The death of Lanfranchi, whose girlfriend was heroin-addicted prostitute turned police corruption whistleblower, was ruled in the line of duty. Crooks loved him. In the pre-digital era, illegal bootleg video cassettes of Blue Murder I and II were jealously guarded, surreptitiously leant and massively copied. On 20 May 2014, former New South Wales police officers Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara murdered student Jamie Gao in cold blood. Unlike the remains of lawyer Brian Alexander, which has never been found, Gaos body wrapped in a blue tarpaulin bobbed to the surface off Cronulla beach in May, 2014. All the benefits of simply switching from white to brown - AND how purple, Why is Britain experiencing so many earthquakes? Roger Rogerson after being jailed for life in June. Tim Anderson, one of the three released in 1985, claimed the confession Rogerson extracted was fabricated, and that he and two other members of the Ananda Marga group were convicted in part because of Rogerson's fabrications. If your parents dont have a dusty old video cassette of the original or the machine to play it on this is a must read which also includes a handbook to the real characters of the new series. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced. Just days after their conviction and life sentences were handed down in 2016, the pair lodged a notice of intention to appeal. Set in 1980s Sydney, this acclaimed mini-series tells the story of the relationship between corrupt Detective Roger Rogerson and one of Australia's most infamous criminals Neddy Smith. 00:01. Lawyers for both Rogerson and McNamara indicated they would appeal against the sentence. Storms threaten north-east United States after tearing through the south, leaving 10 dead. 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. Melbourne hitman Christopher Dale Flannery was a career criminal who became known as Mr Rent-A-Kill. Smith is pictured, Rogerson's wife Anne Melocco told Daily Mail Australia her husband had mentioned Smith's death but there had been no celebration or revengeful one-liners. 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. It was quite disturbing. Rogerson's record of killing has led some Australian media outlets to dub him "the serial killer who wore a badge". However, on 20 November 1989, Rogerson was acquitted. In May 2014, Rogerson was remanded in prison after being charged, along with fellow former NSW detective Glen McNamara, with the murder of 20-year-old student Jamie Gao, and supply of drugs. Read more of Duncan McNab's investigations here. Early Origins of the Rogerson family. But I suspect there are a lot more, McNab says. In 1986, Huckstepp, also a sex worker, was found dead in a pond in central Sydney's Centennial Park. Blue Murder burst onto the screens with scenes of Detective Sergeant Roger Rogerson in a bulletproof vest stalking crims in a line of Sydney traffic with an assault rifle. Roger Rogerson, 80, was in Long Bay's aged and frail unit last Wednesday when a prison officer told him his longtime accomplice turned enemy Neddy Smith had died in the jail hospital aged 76. First introduced by the Norman-French at the Invasion of England in 1066, it was originally a baptismal personal name Rogier. His wife Anne Melocco told Daily Mail Australia that Rogerson had mentioned Smith's death but there had certainly been no celebration or revengeful one-liners. [20], After leaving the force, Rogerson worked in the building and construction industry as a supplier of scaffolding. [25], On 27 May 2014, Rogerson was charged with the murder of Sydney student Jamie Gao, allegedly after a drug deal having gone wrong. The sources say even some prison officers have become starstruck by his presence in the jail. The jury said I didn't act in self-defence. 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. Put a schooner of Reschs in his gnarled hand and we could have been two old mates chatting at the pub. Rogerson, 75, and McNamara, 57, were found guilty of murdering Mr Gao, 20, during a drug deal at a Padstow storage facility on May 20, 2014 and dumping his body in waters off Cronulla the next day. Published Sep 4, 2016. 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. In 1984, Flannery moved his family up to Sydney and went to work as a bodyguard for crime figure George Freeman. You might also be interested in these Crime Scene Investigator stories: Charismatic and affable. [35][36][37], Soon after the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub fire on 8 March 1973, Sydney detectives Roger Rogerson and Detective Sergeant Noel Morey were called to Brisbane to assist in the investigation. Rogerson, 76, is incarcerated in the aged and frail unit at Sydneys Long Bay prisons, where his old friend Neddy Smith is also serving a life sentence. In 1999, Rogerson was convicted of perverting the course of justice and lying to the Police Integrity Commission. 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. They dont reminisce over a cup of tea and a Scotch Finger. Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara sentenced to life in jail for Jamie Gao murder. To improve your experience, Corrupt cops Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara are contemplating a lifetime behind bars after losing their. [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. Smith insisted they became partners in crime. He knew that knowing everybody would be good for his own business and this extraordinary, outwardly affable, bright, capable man showed no fear.. Roger Rogerson: The life and crimes of Australia's most notorious cop. Smith was a major heroin distributor in Sydney when the city's streets were awash with that drug. In the company of 18 other police officers, Rogerson waited in the lane. More than three decades later, Rogerson now stands as both the definitive figure of police corruption in Australia and also arguably the best-connected figure ever to stalk the criminal underworld. Disgraced former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng said he lived through "absolute hell" during a six-month stint in a Malaysian prison riddled with vermin and disease, according to . John Ibrahim's secret date with Rogerson. Single mother faces 170 parking fine after overstaying at McDonald's for just 14 minutes while she treated Man had sex with his wife on bollard in protest after it had been erected by neighbour to stop him parking What will the next pandemic be? He was last seen catching a taxi in the city, and never seen alive again. The new book explores in richer detail the accounts of Rogersons profiteering from crime while a detective, anticipating the pivotal shift in Australian criminal enterprise from armed robberies and safe breaking to drug trafficking. Low income Aussies and pensioners could be forced out of homes, Tens of thousands flock to Bondi for one-off dance party, Major traffic chaos warning for Sydney across busiest weekend in years. Both Rogerson and McNamara lodged a notice of intention to appeal days after their life sentences were imposed in 2016. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. 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. There was no doubt this time that the lethal shot had been fired by Rogerson, who quipped that Burns "fell out of the car dead as a doornail". Still, it fascinates me that Rogers career was brought to an end by a 20-year-old Asian kid with an education.. Smith later said that Rogerson ordered him to disarm Lanfranchi en route. Both have been found guilty of murder and possession of 2.78. [2][3] He was granted bail but in December the next year was arrested with two others outsideBotany Council preparing to snatch its Christmas payroll drop. When Lanfranchi stepped out of the car, Rogerson shot him dead, claiming self defence. He said he arranged for it to be handed over to McNamara. Smith was born in 1944 and was a major criminal, involved particularly in armed robbery, heroin trafficking, and murder. [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. New light is shed on Rogersons link to heroin importation via Thai sex workers and trafficking in the 1980s with Melbourne criminal Dennis Dr Death Allen, who was believed to be involved in the killings of up to 15 people. Stephen Bear, who starred in several seasons of reality TV shows aired in Australia, has been jailed for 21 months for sharing a sex tape. [27] On 6 March 2015, both accused were arraigned at a hearing in the NSW Supreme Court. "It was open to the sentencing judge to determine that a life sentence should be imposed," he said. [11] Rogerson attended Bankstown Central School and later Homebush Boys High School. He had been due to testify in a major drugs trial and alleged that Rogerson offered him a bribe to protect a Melbourne drug dealer. 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! Fond of talking about himself in the third person, Rogerson was known to say: "Roger is a tough cop in a tough town". As a public figure straddling corruption and crime in modern times, Rogerson has no peer, McNab says. A Sydney prostitute, Lyn Woodward, later vanished within hours of giving evidence in the case. Theres just something horribly wrong with Rogers head. In late January, 1985 Flannerys family home was sprayed with rounds from a rifle. [10] Rogerson's father Owen Rogerson emigrated from Kingston upon Hull, England during his career as a boilermaker; his mother Mabel Boxley emigrated from Cardiff, Wales with her parents as a youth (her English born father Caleb Boxley was the reason for Roger's middle name). In January 1958, he joined the New South Wales Police Cadet Service. The coronial file and findings into her disappearance are now missing. 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. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Smith was convicted of the Jones murder and acquitted of killing Huckstepp. Big Sky Publishing. [17][18], Rogerson received a criminal conviction, which was overturned on appeal, for involvement in drug dealing, allegedly conspiring with notorious Melbourne drug dealer Dennis Allen to supply heroin. DISGRACED ex-cops Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara have been jailed for life for the drug murder of student Jamie Gao. 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. "I was trying to get my life back together, the last thing I needed to do was think about this.". 