part of 2002 Ms Denney became concerned for Mr Snellman’s welfare following a number of unsuccessful attempts to contact him by phone. Ms Denney also contacted the accommodation where Mr Snellman was known to be residing and was unable to locate him. Ms Denney subsequently contacted The Rocks police station to raise a concern for Mr Snellman’s welfare.

Background to the events of July 2017

In the years following his mother’s passing Mr Roberts reportedly maintained little contact with his father, Ms Miller or other family members. Mr Roberts also ceased visiting Coonabarabran.

Mr Roberts reportedly received social security benefits, and otherwise supported himself financially through a previous inheritance and a number of financial investments. Ms Roberts therefore had no contact with any person in a work environment. According to family members Mr Roberts had no known friends and lived a largely reclusive lifestyle. However, Mr Roberts was known to periodically write letters to some family members.

Ms Roberts was known to be a hoarder of a significant amount of property and other material. The yard of his property was noted to be overgrown with vegetation. The windows of the property were covered and nailed shut, with barbed wire placed around fences on the property.

Mr Roberts was known by local community members to walk daily from his house to local businesses in the Greenwich area in order to attend the supermarket, library and pharmacy. Mr Roberts was noted to wear the same clothes each day, and to generally avoid any type of contact or social interaction with other persons.

What happened on 21 July 2017?

In the weeks preceding 21 July 2017 a neighbour became concerned for Mr Roberts’ welfare after noticing an unusually large build-up of uncollected mail in Mr Roberts’ letterbox, and having not seeing Mr Roberts for an extended period of time. This concern was subsequently reported to police.

Police from Chatswood police station made a number of initial enquiries to locate Mr Roberts’ whereabouts and to any identify family members, without success. Subsequently, police and Fire & Rescue NSW personnel attended Mr Roberts’ home at around 12:45pm in order to conduct a welfare check. When Mr Roberts could not be raised, emergency services gained entry to his home.

Upon entering, emergency services noted that a slide lock and chain slide lock had been damaged in the process of entering, with both locks having been placed in the locked position by someone within the house. Initially, emergency services personnel identified a large amount of boxes, paper, rubbish, empty bags, luggage, newspapers and other material piled from the floor to almost the ceiling of the house, consistent with hoarding behaviour. A strong smell of decay was also noted.

Due to the significant amount of material it was difficult to manoeuvre within the house. A path was identified through the middle of the lounge room and along the hallway. As emergency services personnel proceeded down the hallway Mr Roberts was found lying on the floor with no signs of life, with his upper body partially in a room and his lower body within the hallway. Mr Roberts was found to be on top of a radiant bar heater which was operating. As a result, his head, face, right shoulder and chest were noted to be burnt.

Mr Roberts was subsequently pronounced life extinct at the scene. He was later removed from the house at around 6:30pm on 21 July 2017. Due to the significant volume of material within the

house, and the absence of any identified suspicious circumstances, police did not consider that a search of Mr Roberts’ home was necessary. The property was subsequently locked and secured.

What was the cause and manner of Mr Roberts’ death?

Mr Roberts was later taken to the Department of Forensic Medicine in Sydney where a postmortem examination was performed Dr Kendall Bailey, forensic pathologist, on 26 July 2017. The examination identified that Mr Roberts was in an early state of decompositional change with areas of accelerated decompositional change, and extreme charring present over the right hand, shoulder, right side of the chest, right side of the face and neck. Marked tissue loss in this area was identified, including loss of the bony tissue of the ribs and charring of the thoracic organs.

Dr Bailey noted that the thermal damage was extensive and would have obscured any natural disease within the organs of the chest. Dr Bailey also noted that “due to the extent of thermal damage and decompositional change it is unclear if the thermal damage is entirely postmortem or in part perimortem and therefore possibly contributed to death”. However, Dr Bailey also noted that “in the absence of any other identifiable abnormalities and unremarkable toxicological results, it is assumed that a natural incapacitating event resulted in the ultimate position of [Mr Roberts’ body] and therefore preceded any thermal injury which may have contributed to death”.

Ultimately, in the autopsy report, Dr Bailey opined that the cause of Mr Roberts’ death could not be ascertained.

It is evident that decompositional changes and the thermal injuries sustained by Mr Roberts have precluded a more precise cause of death being determined. Therefore, on the available evidence, it is not possible to reach a conclusion as to the precise cause of Mr Roberts’ death, and therefore an open finding must be returned.

