[14][dead link], Rogerson was responsible for the 1981 shooting death of Warren Lanfranchi. Drury spent 12 days in a coma, but survived. They also rejected the claim the jury should have been told about a conversation McNamara said he had with Rogerson before the murder where he allegedly admitted to murdering or conspiring to murder six other people. Early Origins of the Rodgerson family. Roger Rogerson, a 75-year-old former detective who boasted about killing people and has already served three prison sentences, was on Wednesday found guilty in the death of a student drug dealer. Dont watch it before reading this. 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. While dealing narcotics he was also pulling off brazen armed robberies worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, Smith, who was once the most infamous crook in Australia, was serving life for murder. Digging up the past: The gruesome bid to cover up the murder of - 7NEWS Rogerson was suspected of having organised the hit after former undercover agent Drurys surveillance resulted in charged against Melbourne heroin dealer, Alan Williams. Rogerson, 79, appeared in the Court of Criminal Appeal via video link, dressed in a prison issued green tracksuit and seated beside a walker. 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. 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. Arthur 'Neddy' Smith. Brisbane's Whiskey Au Go Go fire killed 15 people. Roger Rogerson reacts to learning Neddy Smith died in the same jail Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. What an interesting confluence: one man who has an appalling reputation but has rehabilitated himself to genial rogue for hire, and a bloke whos supposed to be pure and downtrodden, McNab says. He once claimed to be a cash millionaire. It was Smith who in 1981 drove drug dealer Warren Lanfranchi to an appointment with Rogerson at which the policeman shot Lanfranchi dead in a Chippendale lane. Made in 1995, by the time all the court cases, ICAC and royal commission hearings about the cops and crims had been cleared for the ABC to broadcast in 2001, countless people had watched it. Australia's most corrupt cop Roger Rogerson's makes last ditch attempt Recorded as Roger, Rodger, Rojer, and the patronymics Rogers, Rodgers, Rodgerson, Rodson, Roddison, Rogerson and others, this is an Anglo-Scottish surname, but one of French origins. [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. It was an offer I couldnt refuse, and Mrs Rogerson assured me hed be on his best behaviour. Justice Bell said both accused had run "cut-throat defences". In the wake of Rogersons arrest over the Gao murder, the flow of information quickened as people who previously had been reticent to talk all of a sudden really started talking. At an inquest into Flannery's suspected murder, Coroner Greg Glass said he suspected Rogerson had killed him. EXCLUSIVE: Florence Pugh's father is threatened with 2,500 fine as he goes to war with council over Oxford Do not sell or share my personal information. But the three appeal judges agreed Witness A was a "liar". Ex-cops lose drug dealer murder appeal | The West Australian Blue Murder: What you need to know about the original true crime - news [38], In 1988 Roger Rogerson told a Bulletin reporter that he and the other lead detectives fabricated evidence. Blue Murder (TV Mini Series 1995) - IMDb He looks healthy and on his game, and his actors gift of making you feel youre the only person in the room is undiminished. Lennie McPherson. CONDEMNED to spend the rest of his days behind bars, disgraced detective turned convicted killer Roger Rogerson will be held in an aged care wing where he regularly conducts singalongs, to stop him becoming a godfather-type figure to young inmates, prison sources have revealed. 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". 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. Video, Russian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims, Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore dies at 61, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, Mother who killed her five children euthanised, Walkie Talkie architect Rafael Violy dies aged 78, Alex Murdaugh's legal troubles are far from over, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, US sues Exxon over nooses found at Louisiana plant. Train fares will rise by 5.9% TOMORROW - but travellers can still get cheaper tickets if they buy them Will El Salvador's new mega-prison turn into a bloodbath? Rodgerson is a surname. He spun off his infamy into a round of after-dinner pub speaking engagements. With Smith jailed for life Rogerson took to the speaking circuit for a while, telling wild stories of his days on the force, and wrote a memoir. Melocco was sentenced to two years' periodic detention for the same offence. 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. April 2000: He was Australia's most notorious cop.A real-life Dirty Harry who finally crossed the line and finished in jail. 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. 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. Huckstepp, a heroin addict and prostitute, appeared on numerous current affairs programs, including 60 Minutes and A Current Affair, demanding an investigation into the shooting. . 