The Whiskey Au Go Go Massacre: Murder, Arson and the Crime of the Century. Sources say Rogerson has become the leader of the unit because of his high profile and reputation. 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). Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara sentenced to life in jail for Jamie Gao murder. 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! First introduced by the Norman-French at the Invasion of England in 1066, it was originally a baptismal personal name Rogier. Revealed: The new '23' number plates the DVLA deems offensive and has banned including EU23 OFF and GO23 HEL, The secret WhatsApp mode that lets you EDIT texts after you've sent them. Melocco was sentenced to two years' periodic detention for the same offence. Both have been found guilty of murder and possession of 2.78. As a public figure straddling corruption and crime in modern times, Rogerson has no peer, McNab says. On 20 May 2014, former New South Wales police officers Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara murdered student Jamie Gao in cold blood. CCTV showed both men walking into a Padstow storage facility with the young drug dealer in 2014 before he was shot dead. 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. Violent and sinister characters populate the script: Neddy Smith, played by Tony Martin, is the charismatic big man of Sydneys gangland. 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. Flannery, known as "Mr Rent-a-Kill", later disappeared. Rogerson is known to most Australians as a prominent, recurring figure in the country's efforts to eradicate corrupt crime fighters. 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. Rogerson's record of killing has led some Australian media outlets to dub him "the serial killer who wore a badge". 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. Smith said Lanfranchi had asked him to organise a payment to Rogerson so that the dealer wasnt charged with the police shooting. The initial approach to Rogerson has been aired via a series of taped phone calls made between . They have not been seen or heard from since. 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? "I was trying to get my life back together, the last thing I needed to do was think about this.". "I shot Lanfranchi twice, once in the neck and then one in the chest. [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. 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. His first experience of killing came in 1976 in the NSW town of Avoca Beach, where he and other officers rained gunfire on a house holding murderous criminal Phillip Western. Smith insisted they became partners in crime. "I guess I thought about it a lot from the start but I wanted to put it out of my mind," he said. Rogerson, 80, and McNamara, 62, were jailed for . Smith insisted the pair became partners in crime. He spent nine months in jail in 1990 before being released on bail pending an ultimately unsuccessful appeal. 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. [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. 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. 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'. Read more of Duncan McNab's investigations here. Im not the only visitor outside his circle of family and friends. Throughout their trial, Roger asserted McNamara was the architect of the deadly plot and he only gave grandfatherly advice.. Crooks loved him. The comments below have not been moderated. Rogerson gets jail keyboard at Long Bay jail. Brisbane's Whiskey Au Go Go fire killed 15 people. Although gun residue was found on Rogerson's clothes, the judge said he couldn't be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt of who fired the fatal shot. They dont reminisce over a cup of tea and a Scotch Finger. - In 2016, Rogerson was jailed for life for the murder of drug dealer Jamie Gao. Smith was a major heroin distributor in Sydney when the city's streets were awash with that drug. 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. When Lanfranchi stepped out of the car, Rogerson shot him dead, claiming self defence. Rogerson has always maintained from that time on Smith was no more than a valuable informant for the Armed Hold-Up Squad. Roger Rogerson could not have been written by anyone else. Rodgerson is a surname. She also claimed that Neddy Smith had lied at Lanfranchis inquest and was in cahoots with Rogerson. In the company of 18 other police officers, Rogerson waited in the lane. Smith said his assistance to Rogerson at a coronial inquest into Lanfranchi's death led to senior police granting him a 'green light' to commit major crimes. 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. But I suspect there are a lot more, McNab says. He could get them out of strife with the coppers, he could tell them how the coppers operated, how best to avoid things, the depth of his knowledge. [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. He looks healthy and on his game, and his actors gift of making you feel youre the only person in the room is undiminished. Early Origins of the Rogerson family. 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. Rogerson was acquitted of Drurys shooting, but was convicted of perverting the course of justice over a false bank account. A bloody and corrupt chapter in Australian criminal history appears to have drawn to a close with the country's most notorious police officer set to spend the rest of his life in jail for murder. 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. He later joked that the only way to identify Western's bullet-ridden body was by his ingrown toenails. In 1999, Rogerson was convicted of perverting the course of justice and lying to the Police Integrity Commission. 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. Smith's long relationship with the since disgraced detective sergeant Roger Rogerson caused both men ongoing difficulties. He knew that knowing everybody would be good for his own business and this extraordinary, outwardly affable, bright, capable man showed no fear.. 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. VideoRussian minister laughed at for Ukraine war claims, The children left behind in Cuba's mass exodus, Xi Jinping's power grab - and why it matters, Snow, Fire and Lights: Photos of the Week. 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. 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. 