They did so because, although they 'knew' Stuart and Finch were involved, they had insufficient evidence to convict them. But the three appeal judges agreed Witness A was a "liar". [14][15], The Peter Mitchell Award was presented to Rogerson in 1980 for the arrest of escaped armed robber Gary Purdey. 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. 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. He grumbles about the attention but relishes telling old stories to a fresh audience. By Stephen Gibbs for Daily Mail Australia, Published: 08:31 GMT, 13 September 2021 | Updated: 09:09 GMT, 13 September 2021. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. Rogerson was jailed again in 2005 for 12 months for lying to NSW's Police Integrity Commission about bribing a local council official to obtain work. 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. [33] However, Rogerson then lodged an appeal in 2020. 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. [4][5] During his time in office he was implicated inbut never convicted oftwo killings, bribery, assault and drug dealing.[6]. In the pre-digital era, illegal bootleg video cassettes of Blue Murder I and II were jealously guarded, surreptitiously leant and massively copied. He said he arranged for it to be handed over to McNamara. At 78 years old, and with a body worn by hard work, hes well qualified. 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. In the following months, the cocaine and booze-fuelled Flannery became increasingly erratic. [16], Fellow police officer Michael Drury has alleged that Rogerson was involved in his attempted murder. Actors Steve Bastoni and Peter Phelps play the roles of Detective Michael Drury, who survived an assassination attempt, and Smith friend Graham Abo Henry. The last time I'd spoken to him - or rather been spoken at by him - he said he'd make sure I was 'sorted out'. 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. 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. Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. The exchange had the writer looking over his shoulder for a few days, which he notes is the art of the threat. Neddy Smith stood trial for her murder, but was acquitted. He is also known for his association with other New South Wales (NSW) detectives who are reputed to have been corrupt, including Ray "Gunner" Kelly and Fred Krahe, and with a number of organised crime figures, including Abe Saffron,[7] Arthur "Neddy" Smith and Christopher Dale Flannery. The sources say even some prison officers have become starstruck by his presence in the jail. They dont reminisce over a cup of tea and a Scotch Finger. Notable people with the surname include: Eva Rodgerson (born 1945), Canadian politician; Ian Rodgerson (born 1966), English footballer; Ralph Rodgerson (1893-? He became involved in a violent Sydney gang war over the heroin trade and Flannery tried to align himself with Neddy Smith. Former Sydney detectives Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara have lost an appeal against their convictions for murdering a drug dealer. 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. He was released from Kirkconnell Correctional Centre on 17 February 2006. Rogerson is known to most Australians as a prominent, recurring figure in the country's efforts to eradicate corrupt crime fighters. Rogerson is serving life in prison, alongside fellow former police officer Glen McNamara, over the murder of 20-year-old drug dealer Jamie Gao in May 2014. He was granted bail but in December the next year was arrested with two others outsideBotany Council preparing to snatch its Christmas payroll drop. Rogerson was suspected of having organised the hit after former undercover agent Drurys surveillance resulted in charged against Melbourne heroin dealer, Alan Williams. However, on 20 November 1989, Rogerson was acquitted. "I guess I thought about it a lot from the start but I wanted to put it out of my mind," he said. The initial approach to Rogerson has been aired via a series of taped phone calls made between . Rogerson gets jail keyboard at Long Bay jail. The death of Lanfranchi, whose girlfriend was heroin-addicted prostitute turned police corruption whistleblower, was ruled in the line of duty. 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. Former detectives Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara have lost their appeals against convictions for the murder of Sydney drug dealer Jamie Gao. Drury spent 12 days in a coma, but survived. + Follow. 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'. Their relationship hit the skids when Rogerson outed him on television as an informant, and Smith outed Rogerson to the Independent Commission Against Corruption. He was released on appeal after nine months, but in 1992 that appeal was quashed and he was re-imprisoned until 1995. Flannery, known as "Mr Rent-a-Kill", later disappeared. [27] On 6 March 2015, both accused were arraigned at a hearing in the NSW Supreme Court. Geesche Jacobsen, Kate McClymont (21 February 2005). On 6 June 1984, Drury was shot twice through his kitchen window as he fed his three-year-old daughter. Most of Jamie Gao's murder was caught on CCTV. 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. That was close. 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. He was the master of the police verbal, an unsigned confession from a suspect, and operated in an era later classified as corrupt. Roger Rogerson is escorted to a prison van at the Supreme Court in Sydney, Wednesday, 15 June, 2016. 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. Rogerson gets jail keyboard at Long Bay jail, Teen feared missing in water at Freshwater Beach. 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. In 1984, undercover policeman Michael Drury was shot in his Sydney home as he fed his young daughter. The outcome is now both history and the script line for Blue Murder: Killer Cop, which debuts Part 1 on Sunday, August 6. 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. A year later his autobiography Neddy was published with even more damning claims against Rogerson and the book became the basis for Blue Murder. He was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease and, more recently dementia, and lives in a prison unit for aged and frail inmates. 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. 