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. 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. Rogerson who is now80, and Glen McNamara, now 62, were jailed for life for the murder of drug dealer Jamie Gao. A large scale search was underway at Freshwater Beach on Saturday night after a young man was reported missing in the water. 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. He claimed that he was trying to arrest Lanfranchi for five suspected armed robberies. People I know whove taken him on as a mate, love his company, cant even begin to pin down why hed done this [murder Gao], McNab says. Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara: a deadly bromance In 1984, undercover policeman Michael Drury was shot in his Sydney home as he fed his young daughter. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. Roger Rogerson claims he didn't know co-accused bought a gun - 9News [8][9] Following a retrial, both Rogerson and McNamara were found guilty of murder. All the benefits of simply switching from white to brown - AND how purple, Why is Britain experiencing so many earthquakes? Roger Rogerson wanted 'ten million and a jet,' jury hears 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 spent nine months in jail in 1990 before being released on bail pending an ultimately unsuccessful appeal. CCTV showed both men walking into a Padstow storage facility with the young drug dealer in 2014 before he was shot dead. 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. It is one thats shatteringly at odds with Rogersons public rebirth as a genial rogue through his regular media commentary and improbable stints on the stand up comedy circuit with Mark Chopper Read under the banner of the Wild Colonial Psychos. The Whiskey Au Go Go Massacre: Murder, Arson and the Crime of the Century. 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.. Im not the only visitor outside his circle of family and friends. Smith (left) is pictured with ex-wife Debra and brothel keeper Harvey Jones, who he was convicted of having murdered in 1983. Both have been found guilty of murder and possession of 2.78. Test yourself with this Cockney Rhyming Slang quiz. "It alleged both men were part of a plan to steal drugs from the deceased and kill him," he said. [11] Rogerson attended Bankstown Central School and later Homebush Boys High School. All those years later, [for Rogerson] to have that amount of clout, quite spooky.. The latter are alleged to have been Rogersons hope for unloading the ice. During Rogerson's career, he was one of the most decorated officers in the police force, having received at least thirteen awards for bravery, outstanding policemanship and devotion to duty including the Peter Mitchell Trophy, the highest annual police award. Corrupt cops Rogerson, McNamara lose appeals against life sentence [8][9], A new trial started on 1 February 2016. On 6 June 1984, Flannery was allegedly the shooter who fired two rounds through the kitchen window of the home of Sydney Drug Squad detective, Michael Mick Drury. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. When will the Beast from the East be at YOUR door? 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. He even bragged of a close encounter with singer Dame Shirley Bassey, after allegedly nabbing a man who had just stolen her handbag. Rogerson, McNamara jailed for life for murder of Jamie Gao That was close. But the whiff of suspicion persists that Rogerson had a hand in at least seven others. 'He did mention that he probably would have been dead long before if he hadn't been in jail but that's about it,' she said, Rogerson and Smith could often be found drinking at inner-city pubs including Alexandria's Star and Iron Duke, the Captain Cook at Millers Point and the Lord Wolseley in Ultimo. Aw mate, it couldnt be Roger, hes too good a bloke, the boss said. 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. The exchange had the writer looking over his shoulder for a few days, which he notes is the art of the threat. Convicted killer Roger Rogerson working as a prison cleaner Credit: Daniel Munoz. The request was for a chat, not an interview. 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'. Rogerson was acquitted of Drurys shooting, but was convicted of perverting the course of justice over a false bank account. "Oh it's a little f------ beauty isn't it Oh and by the way, don't tell Roger about this," the witness alleged McNamara said. The police confirmed Rogerson was the 'mole' during an early 1990s secret investigation called 'Operation Graveyard'. 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. Delving deep again into a signal event in Rogersons past the 1981 shooting of heroin dealer Warren Lanfranchi, which began the coppers original fall from grace he tracked down a man believed to have witnessed the event as a teenager on the street. Lawyers for both Rogerson and McNamara indicated they would appeal against the sentence. 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. - In 2016, Rogerson was jailed for life for the murder of drug dealer Jamie Gao. He later joked in court that the media had changed his name by deed poll from decorated officer to "disgraced former detective". As one officer scoured through frames of CCTV vision from the storage unit, an older colleague passing by spotted a figure with a distinctive gait. [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). 