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. He was released from Kirkconnell Correctional Centre on 17 February 2006. After his release, he leveraged his infamy to conduct a series of public speaking engagements, along with another notorious criminal, Mark "Chopper" Read, and former high-profile Australian Rules football players Mark Jackson and Warwick Capper. A reality TV star has allegedly been caught having a full-on affair with a co-star, leaving his longtime girlfriend and fellow castmate heartbroken. Stunning new image reveals rare glimpse at oldest known supernova, Shane Warnes children remember cricket legend on first anniversary of his death, The real reason boys and men join gangs: Its a world of violence, Desperate Aussies are turning to Facebook Marketplace but this one act could cost $11,000, Teenager fighting for life after hit-and-run north of Brisbane, Viewers done with living in Australia after battle with Huntsman spider caught on camera, Man charged over alleged sexual assault of woman at popular Melbourne lake, Warning as thousands of Aussies try DIY teeth whitening. In 1992 he gave evidence at an Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry into the relationship between police and criminals, implicating Rogerson and others in organised crime. Rogerson, 80, and McNamara, 62, were jailed for life in 2016 after being convicted of murdering Jamie Gao in May 2014. He had the politicians knack about him, the charm to work a room, says McNab. In 1995 he was charged with the murders of Huckstepp, brothel keeper Harvey Jones (1983) and drug dealers Lewton Shu (1983), Danny Chubb (1984), Barry McCann (1987), Barry Croft (1987) and Bruce Sandery (1988). 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. Rogerson was charged with the shooting and Williams testified that Rogerson and Christopher Dale Flannery had agreed to murder Drury for A$50,000 each. Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Why Trudeau is facing calls for a public inquiry, The shocking legacy of the Dutch 'Hunger Winter'. NSW News. The latter-day Rogerson was a valued source of advice to criminals on how to find weaknesses in prosecutions against them, building on an already staggering range of underworld contacts. His 'threat' came shortly after the release of my first book on him. Roger Rogerson being escorted to a prison van at the Supreme Court in Sydney in 2016. Credit: Dean Lewins/AAP Late last year, as Rogerson languished in a cell in the geriatric unit of Sydney's Long Bay jail over the Gao murder, I received a call from his wife Anne. Property News:House prices in some school catchments explode by up to $367,000 - domain.com.au, Your web browser is no longer supported. Flannery, known as "Mr Rent-a-Kill", later disappeared. After his latest conviction, he is expected to spend the rest of his life in jail. [38], In 1988 Roger Rogerson told a Bulletin reporter that he and the other lead detectives fabricated evidence. To improve your experience. A generation of his colleagues have either keeled over or retired, and Rogers looking around for fresh playmates, McNab says. Reborn as an investigative journalist and author, McNab became Rogersons unauthorised biographer with his 2006 book The Dodger. Both pleaded not guilty to the murder of Gao and also not guilty to supplying 2.78 kilograms (6.1 lb) of "ice"(methamphetamine). As the Seven Network prepares to air the shows sequel Blue Murder: Killer Cop this weekend, news.com.au has prepared a guide to what you need to know from the original. 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'. The distinctive gait we saw on CCTV; the presence that riveted juries in his heyday. And then we bring in Jamie Gao, whos pretty much the face of what Australian criminal gangsters or wannabe gangsters look like these days: young, smart, educated, going for the big quid.. Smith, who survived Sydney's 1980s gang wars, had suffered from Parkinson's disease for the past four decades and spent his last 33 years behind bars. A month into the trial, McNab realised this dark new chapter for Rogerson was no epilogue to his previous biography but a new book in the begging. If he did not, Glass speculated, he at least knew who did. Rogerson has always maintained Smith was no more than a valuable informant for the Armed Hold-Up Squad. But the escapade would put to the sword for all time the old coppers cultivated public image as a misunderstood rogue and confirm in the eyes of the law his murderous intent. [28] On the second day, the trial was aborted because of the potential prejudice caused after McNamara's then-barrister Charles Waterstreet made a reference to Rogerson "killing two or three people when he was in the police force. Arthur 'Neddy' Smith. The honeytrap plot that left father-of-six dead: Moment two women lead victim into his flat to seduce him 'Sonic boom' is heard across central England as 'ground shakes' and houses are rocked. BLUE Murder was the original true crime TV blockbuster with scenes so shockingly thrilling about the lives of Sydneys cops and gangsters that it was a hit even while it was still banned. With his running knowledge of underworld sellers and buyers, Rogerson was a fantastic middleman but came to grief when he stopped being middleman and decided to actually take a bigger