It is also evident that at the time that Mr Roberts was found, the Greenwich property was locked and secured. There is no evidence of any third party involvement in Mr Roberts’ death. Further, the absence of any traumatic injury identified at autopsy, and the discovery of Mr Roberts lying in the hallway of his home following an apparent collapse, also point to Mr Roberts dying as a result of a natural event. Although the possibility that the thermal injuries sustained by Mr Roberts were, either in whole or in part, antemortem in nature, it is most likely that Mr Roberts’ apparent collapse and death preceded these injuries. Mr Roberts’ positioning on top of the bar heater is consistent with this hypothesis. Therefore, having regard to all of the available evidence, it is more probable than not that Mr Roberts died as a result of natural disease process. The manner of Mr Roberts’ death is therefore due to natural causes.

Examination of the Greenwich property in May 2018

Between July and December 2017 the Greenwich property remained unoccupied and no person sought to gain access to it. However, in around December 2017, Mr Roberts’ paternal uncle and aunt (John and Norma Roberts) became concerned for Mr Roberts’ welfare after not receiving any letters from him, nor a Christmas card which Mr Roberts customarily sent. After asking their daughter (Wendy Roberts) to make a number of enquiries Mr Roberts’ uncle and aunt discovered that Mr Roberts was, in fact, deceased.

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On 15 January 2018 Wendy Roberts contacted the solicitor (David Alexander) who had prepared Mr Roberts’ will on 20 November 2002. Arrangements were subsequently commenced for the administration of Mr Roberts’ estate. As a result, Mr Alexander made arrangements for his family members to inspect the Greenwich property on a number of occasions in order to determine what material was inside the house.

On 15 May 2018 Mr Alexander’s son located a rifle and ammunition in a bedroom of the house.

Police were notified and the firearm and ammunition were seized. Due to the significant amount of material inside the house and the poor condition of the property, Mr Alexander engaged a professional cleaning service to clean the property. This cleaning commenced on 24 May 2018.

On 29 May 2018, during the cleaning process, a number of firearms and ammunition were located inside the Greenwich property. A short time later at around midday, cleaners were removing a number of boxes from a bedroom when they found Mr Snellman, with no signs of life, amongst a quantity of hoarded material. Mr Snellman was in a seated position with his back against the lounge, slumped to the left, and in an advanced state of decomposition. Mr Alexander was informed of the discovery and he subsequently notified police, who attended a short time later and declared the property a crime scene. When police officers inspected the area where Mr Snellman was found a large number of air freshener products were located around Mr Snellman, and scattered throughout the bedroom.

What was the cause of Mr Snellman’s death?

Mr Snellman was later taken to the Department of Forensic Medicine in Sydney where a postmortem examination was performed by Dr Sarita Maistry, forensic pathologist, on 31 May

2018. The examination noted that Mr Snellman was completely mummified and that the left foot had been disarticulated from the ankle joint. Defects to the right temporal and parietal areas of the skull, consistent with exposure to heat, were also noted.

Further examination identified a skin defect consistent with a gunshot injury to the left supraclavicular fossa. The trajectory of the wound appeared to go from left to right, inferiorly into the mediastinum. Associated with the wound track was dark fluid (resembling blood) and fractures of the left medial clavicle, left first rib and left sternal manubrium. A wad and multiple shotgun lead pellets were retrieved from within the chest and abdominal cavities. Routine toxicological analysis detected the presence of methylamphetamine and its metabolite, amphetamine, together with ibuprofen. Ultimately, in the autopsy report, Dr Maistry opined that the cause of Mr Snellman’s death was gunshot wound to the supraclavicular fossa.

What was the manner of Mr Snellman’s death?

The unusual discovery of two persons in the same home, apparently previously unknown to each other, raised immediate questions as to the circumstances which preceded such a discovery. After Mr Snellman was found, investigating police conducted extensive enquiries in an attempt to obtain further evidence regarding these circumstances.

As noted already, Mr Roberts was known to live a reclusive lifestyle and did not venture far from his home except to attend his local shops and services. Examination of the logbooks for Mr Roberts’ two motor vehicles revealed that both vehicles only used a minimal amount of fuel in 2002, indicating that Mr Roberts rarely left the Greenwich area. Further, Mr Roberts had no criminal history, and no history of illicit drug use.

In contrast, Mr Snellman had an extensive history of criminal activity, much of which related to property and dishonesty offences. Further, Mr Snellman had a history of illicit drug use and had previously engaged intermittently with a number of drug rehabilitation services. Mr Snellman was also known to live an itinerant lifestyle and, due to his periods of incarceration and short-term residential periods, rarely made any long-term acquaintances. Mr Snellman was known to mostly frequent the inner western suburbs of Sydney.