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. 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. His family was among those in court for today's hearing. At the age of 73, Rogerson murdered a 20-year-old university student called Jamie Gao over a 3kg package of crystal meth, a drug deal that became a straight rip-off. Property News:House prices in some school catchments explode by up to $367,000 - domain.com.au, Your web browser is no longer supported. "It is clear that the offenders acted with complete disregard for the life of another human being.". Hes in his mid-60s but Roger misses being on centre stage in the criminal life so hes reconstructing his drug-dealing mates.. 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. After his latest conviction, he is expected to spend the rest of his life in jail. "It alleged both men were part of a plan to steal drugs from the deceased and kill him," he said. So you get that very clear view this was a bloke who was completely and utterly ruthless and self-absorbed and didnt mind who he hurt to get what he wanted.. Both are appealing their convictions and life sentences for the. A generation of his colleagues have either keeled over or retired, and Rogers looking around for fresh playmates, McNab says. 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. He was. 2023 BBC. 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. At 78 years old, and with a body worn by hard work, hes well qualified. On 15 June 2016, Rogerson and McNamara were found guilty of Gao's murder. Smith's final downfall had begun in October 1987 when he and another criminal killed tow truck diver Ronald Flavell during a road rage incident at Coogee. [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. Roger Rogerson was jailed for life for the 2014 murder of student Jamie Gao. He was released from Kirkconnell Correctional Centre on 17 February 2006. 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. It was quite disturbing. Interactive map reveals when you may see SNOW, Revealed: The top 10 fastest-growing destinations for UK pensioners retiring overseas. However, on 20 November 1989, Rogerson was acquitted. Australian disgraced former detective sergeant and convicted murderer, Rogerson leaving the Supreme Court, June 2016, Involvement in the Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub fire investigation, "Roger Rogerson: A life of crime and comedy", "Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara found guilty of the murder of Jamie Gao", "Disgraced former detective Roger Rogerson arrested at Sydney home, charged over alleged Jamie Gao murder", Independent Commission Against Corruption, A bizarre twist has Rogerson answering questions of murder, Jury discharged in trial of Roger Rogerson, Glen McNamara for Jamie Gao murder, "Research Report on Trends in Police Corruption", "Disgraced Sydney detective Roger Rogerson is a consummate storyteller who loves a beer, writes Mark Morri", Novel end as Rogerson gets two years to finish thriller, Roger Rogerson reviews 'Underbelly' and blogs live, Roger Rogerson reviews the third episode of Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities, "Roger Rogerson myth can stand no longer", "Roger Rogerson charged over Jamie Gao murder; Gao shot twice in the chest, police allege", "Former detectives Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara face murder trial over Jamie Gao death", "Jamie Gao murder: Rogerson and McNamara should be jailed for life, prosecutor says", "Gao was person of interest for years: AFP - 9News", "Jamie Gao murder: Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara sentenced to life in prison", "Roger Rogerson likely to die in jail after court declines time extension to appeal", "Roger Rogerson's murder appeal to start", "As Medich is jailed, the man who organised the hit demands to be released", "Roger Rogerson part of $25 million plot to extort Ron Medich, court told", "Secret files detail 'fake report' on Whiskey Au Go Go blaze The Australian (1 September 2018) The Whiskey Au Go Go Massacre", "Roger Rogerson telemovie Blue Murder: Killer Cop fast-tracked to air by Channel Seven", Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service Final Report Volume 1 Corruption, Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service Final Report Volume 2 Reform, The honest cop who pays for the sins of his brother, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roger_Rogerson&oldid=1132211448, Australian police officers convicted of crimes, Australian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, People convicted of murder by New South Wales, Police officers convicted of drug trafficking, Police officers convicted of planting evidence, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by New South Wales, Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English, Articles with dead external links from September 2016, Articles with failed verification from March 2016, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Murder, drug trafficking, perverting the course of justice. Glen McNamara (right) is escorted by a correctional services officer as he leaves the NSW Supreme Court in 2016. 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. While Smith was virtually untouchable as he ran amok across Sydney many of his criminal associates on the 1980s died violently. 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. The outcome is now both history and the script line for Blue Murder: Killer Cop, which debuts Part 1 on Sunday, August 6. It was also alleged that Rogerson gave heroin dealer and underworld killer Arthur Stanley Neddy Smith the green light to commit crimes, in exchange for being an informant and a slice of the heroin trade. It was the beginning of the end for Rogersons police career, and Flannerys hot heatedness and ready gun toting would be his own demise. It was a career-defining performance for actor Richard Roxburgh. He spun off his infamy into a round of after-dinner pub speaking engagements. 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. A big Beckham birthday! [27] On 6 March 2015, both accused were arraigned at a hearing in the NSW Supreme Court. This included auctioning signed photos of himself standing near Lanfranchi's dead body. 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. 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. Disgraced detective's last bid for freedom to not die in jail. 