The Court of Criminal Appeal threw out their cases in Sydney this morning, almost five years after they were jailed for life for murdering Jamie Gao. Late last year, as Rogerson languished in a cell in the geriatric unit of Sydneys Long Bay jail over the Gao murder, I received a call from his wife Anne. According to his girlfriend, Sallie-Anne Huckstep, who pursued the matter through the media, Lanfranchi was unarmed and carrying A$10,000 (5,200, $7,350) - money which was never found. As a former NSW detective, I met Rogerson regularly when we were both stationed at the Criminal Investigation Branch headquarters. Theres a long and sad list and I reckon there would be a few people who have just gone, disappeared, that no one cares about.. Detectives have variously described . "The deceased was shot and killed by one of them and both Rogerson and McNamara cooperated to dispose of the body at sea and cover their tracks.". April 2000: He was Australia's most notorious cop.A real-life Dirty Harry who finally crossed the line and finished in jail. He looks healthy and on his game, and his actors gift of making you feel youre the only person in the room is undiminished. The pair could often be found drinking with other police and criminals at inner-city pubs includingAlexandria's Star and Iron Duke, the Captain Cook at Millers Point and the Lord Wolseley in Ultimo. [8][9] Following a retrial, both Rogerson and McNamara were found guilty of murder. A three-judge panel of Justice Andrew Bell, JusticeRobert Beech-Jones and Justice Robert Allan Hulme in the NSW Court of Appeal today unanimously dismissed the appeals. Rogerson, who. Put a schooner of Reschs in his gnarled hand and we could have been two old mates chatting at the pub. The pair met in November 1976 when Rogerson arrested Smith as he was reporting for bail at Rockdale police station and charged him attempting to snatch the Fielders Bakery payroll at Granville. Moment British man is arrested at Colombian airport as he tries to fly to London with 23 kilos of cocaine Do YOU know your Adam and Eve from your Ruby Murray? As a public figure straddling corruption and crime in modern times, Rogerson has no peer, McNab says. Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara lose appeal over Jamie Gao's murder. She went on television and gave extensive interviews about allegedly crooked police, including Rogerson who she claimed murdered Lanfranchi and stole the $10,000 bribe he was carrying to be let off the police shooting. In the following months, the cocaine and booze-fuelled Flannery became increasingly erratic. All those years later, [for Rogerson] to have that amount of clout, quite spooky.. There was no gloating when disgraced detective Roger Rogerson learnt of the death in prison of once feared gangster Neddy Smith, his longtime accomplice turned ferocious foe. He moved his bashing and murder business to Sydney where he made the big-time, including his failed attempt to murder police officer Mick Drury in June 1984. The distinctive gait we saw on CCTV; the presence that riveted juries in his heyday. The outcome is now both history and the script line for Blue Murder: Killer Cop, which debuts Part 1 on Sunday, August 6. He had the politicians knack about him, the charm to work a room, says McNab. [11] Rogerson attended Bankstown Central School and later Homebush Boys High School. And so are the Sydney gang wars of the mid 1980s, when criminals turned on each other in a shooting feast over dominance in the Sydney heroin trade. Rogerson who is now 80, and Glen McNamara, now 62, were jailed for life for the murder of drug dealer Jamie Gao. [19], Rogerson was dismissed from the NSW Police Force on 11 April 1986 (had not seen active service since his suspension on 30 November 1984 as a result of the Drury investigation). Rogerson, 75, has taken a job as the prison sweeper, which involves general cleaning duties like emptying bins and mopping floors, at the Kevin Waller Unit for aged and frail inmates. [19], In 2008, Rogerson reviewed episodes of the Underbelly series and Melbourne's underworld war in The Daily Telegraph[23] He also wrote about the 2009 series of Underbelly for the same paper. Smith was a convicted heroin dealer, rapist and armed robber who claimed Rogerson gave him the "green light" to commit crimes in NSW, while Flannery specialised in contract killing. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, Mom who lost both sons to fentanyl blasts laughing Biden, Two Russian tanks annihilated with bombs by Ukrainian armed forces, Isabel Oakeshott receives 'menacing' message from Matt Hancock, Pavement where disabled woman gestured at cyclist before fatal crash, Pro-Ukrainian drone lands on Russian spy planes exposing location, 'Buster is next!' [16], Fellow police officer Michael Drury has alleged that Rogerson was involved in his attempted murder. He was last seen catching a taxi in the city, and never seen alive again. On April 23, 1985 Flannery is said to have been responsible for the gangland shooting of drug dealer Tony Spaghetti Eustace by his gold Mercedes. Roger Rogerson was the teak-hard. He and fellow former detectiveGlen McNamara were jailed for life in September 2016 and lost appeals over their convictions in July. He spent a further three years in jail. He was utterly charming, very smart, a great conversationalist, witty, with great one-liners, says McNab, a once starry-eyed colleague who remembers how others in the NSW criminal investigation bureau would be drawn to