Could Leisl Smith be alive and in hiding from vengeful drug-dealing bikies? This was a scenario raised today at the trial of the man accused of her murder.
It has been a decade since Ms Smith disappeared at the age of 23.
Her car was found abandoned at Tuggerah railway station in August 2012 and CCTV captured her getting into a white ute that then drove away.
Ms Smith's body has never been found but in 2018 her ex-boyfriend James Scott Church was arrested and charged with her alleged murder.
The 51-year-old has pleaded not guilty.
This week in the New South Wales Supreme Court, the Crown alleged Mr Church killed and buried Ms Smith in the Upper Hunter Valley so he could pursue another woman.
But in his opening address, defence barrister Manny Conditsis told the judge-only trial there were other possible explanations for Ms Smith's disappearance.
"There are alternative scenarios that are inconsistent with his guilt and consistent with his innocence," he said.
Defence floats bikie theory
Mr Conditsis said one theory was that Leisl Smith was killed by an outlaw motorcycle gang member over a drug debt.
"When drug dealers don't get paid they usually get a bit annoyed," Justice Elizabeth Fullerton said.
Mr Conditisis said another possibility was that Leisl was still alive and had voluntarily gone into hiding.
"There is a reasonable possibility that she had to get away and for no-one to find her," he said.
The court has been told Leisl Smith's bank accounts have never been touched since the day she was last seen alive.
Mr Conditsis gave yet another scenario: that an ex-boyfriend of Ms Smith's, Craig Elkin, may have killed her.
Mr Elkin's body was found floating in the Hunter River in 2015.
At the time police said there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.
Claims ex was running drugs
Mr Conditsis told the court Mr Elkin was involved in the drug scene and alleged that Ms Smith was aware of that.
Ms Smith's mother, Sandra Harvey, was asked about Mr Elkins when she took the stand on Thursday.
"Did she tell you he was running drugs for a bikie gang?" Mr Conditsis asked.
"Yes," Ms Harvey replied.
Yet another scenario described by the defence was that Ms Smith had a troubled childhood and ended her own life.
At the time she went missing, the court heard that Ms Smith was living with her father, Storm Smith, who received a disturbing text message from her two days after he last saw her.
"I can't do this and I'm not going to keep your secret any more," the message read.
In pre-trial evidence, Mr Smith said he did not understand the message.
The Crown has alleged that message was sent falsely to suggest Ms Smith was still alive.
Mr Smith is expected to give further evidence during the trial, which is set to run for six to eight weeks.