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. [25], On 27 May 2014, Rogerson was charged with the murder of Sydney student Jamie Gao, allegedly after a drug deal having gone wrong. McNab uncovered one startling exception. The female roles of Neddy Smiths wife Debra (Joy Smithers) and Lanfranchis prostitute girlfriend Sallie-Anne Huckstepp (Loene Carmen) give this story depth. 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. Glen McNamara, 60, also watched proceedings remotely. The first Blue Murder series is largely based on Smiths book Neddy. 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 brought in to investigate the Ananda Marga conspiracy case, despite having no connections to the Special Branch investigating the case. He was known for his hothead and tendency to go off and empty his gun into the victims. 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. Rogerson was welcomed in Bandidos and Rebels clubhouses across the country and was regularly seen briefing queues of bikies in coffee shops. Apparently he has been regularly enjoying using far more than his allotted precious telephone minutes. Rogerson and McNamara argued the guilty verdict could not be supported by evidence and there hadbeen a miscarriage of justice. ", Rogerson claims he didn't know co-accused McNamara bought a gun. She began a relationship with a police officer. These days, having left the police force, I make my living as a journalist, specifically writing crime. 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. Drury said Rogerson had tried to bribe him to change his evidence over a heroin trial and when Drury refused, he was shot. 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. "Extensive in its planning, brutal in its execution and callous in its aftermath," he said. McNamara had argued that would have convinced the jury that Rogerson shot Gao and he was under duress when he helped dispose of the body. Storms threaten north-east United States after tearing through the south, leaving 10 dead. His one-time mate Arthur Neddy Smith is across the road in the prison hospital suffering from advanced Parkinsons disease. "The case relied upon by Rogerson was completely lacking in credibility and did not raise any doubt about his guilt," the judgement read. The death of Lanfranchi, whose girlfriend was heroin-addicted prostitute turned police corruption whistleblower, was ruled in the line of duty. [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. [8][9] Following a retrial, both Rogerson and McNamara were found guilty of murder. "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. It is understood many of Rogersons fellow prisoners at the Kevin Waller wing suffer age-related memory loss, allowing him to persuade them into letting him use their allocated phone time. Ive never seen a man more terrified in my life, he says. "Because he was (Clint Eastwood's) Dirty Harry," says one veteran reporter. Rogerson is pictured in 2004. According to Camden, the noted historian of the 16th century, this name Roger was a . 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. '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. 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. A Sydney prostitute, Lyn Woodward, later vanished within hours of giving evidence in the case. Had Jamie been a little bit more dexterous in the use of Google he might actually have not gone to that deal, he says. It was an unsettling enough account for its subject that Rogerson, having emerged from jail after a stint for perjury, phoned up the author to give his first personal glimpse of his dangerous side. He claimed that he was trying to arrest Lanfranchi for five suspected armed robberies. In June 2016, Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara were found guilty of killing student Jamie Gao for his drugs (Partridge, 2016a). Behind his brazen public persona, however, lies a dark and deadly history. ISBN9781925675443. Pictured left to right are Gary Sweet playing hitman Chris Flannery, Peter Phelps as Henry, Richard Roxburgh as detective Roger Rogerson and Tony Martin as Smith, Rogerson has always maintained Smith was no more than a valuable informant for the Armed Hold-Up Squad. One of three children, Rogerson grew up in the Sydney suburb of Bankstown (moving there from Bondi at six years old). "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. Followed categories will be added to My News. At an inquest into Flannery's suspected murder, Coroner Greg Glass said he suspected Rogerson had killed him. Brash and boastful to friends and the media, Rogerson has been involved in a litany of crimes and misadventures which have repeatedly thrust him into the spotlight, and which led to the production of a TV mini-series about him called Blue Murder. 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. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. She also made statements to the New South Wales Police Internal Affairs Branch. [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 became a star witness for the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Wood Royal Commission, revealing Rogerson and others alleged corruption. [2] In September 2016, both were sentenced to jail for life for the murder of Gao. 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. Smith insisted the pair became partners in crime. Rogerson and another former cop, Glen McNamara, were found guilty of shooting Gao inside a west Sydney storage . [14][dead link], Rogerson was responsible for the 1981 shooting death of Warren Lanfranchi. John Ibrahim's secret date with Rogerson. Rogerson (in handcuffs) is serving life for the murder of 20-year-old drug dealer Jamie Gao. 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. And Rogersons last application for an extension of time to do so has been refused by the Supreme Court. 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. Languishing in Long Bay he was paired with a police informer dubbed Mr Brown who secretly recorded him confessing to a string of 1980s murders, all of which he later denied having committed. 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. To improve your experience. He will get that chance over coming days. [29], On 25 August 2016, Rogerson and McNamara faced a sentencing hearing. It implicated Roger Rogerson in Drurys attempted execution at the behest of a heroin trafficker.
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