Coroner refers suspects in 27-year-old crayfish farm death

A Queensland coroner has referred two farm workers to prosecutors over the 1996 death of a marine biologist at a Beenleigh crayfish farm, marking a significant turn in a case that has shadowed the family for 27 years.

Jeffrey Brooks, 24, was found dead with a single shotgun wound to his upper chest at the farm property in March 1996. Police initially concluded the death was accidental — that Brooks had shot himself when reaching for a 12-gauge single-barrel shotgun. His family, however, never believed that account, and after decades of pressure, a coroner has now agreed there is sufficient reason to suspect foul play.

On Tuesday, Coroner Donald MacKenzie handed down findings that established "reasonable suspicion" that farm manager Johannes Geiger and his wife Regine Kidellerup were involved in Brooks' death. MacKenzie referred the evidence to the Director of Public Prosecutions, a move the Brooks family welcomed even as they expressed frustration that the coroner did not fault the original police investigation.

The case had languished for years. In 1998, an inquest into Brooks' death returned an open finding — a conclusion that acknowledged suspicious circumstances could not be ruled out, but stopped short of naming those responsible. The matter might have remained closed had it not been for a podcast that examined the case around 2018, prompting a request to reopen the inquest.

Over the following years, fresh scrutiny of the evidence pointed to a different narrative than the one police had accepted. Brooks had expressed concern for his safety in the days before his death, and MacKenzie's findings detail evidence of statements showing his fear for his life, potential motive for his killers, their opportunity, and behaviour in the aftermath that the coroner found "potentially incriminating."

Yet MacKenzie was careful in his language. He did not declare that Geiger and Kidellerup killed Brooks — only that there was reasonable suspicion they were involved. The cause of death, he said, remained either accidental discharge or death by unknown persons. He absolved farm hand Graham Lloyd, who discovered Brooks' body and contacted police, finding Lloyd's actions and demeanour consistent with innocence.

The coroner also rejected the Brooks family's contention that the original police investigation had been flawed. While acknowledging it was "not perfect," MacKenzie found the investigation to be "adequate" and noted that subsequent independent reviews had confirmed it was "thorough and satisfactory." He said he did not accept that the lead detective had closed his mind to the possibility of homicide.

For Lawrence and Wendy Brooks, the case offered long-sought vindication of their conviction that their son had been killed, not accidentally shot. Yet they expressed disappointment that the police investigation itself escaped criticism, and called for structural changes to Queensland Police oversight.

The referral to the Director of Public Prosecutions now places the decision in the hands of prosecutors, who will assess whether the evidence warrants a prosecution.