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. Property News:House prices in some school catchments explode by up to $367,000 - domain.com.au, Your web browser is no longer supported. On June 9, 1981, according to Smith, he was ordered by Rogerson to drive Lanfranchi a meeting at Dangar Place, a back lane in the inner city Sydney suburb of Chippendale. . [27] On 6 March 2015, both accused were arraigned at a hearing in the NSW Supreme Court. [33] However, Rogerson then lodged an appeal in 2020. Rodgerson History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms - HouseOfNames Rogerson, 75, and McNamara, 57, pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Gao and dumping his body in waters off Cronulla the next day. 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. He was released on appeal after nine months, but in 1992 that appeal was quashed and he was re-imprisoned until 1995. While Smith was virtually untouchable as he ran amok across Sydney many of his criminal associates on the 1980s died violently. By Stephen Gibbs for Daily Mail Australia, Published: 08:31 GMT, 13 September 2021 | Updated: 09:09 GMT, 13 September 2021. Roger Caleb Rogerson (born 3 January 1941) is a former detective sergeant of the New South Wales Police Force, and a convicted murderer. Smith was born in 1944 and was a major criminal, involved particularly in armed robbery, heroin trafficking, and murder. 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. It was a different time. They were photographed by a federal police surveillance unit in the Covent Garden at Chinatown, 'He's never seen him in prison because Neddy was in the hospital and Roger hasn't been there. 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. + Follow. In the following months, the cocaine and booze-fuelled Flannery became increasingly erratic. 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. Both Rogerson and McNamara lodged a notice of intention to appeal days after their life sentences were imposed in 2016. Convicted killer Roger Rogerson working as a prison cleaner A few months later, Rogerson and colleagues shot Sydney bank robber "Butchy" Burns in his getaway car. 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. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. 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.". 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. Apparently he has been regularly enjoying using far more than his allotted precious telephone minutes. In 1984, Flannery moved his family up to Sydney and went to work as a bodyguard for crime figure George Freeman. Loose Women star Jane Moore puts her seven-bed Battersea home on the market for 4.5M three months after Are YOU a romantic comedy buff? Roger Rogerson - Wikipedia Violent and sinister characters populate the script: Neddy Smith, played by Tony Martin, is the charismatic big man of Sydneys gangland. 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. Disgraced former detective Roger Rogerson is appealing his life sentence, arguing he didn't know Glen McNamara had sourced a gun before the murder. It was a career-defining performance for actor Richard Roxburgh. Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara lose appeal over Jamie Gao's murder. You start meeting so many people whove had their lives trampled on by this guy, both coppers and civilians, McNab says. Former detectives Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara have been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Jamie Gao. Rogerson, 82, serving life term for murder of drug dealer. NSW News. Hes in his mid-60s but Roger misses being on centre stage in the criminal life so hes reconstructing his drug-dealing mates.. Roger Rogerson was jailed for life for the 2014 murder of student Jamie Gao. The CCTV footage of the entirety of the crime was devastating - it's probably the 'most recorded' murder in Australian history. 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. 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. There was a whole coterie of men who liked Roger because Roger could do things for them, says author Duncan McNab. Similarities to the true life scenes played out in Sydney and involving the real Roger Rogerson and a body in the ocean in 2014 must have had Blue Murders producers minds reeling. 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.. [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. People whove known him have seen the facade drop, and it drops hard and fast, and the real Roger pops out: vile, vicious, opportunistic, McNab says. He was released from Kirkconnell Correctional Centre on 17 February 2006. Rogerson emerged fresh from the killing at an old mates lunch club at a Sydney pub having invited some unfamiliar guests: a well-known boxer with two bikies in tow. As investigations into Rogerson mounted, he was sacked from the police force in 1986 for misconduct. 