Rogerson and bask in some of that reflected charisma. "Roger would like to see you," she said. The exchange had the writer looking over his shoulder for a few days, which he notes is the art of the threat. On 6 June 1984, Drury was shot twice through his kitchen window as he fed his three-year-old daughter. Violent and sinister characters populate the script: Neddy Smith, played by Tony Martin, is the charismatic big man of Sydneys gangland. Rogerson, the once-masterful court performer who swayed a jury to take his word over both Drurys and the heroin dealer who said hed paid Rogerson for the hit, will end his life behind bars, serving a life sentence along with McNamara. But the cool-headed Smith was not impressed with Flannery, who made powerful enemies among Sydney ganglands other factions and police alike. I left school at 16 with six GCSEs - and became a self-made millionaire. Rogerson, 82, serving life term for murder of drug dealer. According to Camden, the noted historian of the 16th century, this name Roger was a . In 1999, Rogerson was convicted of perverting the course of justice and lying to the Police Integrity Commission. Former Sydney detectives Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara have lost an appeal against their convictions for murdering a drug dealer. [38], In 1988 Roger Rogerson told a Bulletin reporter that he and the other lead detectives fabricated evidence. Huckstepp's body was found floating in a pond at Centennial Park in 1986 and Smith would later be charged with murdering the sex worker, with unproven suggestions Rogerson had been involved. Drury said Rogerson had tried to bribe him to change his evidence over a heroin trial and when Drury refused, he was shot. He had been at Merrylands Bowling Club the night Huckstepp was killed, and said he had never told Smith it would be 'best to get rid of Croft'. Things went fatally wrong for the naive Gao after Rogerson, waiting in the wings on the deal, conceived with McNamara a more brutal but profitable alternative. This was tainted by Purdey's claims that Rogerson assaulted him, prevented him from calling his solicitor and typed up to five different records of the interview. Smith (left) is pictured with ex-wife Debra and brothel keeper Harvey Jones, who he was convicted of having murdered in 1983. Australia's most corrupt cop Roger Rogerson launches appeal. News Limited reported Thursday that police four years ago investigated claims Woodward was killed and buried in sand hills behind a beach south of Sydney. It was McNamara who met Gao through his own consultancy work for lawyers, when the young man was acting as a translator for a friend in strife. NSW News. Roger Rogerson being escorted to a prison van at the Supreme Court in Sydney in 2016. Justice Bell said both accused had run "cut-throat defences". , who was shot dead inside a Padstow storage unit in 2014. Rogerson has always maintained from that time on Smith was no more than a valuable informant for the Armed Hold-Up Squad. Their relationship hit the skids when Rogerson outed him on television as an informant, and Smith outed Rogerson to the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Dont watch it before reading this. [26] On 21 January 2015, he and his co-accused, Glen McNamara (also a former police detective), were committed to stand trial over the alleged murder. He knew that knowing everybody would be good for his own business and this extraordinary, outwardly affable, bright, capable man showed no fear.. Smith was a major heroin distributor in Sydney when the city's streets were awash with that drug. Children drinking PINTS and the King riding in a 14-wheel golden HGV - this is Kate and Prince William 'are keen' for Prince George to have official role in King Charles' coronation - but Royally hard work! Both are appealing their convictions and life sentences for the. Glen McNamara (right) is escorted by a correctional services officer as he leaves the NSW Supreme Court in 2016. Drury was a Sydney detective whose dramatic attempted murder in 1984 believed to have been carried out by Melbourne hitman Chris Flannery brought an end to Roger Rogersons career. Smith became a star witness for the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Wood Royal Commission, revealing Rogerson and others alleged corruption. [40], Richard Roxburgh portrayed Rogerson in the 1995 TV mini-series Blue Murder and its 2017 sequel Blue Murder: Killer Cop.[41]. They were famously photographed slapping each other with wads of $50 notes for the benefit of federal police surveillance unit at Chinatown's Covent Garden Hotel. His wife Anne Melocco told Daily Mail. Neddy Smith stood trial for her murder, but was acquitted. The sources say even some prison officers have become starstruck by his presence in the jail. This included auctioning signed photos of himself standing near Lanfranchi's dead body. [33] However, Rogerson then lodged an appeal in 2020. But McNab put the project to bed and expected never to write again of Rogerson, presuming the fallen copper would see out his days casting a line over a dinghy and bouncing grandchildren on his lap. He once claimed to be a cash millionaire. Drury spent 12 days in a coma, but survived. During the Gao trial, McNamara alleged Rogerson confessed to him of complicity in the killings of heroin dealers Alan Williams and Luton Chu, as well as Lanfranchis partner Sallie-Anne Huckstepp. Roger Rogerson is escorted to a prison van at the Supreme Court in Sydney, Wednesday, 15 June, 2016. Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? He was known for his hothead and tendency to go off and empty his gun into the victims. 2023 BBC. Rogerson's record of killing has led some Australian media outlets to dub him "the serial killer who wore a badge". [16] During the inquest, the coroner found Rogerson was acting in the line of duty, but a jury declined to find he had acted in self-defence. The latter is what brought Rogerson together with McNamara, whose own cultivated image as a former honest cop hung out to dry likewise unravels under McNabs inspection. The death of Lanfranchi, whose girlfriend was heroin-addicted prostitute turned police corruption whistleblower, was ruled in the line of duty. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. Rogerson and McNamara appealed against their convictions and McNamara also appealed against his sentence. Rogerson and Smith's joint exploits were immortalised in the award-winning 1995 television series Blue Murder and their notorious association helped eventually bring each man down. According to Camden, the noted historian of the 16th century, this name Roger was a valiant . Smith insisted they became partners in crime. And fabled underworld tales are recreated, such as the scene of Sydney lawyer Brian Alexander on a boat trussed up and chained to a stove, being pitched overboard outside the Sydney Heads. The comments below have not been moderated. He spent nine months in jail in 1990 before being released on bail pending an ultimately unsuccessful appeal. It was the beginning of the end for Rogersons police career, and Flannerys hot heatedness and ready gun toting would be his own demise. Smith was by then a pariah in the underworld and despised by the detectives he said had allowed him to make millions of dollars from dealing heroin and staging armed robberies. Storms threaten north-east United States after tearing through the south, leaving 10 dead. Smith'sfinal downfall had begun in October 1987 when he and another criminal killed tow truck diver Ronald Flavell during a road rage incident at Coogee. His one-time mate Arthur Neddy Smith is across the road in the prison hospital suffering from advanced Parkinsons disease. All times AEDT (GMT +11). After his latest conviction, he is expected to spend the rest of his life in jail. By 1978, his reputation was sufficient to gain convictions based on the strength of unsigned records of interviews with prisoners (known as "police verbals"). "It was the '80s. What Rogerson didn't mention to me during my two visits was that his time to appeal was gone. McPherson was a standover man who probably committed or commissioned more murders than any other major organised figure. Two words showed something was wrong with the system, After centuries of Murdaugh rule in the Deep South, the family's power ends with a life sentence for murder, With Prince Andrew's sweetheart mansion rental ending, King Charles offers compromise that shocks his son, Flooding in southern Malaysia forces 40,000 people to flee homes. [29], On 25 August 2016, Rogerson and McNamara faced a sentencing hearing. Both Rogerson and McNamara lodged a notice of intention to appeal days after their life sentences were imposed in 2016. From shooting heroin dealer Warren Lanfranchi in Dangar Place, the now notorious city back lane, to living it up with a violent underworld identity, Rogerson is Blue Murders dramatic focus. Disgraced NSW detective Roger Rogerson, jailed for murder, could give evidence to the coronial inquest into the 1973 Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub firebombing in Brisbane which killed 15 people. [32] However, neither Rogerson nor McNamara formally lodged appeals, and in July 2019 Rogersons last application for an extension of time to do so was refused by the NSW Supreme Court. [2] In September 2016, both were sentenced to jail for life for the murder of Gao. Roger Rogerson: The life and crimes of Australia's most notorious cop. Lawyers for both Rogerson and McNamara indicated they would appeal against the sentence. Blue Murder shows the attempted murder of detective Michael Drury who was shot twice through his kitchen window alleged to have been taken down by Melbourne hitman Christopher Dale Flannery at Rogersons behest. New South Wales Crown prosecutor Christopher Maxwell QC told the hearing in the NSW Supreme Court, life sentences have been applied in the past for contract killings. [27] On 6 March 2015, both accused were arraigned at a hearing in the NSW Supreme Court. Fellow detective Michael Drury opens up on Roger Rogerson and 1984 shooting, "He rightly perceived that if the true position was disclosed then it may be suspected that he had concocted or at least moulded his story about providing a pistol to suit Rogerson's interests.". My view is it started out as a drug deal that became a rip off and at some point in the planning Roger said, well if it doesnt go right, well just top him, end of story, he says. Production isnt even underway yet and theres already friction behind the scenes on the controversial Sydney-based reality series. Followed categories will be added to My News. "Extensive in its planning, brutal in its execution and callous in its aftermath," he said. Both have been found guilty of murder and possession of 2.78. They have not been seen or heard from since. Inside Prince Harry's finances from when he met Meghan Markle to landing 100M with Netflix and book Spare 'Why the last-minute delay?' Rogerson