Investigating police identified no direct evidence of Mr Roberts and Mr Snellman having met each other at any time prior to Mr Snellman’s death. The contrast between the lifestyles of Mr Roberts and Mr Snellman, and the different locations that they were known to frequent, strongly suggests that there was no opportunity for them to meet prior to Mr Snellman’s death. Further, given Mr Roberts’ reclusive lifestyle and preference for little to no social interaction, it is most unlikely that Mr Roberts would have willingly invited Mr Snellman into his home.

Therefore, all of the available evidence suggests that Mr Snellman only came to be in Mr Roberts’ home by reason of unauthorised entry. As noted above, Mr Snellman had a history of property and dishonesty offences. Further, it is evident that by 15 October 2002 Mr Snellman had almost no financial resources, and was not due to receive his next social security payment until 23 October

2002. Finally, Ms Denney’s observations of Mr Snellman following his release from imprisonment in June 2002, and the detection of methylamphetamine from toxicological analysis performed at autopsy, indicate that Mr Snellman was engaged in illicit drug use at around the time of his death.

Having regard to these pieces of evidence, it is most likely that Mr Snellman gained unauthorised entry to Mr Roberts’ home with the intention of obtaining property by which he could source illicit drugs and/or support himself financially. Investigating police in 2017 and 2018 found no evidence of forced entry to Mr Roberts’ home. This is an unsurprising finding, and does not preclude the above conclusion being reached, given that it is believed that Mr Snellman entered Mr Roberts’ home some 15 years prior to when police first attended the Greenwich property.

If the above is indeed correct, then it also appears that Mr Roberts discovered Mr Snellman inside his home and discharged a firearm which inflicted a fatal wound to Mr Snellman. Following the discovery of Mr Snellman’s remains the Greenwich property was examined by a police. A significant quantity of firearms, firearm parts and ammunition including 13 firearms (three shot guns, six bold action repeating rifles, three self-loading rifles and one air rifle) shotgun cartridges, rifle rounds, air rifle pellets, ammunition boxes and belts, and impact damage to projectiles were found in all three bedrooms, the dining room and the garage. It should be noted that none of the firearms, firearm parts or ammunition were stored in compliance with legislative requirements for the safekeeping of firearms. Further, when police officers spoke to Mr Roberts’ family members, none were able to provide any information as to how Mr Roberts might have obtained such a large quantity of firearms.

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The firearms and ammunition were forensically examined and tested by police. These investigations did not identify any connection between any of the firearms found within the Greenwich property and the fatal wound sustained by Mr Snellman. Notwithstanding, investigating police strongly believe that Mr Roberts used one of the firearms inside the Greenwich property to inflict the fatal wound.

This belief is supported by anumber of other pieces of evidence, summarised below:

(a) Examination of the bedroom where Mr Snellman was found identified what appeared to be impact marks on the bedroom wall consistent with impacts from shotgun pellets. On the floor beneath the impact marks were a number of lead shotgun pellets. Also located in a corner of the bedroom was a green trunk with a quantity of blood on its surface. A DNA profile was extracted from the blood and found to match Mr Snellman’s DNA profile. This evidence strongly suggests that the fatal shotgun wound to Mr Snellman was inflicted whilst he was in the bedroom where he was found.

(b) Mr Roberts was known to be extremely protective, and possibly even paranoid, regarding the security of his home. As described above the windows of the home were boarded up and barbed wire had been placed around his home’s perimeter fence. Further, Mr Roberts was known to have a practice of scattering tin cans around the house so as to be alerted to the presence of any potential intruder.

(c) Additionally, in speaking with Mr Roberts’ family members, and members of the community who were familiar with him, Ms Roberts was consistently described as someone who experienced difficulty functioning in social settings and conforming to societal norms. In this context, many people who knew Mr Roberts expressed the opinion that Mr Roberts had the potential to react in an unpredictable way when confronted by an unusual or challenging situation. Further, many of Mr Roberts’ family members also expressed the opinion that Mr Roberts was capable of discharging a firearm upon encountering an intruder in his home, and leaving the remains of the deceased intruder in his home while still continuing to live there himself. Indeed, the presence of a large number of air freshener products surrounding Mr Snellman, and within the bedroom where he was found, strongly suggest that these products had been placed there by Mr Roberts following Mr Snellman’s death.

Having regard to all of the above evidence, it is more probable than not that the fatal gunshot wound sustained by Mr Snellman was inflicted by Mr Roberts. This most likely occurred in circumstances where Mr Snellman had gained unauthorised entry to Mr Roberts’ home and was subsequently discovered by Mr Roberts. Whilst forensic examination has not been able to positively identify the firearm used to inflict the fatal gunshot wound, it is again most likely that the firearm used was one of the many firearms located within the Greenwich property. Therefore, the manner of Mr Snellman’s death is as a result of homicide.