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. On 20 May 2014, former New South Wales police officers Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara murdered student Jamie Gao in cold blood. Test yourself with this Cockney Rhyming Slang quiz. On appeal Rogerson called a new witness, who told the court he picked up what he thought was a gun wrapped in a towel from a doorstep in the months before the murder. Rogerson Rogerson was referring to the fact that there was a manhunt for him and that his mate Glen McNamara had been arrested on his way back from Cooma jail where he had been discussing the extortion plan. 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. The judge who sentenced them in 2016, Justice Geoffrey Bellew, said the pair were "overwhelmed by greed"and had formed an agreement to kill with "a complete disregard for the life of another human being". Rogerson claimed Lanfranchi was armed and he shot him in self-defence. Rogerson has called a new witness, who told the court he picked up what he thought was a gun wrapped in a towel from a doorstep in the months before the murder. 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. That young observer has now gone on to become the definitive chronicler of a life on both sides of the law that he says is likely without parallel in the English speaking world. 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. "I was trying to get my life back together, the last thing I needed to do was think about this.". Rogerson was tried but acquitted on conspiracy to murder charges. When Lanfranchi stepped out of the car, Rogerson shot him dead, claiming self defence. 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. In 1986, Huckstepp, also a sex worker, was found dead in a pond in central Sydney's Centennial Park. Smith said Lanfranchi had asked him to organise a payment to Rogerson so that the dealer wasnt charged with the police shooting. 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. "Roger would like to see you," she said. All those years later, [for Rogerson] to have that amount of clout, quite spooky.. This page was last edited on 7 January 2023, at 20:08. Rogerson has been in custody since May 2014 for the murder that month of 20-year-old student and wannabe drug dealer Jamie Gao. McNamara told the trial Rogerson shot the student dead as he "seethed with anger" over the exchange of drugs and cash. 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. 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. They have not been seen or heard from since. 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. 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. While it was impossible to know who fired the fatal shot, Rogerson claimed the kill, according to Australia's News Limited newspapers. Flannery would ultimately meet a similar fate to that of Roger Wilson. 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. Published Sep 4, 2016. In Blue Murder, Smith is shown murdering Sallie-Anne Huckstepp, although in real life he was charged but acquitted of that murder. Read more of Duncan McNab's investigations here. 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. Its a challenge that will almost certainly elude this once-celebrated detective - who will now likely die in jail. 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? 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. A new book by former colleague Duncan McNab details how the charismatic one-time detective manipulated generations of fellow officers and gangsters, but when the mask slipped he revealed a vile and vicious criminal. When will the Beast from the East be at YOUR door? 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. 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. 'He did mention that he probably would have been dead long before if he hadn't been in jail but that's about it,' Ms Melocco said. "Extensive in its planning, brutal in its execution and callous in its aftermath," he said. But I suspect there are a lot more, McNab says. Rogerson wanted me to tell him the 'real' McNamara story the one the jury didnt hear. 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. 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. On February 6, 1986 she told her flat mate that she would be back home shortly after an evening phone call. "Because he was (Clint Eastwood's) Dirty Harry," says one veteran reporter. 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. 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 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. 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. 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. 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. "It is clear that the offenders acted with complete disregard for the life of another human being.". 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 had the politicians knack about him, the charm to work a room, says McNab. Lennie McPherson. [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 was brought in to investigate the Ananda Marga conspiracy case, despite having no connections to the Special Branch investigating the case. 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. In June 2016, Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara were found guilty of killing student Jamie Gao for his drugs (Partridge, 2016a). 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. His doctor, the prominent Sydney medico Geoffrey Edelsten, gave him a medical certificate saying he was unfit to go to trial for the Sydney murder. Aw mate, it couldnt be Roger, hes too good a bloke, the boss said. 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. Drury claims he refused to accept a bribe Rogerson offered in exchange for evidence tampering in a heroin trafficking trial of convicted Melbourne drug dealer Alan Williams. The police confirmed Rogerson was the 'mole' during an early 1990s secret investigation called 'Operation Graveyard'. 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'. First introduced by the Norman-French at the Invasion of England in 1066, it was originally a baptismal personal name Rogier. The book describes the moment Rogersons notoriety first betrayed his link to Gaos murder. Reborn as an investigative journalist and author, McNab became Rogersons unauthorised biographer with his 2006 book The Dodger. 