and McNamara were found guilty after a four-month trial that showed CCTV footage linking them to the death of Gao, whose body was found floating in a bag in the ocean off Sydney. McNab was flummoxed too by the involvement of Rogersons unlikely partner in crime, a self-styled former police whistleblower and anti-drug/anti-paedophile/anti-corruption campaigner Glen McNamara. His defence is trying to establish he wasn't part of the agreement to kill or rob the victim. [14][15], The Peter Mitchell Award was presented to Rogerson in 1980 for the arrest of escaped armed robber Gary Purdey. In 1984, Duncan McNab was a New South Wales police internal affairs investigator when a deathbed statement from undercover drug cop Michael Drury came across his bosss desk. He was as floored as anyone when, one Sunday evening in 2014, calls and emails came flooding in pointing to an astonishing final act in the Dodgers criminal career. He put himself up on the pedestal then kicked his own pedestal from underneath him., Roger Rogerson will be published by Hachette Australia on 11 October, Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara given life sentences for murder of Jamie Gao, Former detectives Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara found guilty of murder of Jamie Gao, The noble aim of open justice and the public's right to know | Richard Ackland, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. The NSW crown prosecutor, Christopher Maxwell sought for the judge to jail Rogerson and McNamara for life, stating there was no distinction between a contract killing and killing for the purpose of financial gain[30], One detective witness told the Daily Telegraph "it was like tracking the stars of Amateur Hour", regarding the killing of Jamie Gao. The coronial file and findings into her disappearance are now missing. The menacing conversation included an unsuccessful attempt by Rogerson to wound his biographer by recalling the suicide of a colleague whod been involved in a fatal hit and run on a child and to whose parents McNab had to break the news. Australia's most corrupt cop Roger Rogerson is making a last ditch attempt not to die in jail as he has applied to the High Court of Australia to appeal his life sentence. Rogerson was eventually jailed in 1990 for conspiring to pervert the course of justice over the transfer of A$110,000 into bank accounts under false names during the Drury trial. I cant think of a copper with such a high profile who has been caught out the way he has and likewise a copper whos maintained this level of public focus for almost 40 years, as a copper, as a crook, or as an affable old man offering grandfatherly advice, he says. In 1981 came Rogerson's most high profile police killing, the shooting of heroin dealer Warren Lanfranchi in an inner-Sydney alleyway. Behind his brazen public persona, however, lies a dark and deadly history. Over the past year, detectives have been talking to him about the 1975 murder of Perth brothel madam Shirley Finn and the 1973 Whiskey Au Go Go fire in Brisbane. Rogerson, 75, and McNamara, 57, pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Gao and dumping his body in waters off Cronulla the next day. Rogerson is pictured in 2004. "I guess I thought about it a lot from the start but I wanted to put it out of my mind," he said. This was because John Andrew Stuart, accused of lighting the fire, had said criminals from Sydney were behind the nightclub extortion attempts. AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), abc.net.au/news/roger-rogerson-glen-mcnamara-lose-appeal-murder/100298452, Australia's biggest drug bust: $1 billion worth of cocaine linked to Mexican cartel intercepted, 'Pincers are closing': Ukrainian forces under pressure as Russians shell roads out of Bakhmut, Four in hospital after terrifying home invasion by gang armed with machetes, knives, hammer, 'We have got the balance right': PM gives Greens' super demands short shrift, Crowd laughs as Russia's foreign minister claims Ukraine war 'was launched against us', The tense, 10-minute meeting that left Russia's chief diplomat smoking outside in the blazing sun, 'Celebrity leaders': Mike Pompeo, Nikki Haley take veiled jabs at Donald Trump in CPAC remarks. Rogerson was eventually jailed in 1990 for conspiring to pervert the course of justice over the transfer of A$110,000 into bank accounts under false names during the Drury trial. While Rogerson was locking up - and sometimes shooting dead - crooks in the 1970s and 1980s, Smith was distributing heroin and pulling off major armed robberies. At an inquest into Flannery's suspected murder, Coroner Greg Glass said he suspected Rogerson had killed him. With Rogerson dismissed from the force in 1986 and Smith's other police friends no longer able to help, he was refused bail and spent the rest of his life in jail. The idea was quite simply the Triad in Hong Kong and their enforcers would not know who Jamie Gao was selling to, so if Jamie Gao disappeared and it was done cleanly and concisely, hed just become a disappeared person.. The surname Rodgerson was first found in Aberdeenshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Obar Dheathain), a historic county, and present day Council Area of Aberdeen, located in the Grampian region of northeastern Scotland from ancient times, some say as early as the 11th century.
Cup Sealer Machine Divisoria,
What Is A Junior Ticket Ticketek,
Is Galveston Water Safe To Drink,
Lasik Corneal Thickness Calculator,
Articles W