A man has told a coroner he did not shoot his colleague on a south-east Queensland farm more than 25 years ago and instead accusing his co-worker of having "neglected the danger of the shotgun".
Jeffrey Brooks died after suffering a single gunshot wound to the chest while he was working at the Beenleigh Crayfish Farm in March, 1996.
Police originally declared the shooting accidental, believing the 24-year-old — who had firearm experience — had mishandled an "old and unsafe" shotgun.
Two years later, a Queensland coroner was unable to rule whether the death was an accident or if there were suspicious circumstances and made an open finding.
A re-opened inquiry into his death has already heard Mr Brooks's family believe he was killed by people he worked with because "they perceived Jeffrey as a threat to their livelihoods".
On Monday, the coroner's court in Brisbane heard the farm had suffered financial stress for several years and Mr Brooks had been hired to perform a feasibility study of its operations.
The court heard when he started working there were three other full-time staff members; farmhand Graeme Lloyd, farm manager Johannes Geiger and his wife Regine Kjellerup, who handled sales, but she was demoted to casual hours soon after.
Within months Mr Brooks had discovered stock was being skimmed and sold fraudulently, and he had subsequently received threats from Mr Geiger over these allegations and "feared for his life", the court heard.
Farm staff revealed conflict over gun use
On Tuesday Mr Geiger was questioned extensively about his time working with Mr Brooks, including whether he had "made things difficult for him".
He told the court he only ever had a minor conflict with Mr Brooks, which related to him wanting to use a farm gun that he was not licensed to operate.
"There was a little bit of dispute… because he said it was a NSW licence," he said.
The court heard this was the shotgun that killed Mr Brooks, and it had been purchased second hand for $40 by Mr Geiger as part of an "agreement" that it be used on the farm to shoot birds.
When asked if he believed this gun was safe, Mr Geiger said "for me, yes" but agreed Mr Brooks did not, even though he "kept using it".
The court was shown a fax which was sent to Mr Geiger from his employer in late 1995 which said: "Please work with Jeff, not against him" and asked him not to dismiss his ideas.
When asked what this was about, Mr Geiger said he had "no idea" as Mr Brooks "did his own thing" and never made any suggestions to him.
"How could I work against him, he does not work in my area, he has his own area," he said.
The allegations of theft and fraud were also put to Mr Geiger, but he denied ever taking cash payments and told the court all transactions "went through head office".
"We didn't even have enough crayfish to sell under the table … we just struggled to fulfil the orders," he said.
'Nobody killed him'
The court heard in the month before the shooting, Mr Geiger, Mr Lloyd and Mr Brooks were told they were being made redundant.
On the day of the shooting, Mr Geiger told the court he had "coffee and cookies" with Mr Brooks around mid-morning, along with his wife and Mr Lloyd.
"We were all in the office," he said.
"We had a happy atmosphere there."
The court heard Mr Geiger told police shortly after this he left the farm to run errands and was not on the property when the shooting took place.
He told police when he returned, he was told "something happened, Jeffrey shot himself", and he found him "lying there" inside a farm ute, the court heard.
When asked directly whether he was the one who shot Mr Brooks, he said the suggestion was "ridiculous" and "the murder does not exist".
"Nobody killed him," he said.
"Nobody on the farm had a reason to kill him — it's just propaganda."
Mr Geiger theorised Mr Brooks had "a lot on his plate" due to the redundancy and was not thinking when he grabbed the gun by the barrel.
"He neglected the danger of the shotgun, he was not concentrating," he said.
"He failed to be careful with the gun."
Ms Kjellerup told the court she never witnessed her former husband having any "loud" fights with Mr Brooks but said Mr Geiger was a "perfectionist" and admitted he did have some disagreements with him.
"Hannes told Jeffrey what needed to be done," he said.
She denied having any of her own conflicts with Mr Brooks and rejected the claim she also made things difficult for him.
"How could I? I was never his boss, I was never in a position to be making demands," she said.
She also denied stealing any stock and making personal sales.
When asked if she was involved in Mr Brooks' death, she repeatedly answered "no", and denied helping to cover for her then husband or Mr Lloyd.
"I was not under any kind of pressure [to lie for them]," she said.
Her evidence ended with Coroner Donald MacKenzie asking her if Mr Geiger was "quick to temper" and would be capable of violence, and she said "very, yes".
The inquest continues.