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. The comments below have not been moderated. Behind his brazen public persona, however, lies a dark and deadly history. Credit: Daniel Munoz. Smith's exploits with Rogerson featured in the 1995 television drama series Blue Murder. "I shot Lanfranchi twice, once in the neck and then one in the chest. Where things went horribly wrong for Rogerson was his blindness to the array of CCTV cameras that captured their meeting with Gao in the Padstow storage unit, McNab says. Hes in his mid-60s but Roger misses being on centre stage in the criminal life so hes reconstructing his drug-dealing mates.. Rogerson who is now 80, and Glen McNamara, now 62, were jailed for life for the murder of drug dealer Jamie Gao. He became a Sydney celebrity because of his close relationship during the 1980s with corrupt police detective Roger Rogerson. 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.. Notorious gangster Neddy Smith died aged 76 in Long Bay jail last week while serving a life sentence of murder. n is appealing his life sentence, arguing he didn't know Glen McNamara had sourced a gun before the murder. 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. 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. Discover your rider rating - how many one-star reviews do Take care of your gut and it will take care of you: Could these 'friendly' bacteria transform your gut Are YOU eating the right colours? Rogerson, 75, and McNamara, 57, pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Gao and dumping his body in waters off Cronulla the next day. 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. Both Rogerson and McNamara lodged a notice of intention to appeal days after their life sentences were imposed in 2016. Following the shooting, Huckstepp became an anti-police corruption whistleblower. Roger Rogerson was the teak-hard. Followed categories will be added to My News. 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. A few months later, Rogerson and colleagues shot Sydney bank robber "Butchy" Burns in his getaway car. Even after he was booted from the police force in 1986, outed "dog" drug dealer Neddy Smith as his informant and was jailed twice, the man known as Roger the Dodger seemed a Teflon man. His only hope for freedom, now, would be an uphill battle to try to find new and compelling evidence that will change the court's mind and give him one last chance to appeal. The man denied any involvement but was visibly shaken. [40], Richard Roxburgh portrayed Rogerson in the 1995 TV mini-series Blue Murder and its 2017 sequel Blue Murder: Killer Cop.[41]. 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 said he arranged for it to be handed over to McNamara. He was known for his hothead and tendency to go off and empty his gun into the victims. Blindsided: Stars affair rocks hit show, Reality star sent to jail over secret sex tape. 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. This included auctioning signed photos of himself standing near Lanfranchi's dead 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, 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. A big Beckham birthday! "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. 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. Prosecutors said the length of the prison term they are seeking for Ng is justified under US federal sentencing guidelines because of the size of the fraud. 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. Glen McNamara, 60, also watched proceedings remotely. Roger Rogerson: The life and crimes of Australia's most notorious cop. Welcome to the Coronation! 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. Roger Rogerson was jailed for life for the 2014 murder of student Jamie Gao. Corrupt cops Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara are contemplating a lifetime behind bars after losing their appeals. His sentencing in August will likely be seen as ending an era of deeply rooted police corruption. "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.". DISGRACED ex-cops Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara have been jailed for life for the drug murder of student Jamie Gao. Rogerson's record of killing has led some Australian media outlets to dub him "the serial killer who wore a badge". Theres just something horribly wrong with Rogers head. Drury said Rogerson had tried to bribe him to change his evidence over a heroin trial and when Drury refused, he was shot. 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. He is pictured in 1980. I dismissed it as bluster, but nonetheless looked over my shoulder for the next few days. 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. To improve your experience. 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. Put a schooner of Reschs in his gnarled hand and we could have been two old mates chatting at the pub. The pair was also found guilty of taking part in the supply of 2.8kg of methamphetamine, known in Australia by its street name ice. [39] The journalist has refused to discuss the matter. 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. 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. Born in 1921, McPherson was convicted of various crimes as a boy and . Rogerson, 82, serving life term for murder of drug dealer. He spent nine months in jail in 1990 before being released on bail pending an ultimately unsuccessful appeal. Smith insisted the pair became partners in crime. An aerial view of Long Bay Correctional Centre in Sydney. 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. Roger Rogerson being escorted to a prison van at the Supreme Court in Sydney in 2016. 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. Smith became a star witness for the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Wood Royal Commission, revealing Rogerson and others alleged corruption. [8][9] Following a retrial, both Rogerson and McNamara were found guilty of murder. '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. It implicated Roger Rogerson in Drurys attempted execution at the behest of a heroin trafficker. Jamie Gao's . By 1978, his reputation was sufficient to gain convictions based on the strength of unsigned records of interviews with prisoners (known as "police verbals"). 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. 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. Early Origins of the Rodgerson family. These days, having left the police force, I make my living as a journalist, specifically writing crime. [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. 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? McNamara argued his life sentence was excessive but Justice Bell said it was justified given the murder was a cold-blooded execution.