When did Mr Snellman die?

In June 2018 investigating police contacted Ms Bennett in an attempt to obtain further information regarding the circumstances of her being in Mr Snellman’s company on 18 October 2002, and any

other information that might be relevant to Mr Snellman’s death. Ms Bennett initially denied any knowledge of Mr Snellman. However after being provided with an antemortem photo of Mr Snellman, Miss Bennett indicated that she had a partial memory of Mr Snellman but little recollection of anything else. Ms Benner later declined to provide a statement and police were unable to make any further contact with her.

Further investigation conducted by police identified a further potential source of information relevant to the timing of Mr Snellman’s death. Between 12:00am and 10:00am on 21 October 2002 a bike was stolen from a property in Camperdown. At 10:53am later that day the bike was pawned at a pawn shop in Newtown by Kristen Carter. On 28 January 2003 Mr Carter told police that Mr Snellman and another male person had given him the bike and other property to pawn because neither had insufficient identification to pawn the bike themselves. Mr Carter later declined to provide any further information to police regarding this matter. However, the disclosure by Mr Carter raises the possibility that Mr Snellman was still alive on the morning of 21 October 2002.

Although investigating police considered Mr Carter to be a potentially unreliable source of information, his disclosure is consistent with evidence relating to Mr Snellman’s credit union account records. As noted above, Mr Snellman habitually withdrew his social security payments very soon after they were deposited into his account. Given that Mr Snellman had no financial means to support himself by 18 October 2002, there is no plausible reason why Mr Snellman would not withdraw his social security payment on 23 October 2002, unless he was unable to do so.

Having regard to the above evidence, it is most likely that Mr Snellman died between about 18 October 2002 (which was the last time that he was confirmed to be alive, when spoken to by police) and 24 October 2002 (by which time it was expected that, in accordance with usual practice, Mr Snellman would have withdrawn his most recent social security payment).

When did Mr Roberts die?

Mr Roberts routinely attended Greenwich Village Medical Practice for treatment of a number of conditions, including hypotension, impaired fasting glycaemia, varicose veins and chest pains.

Medical records indicate that Mr Roberts last attended the medical practice on 26 May 2017 complaining of chest pain. On this occasion, Mr Roberts declined any medical treatment, including a referral to a cardiologist for further investigation.

The period of about six weeks between 26 May 2017 and when a concern for Mr Roberts’ welfare was raised on 21 July 2017 is consistent with Mr Roberts not having been seen by neighbours and other members of his local community for an extended period during this interval. There is no direct evidence that any neighbour or member of the local community saw Mr Roberts during this period. Therefore, it is most likely that Mr Roberts died between about 26 May 2017 and 21 July 2017.

Findings — Shane Snellman

Before turning to the findings that | am required to make, | would like to thank Ms Tina Xanthos for her invaluable assistance during both the preparation for the inquest, and the inquest itself. | also

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thank Detective Senior Constable Scott Orlovich, for conducting a comprehensive investigation and compiling the extensive brief of evidence.

The findings | make under section 81(1) of the Actin relation to the death of Shane Snellman are:

Identity The person who died was Shane Snellman.

Date of death Mr Snellman died between about 18 and 24 October 2002.

Place of death Mr Snellman died at Greenwich NSW 2065.

Cause of death The cause of Mr Snellman’s death was gunshot wound to the supraclavicular fossa.

Manner of death

The gunshot wound was most likely inflicted as a result of a firearm discharged by a known person, in circumstances where Mr Snellman had gained unauthorised entry into the home of the known person. The manner of Mr Snellman’s death is therefore homicide.

Findings — Bruce Roberts

The findings | make under section 81(1) of the Actin relation to the death of Bruce Roberts are:

Identity The person who died was Bruce Roberts.

Date of death Mr Roberts died between about 26 May 2017 and 21 July 2017.

Place of death Mr Roberts died at Greenwich NSW 2065.

Cause of death

The available evidence does not allow for any finding to be made as to the cause of Mr Roberts’ death.

Manner of death Mr Roberts died of natural causes, although the precise cause of death cannot be ascertained on the available evidence.

Epilogue

56. On behalf of the Coroners Court of NSW I extend my sincere and respectful condolences to the family and friends of both Mr Roberts and Mr Snellman for their painful and tragic loss.

57. Iclose these inquests.

Magistrate Derek Lee

Deputy State Coroner

20 May 2021

Coroners Court of New South Wales