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. Sources also confirmed Rogersons sharp eye for turning a situation to his advantage has not waned since his arrival at Long Bay. The sources say even some prison officers have become starstruck by his presence in the jail. [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. Glen McNamara, 60, also watched proceedings remotely. The unlikely pairing culminated in Gao, through contacts with a Triad gang in Hong Kong, arranging the import of 3kg of ice from mainland China. Put a schooner of Reschs in his gnarled hand and we could have been two old mates chatting at the pub. Its a challenge that will almost certainly elude this once-celebrated detective - who will now likely die in jail. Harsh words forgotten. Huckstepps media profile blossomed, but she couldnt give up heroin. The comments below have not been moderated. Sallie-Anne Huckstepp was a Sydney private schoolgirl who fell into heroin addiction and prostitution and in 1981 began a relationship with Sydney dealer Warren Lanfranchi. 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. ), English footballer; Stan Rodgerson (1894-1955), Australian rules footballer; See also. [24], In 2009, he published an autobiography about his time as a detective, entitled The Dark Side, launched by broadcaster Alan Jones. For all his criminal investigation nous, awareness of electronic surveillance was an old Achilles heel of Rogerson, who was caught on camera years earlier opening fake bank accounts to deposit $110,000 in cash allegedly from a heroin deal with Allen, McNab says. Roger Rogerson likely to die in jail after court declines time - 7NEWS 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. 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. [34], During legal proceedings surrounding the trial against suspects involved in the 2009 contract murder of Michael McGurk, the Supreme Court heard evidence that, while in the Cooma Correctional Centre in 2014, Rogerson, McNamara, and Fortunato "Lucky" Gattellari attempted to extort Ron Medich, a businessman and suspect for masterminding the murder of McGurk. While it was impossible to know who fired the fatal shot, Rogerson claimed the kill, according to Australia's News Limited newspapers. Roger Rogerson: The life and crimes of Australia's most notorious cop. Read about our approach to external linking. He was. 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. 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. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. DISGRACED ex-cops Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara have been jailed for life for the drug murder of student Jamie Gao. [12] He has two daughters by his first wife Joy Archer. He spent a further three years in jail. 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. Rogerson has always maintained Smith was no more than a valuable informant for the Armed Hold-Up Squad. An inquest heard Rogerson fatally shot Lanfranchi while trying to effect an arrest, but failed to find it was done in self-defence. 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. Neddy Smith stood trial for her murder, but was acquitted. Crooks loved him. Welcome to the Coronation! Rogerson and another former cop, Glen McNamara, were found guilty of shooting Gao inside a west Sydney storage . He was last seen catching a taxi in the city, and never seen alive again. Justice Bell said although both accused had denied the existenceof a joint criminal enterprise to kill Mr Gao, the Crown had shown the men cooperated to dispose of the body. 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. Rogerson is in the Kevin Waller Unit for aged and frail prisoners at Long Bay. "I don't know why he said that but I wasn't going to tell Roger anyway because he would have kicked my a--- for touching a gun.". Married to his then wife Debra, with whom he had four children, the physically imposing Smith is both a wiley gangster and a big-hearted family man. A source revealed to McNab that Gaos contact in Hong Kong who helped broker introductions with the Triad later vanished. Fond of talking about himself in the third person, Rogerson was known to say: "Roger is a tough cop in a tough town". It was the beginning of the end for Rogersons police career, and Flannerys hot heatedness and ready gun toting would be his own demise. Flannery, known as "Mr Rent-a-Kill", later disappeared. [19] He was subsequently convicted of perverting the course of justice in relation to A$110,000 deposited by him in bank accounts under a false name. 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. An aerial view of Long Bay Correctional Centre in Sydney. Rogerson, McNamara 'should be jailed for life' over Gao murder, Rogerson, McNamara jailed for life for murder of Jamie Gao, Canberra coach Ricky Stuart slams NRL, RLPA following further concussion controversy, 'How dare they': Possum Magic author hits out at 'ridiculous' Roald Dahl edits, 'Dastardly and heinous crime': Philippines governor killed at home by unknown gunmen, Vanuatu hit by two cyclones and twin earthquakes in two days, Emily was studying law when she had to go to court. He is pictured in 1980. The surname Rogerson 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. His wife Anne Melocco told Daily Mail. "Mr McNamara said don't tell Rogerson because that goes to the whole issue whether or not the applicant had any knowledge of whether or not there was a gun," John Stratton SC argued. Rogerson's record of killing has led some Australian media outlets to dub him "the serial killer who wore a badge".