slice, McNab says. McNamara is yet to make any submissions. She began a relationship with a police officer. On 6 June 1984, Drury was shot twice through his kitchen window as he fed his three-year-old daughter. , who was shot dead inside a Padstow storage unit in 2014. They did so because, although they 'knew' Stuart and Finch were involved, they had insufficient evidence to convict them. A few months later, Rogerson and colleagues shot Sydney bank robber "Butchy" Burns in his getaway car. I left school at 16 with six GCSEs - and became a self-made millionaire. He was also a man who possibly, if you were locked up, could walk up to arresting police and crack a deal for you, either through payment of money or say to the copper, by the way, Ive got a brief [compromising information] on you. Roger Rogerson could not have been written by anyone else. ROGER ROGERSON. This is a list of the real life characters and what they did in the first Blue Murder. But the cool-headed Smith was not impressed with Flannery, who made powerful enemies among Sydney ganglands other factions and police alike. Rogerson and McNamara argued the guilty verdict could not be supported by evidence and there hadbeen a miscarriage of justice. Former detective Roger Rogerson, 80, was in Long Bay's aged and frail unit when a prison officer told him Smith had died in the jail hospital. Justice Geoffrey Bellew was satisfied the men formed an agreement to kill so they could steal the 2.78 kilograms of methamphetamine he was going to supply them. More than one acquaintance describes Rogerson as a psychopath but the apparently remorseless killer has never undergone a psychiatric assessment of any depth, McNab says. Now a frail old man, Rogerson's sentencing brings down the curtain on a story that, for better or worse, has written itself into Australia's modern mythology. He became involved in a violent Sydney gang war over the heroin trade and Flannery tried to align himself with Neddy Smith. In the following months, the cocaine and booze-fuelled Flannery became increasingly erratic. The 20-year-old student was shot dead in a Padstow storage unit in 2014 and his body was wrapped in a tarpaulin anddumped in Cronulla. He said he arranged for it to be handed over to McNamara. That shooting hastened the detective's downfall after Lanfranchi's girlfriend Sallie-Anne Huckstepp publicly stated her lover was meeting Rogerson to pay him a bribe. The 20-year-old student was shot dead in a Padstow storage unit in 2014 and his body was wrapped in a tarpaulin and dumped in Cronulla. Lawyer's murder hints at secrets of Australia mafia, Street fighting in Bakhmut but Russia not in control, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims. [22][failed verification] Following his release from prison in 2006, Rogerson resumed his entertainment career with Mark "Jacko" Jackson by appearing in a show called The Wild Colonial Psychos with Jackson and Mark "Chopper" Read. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? The Chubb, McCann, Croft and Sandery cases were dismissed at committal and the Shu case was no-billed. 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. A big Beckham birthday! 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. These days, having left the police force, I make my living as a journalist, specifically writing crime. [33] However, Rogerson then lodged an appeal in 2020. Rogerson gets jail keyboard at Long Bay jail, Teen feared missing in water at Freshwater Beach. I dismissed it as bluster, but nonetheless looked over my shoulder for the next few days. [13], Rogerson worked on some of the biggest cases of the early 1970s, including the Toecutter Gang Murder and the Whiskey Au Go Go Fire in Brisbane. Rogerson, now 80, was in Long Bay's aged and frail unit last Wednesday when a prison officer told him 76-year-old Smith had died in the jail hospital. The man denied any involvement but was visibly shaken. Ms Melocco said Rogerson hadbeen disappointed by losing his murder conviction appeal but had not given up hope and would take the case to the High Court. 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. 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. CORRUPT cop and convicted killer Roger Rogerson has been working as a prison cleaner at Long Bay since he was jailed for life last year. His wife Anne Melocco told Daily Mail. Sources also confirmed Rogersons sharp eye for turning a situation to his advantage has not waned since his arrival at Long Bay. [31], On 2 September 2016, Justice Geoffrey Bellew sentenced Rogerson and McNamara to life in prison, with the statement "The joint criminal enterprise to which each offender was a party was extensive in its planning, brutal in its execution and callous in its aftermath". 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. Former detectives Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara have been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Jamie Gao. While it was impossible to know who fired the fatal shot, Rogerson claimed the kill, according to Australia's News Limited newspapers. Sources say Rogerson has become the leader of the unit because of his high profile and reputation.
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