“The Dodger”: “Roger Rogerson, a notorious NSW detective and former New South Wales police officer, has died at the age of 83.” He was transferred on Thursday from Long Bay Prison to Sydney’s Prince of Wales Hospital, where he was receiving end-of-life care. He was pronounced dead at around 11.15 a.m. on Sunday.
Known as “The Dodger,” he was a controversial and charismatic tough cop who later became Joe the Killer.
Roger Rogerson, who made a mark as both hero and villain during his 28-year police career, was at one point the most decorated officer in the NSW force. His illustrious career had a great reputation for capturing criminals and for bravery. At the height of his public recognition, Rogerson was also awarded the prestigious Peter Mitchell Award for outstanding police work in 1980. But within six years, his career unraveled spectacularly.
His close ties to Sydney’s most notorious mobsters were exposed, ultimately destroying her reputation, career, and independence.
Finally, Rogerson was serving a life sentence for the execution-style killing of drug dealer Jamie Gao in 2014. to which he always spoke of his innocence.
Roger Rogerson and co-accused fellow ex-spy Glenn McNamara were convicted of killing Gao in a Sydney storage unit in May 2014 and attempting to dump her body in the sea. Both were sentenced to life in prison in 2016.
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However, both men defended Gao at the trial, saying the other had shot Gao.
The two were previously charged with trafficking 2.78 kg of methamphetamine from a 20-year-old university student with a street value of $19 million. He was also charged with theft.
The High Court rejected Rogerson’s appeal to overturn his murder conviction. He was released after all roads were closed.
In 1986, Rogerson was dismissed from the police force for depositing $110,000 into bank accounts under a false name.
Earlier this decade, in 1981, he was found responsible for the fatal shooting of Warren Lanfranchi, another young drug dealer. But the work was done as per duty.
Franchi’s girlfriend, sex worker Sally-Ann Huckstup, said Rogerson killed her over a drug-related dispute that involved corrupt police.
Hiccup is later found drowned, and his murder is still unsolved.
Roger Rogerson was also implicated in the attempted execution of NSW undercover operative Michael Drury. When a similarly decorated drug squad detective refused to accept a bribe in exchange for tampering with evidence in a heroin trafficking case,.
Dorrie was shot twice from the window of her kitchen on Sydney’s North Shore. Rogerson was charged and eventually acquitted of the assault in 1989.
Richard Roxburgh played Rodgerson in the highly acclaimed 1995 miniseries Blue Murder and its 2017 sequel, Blue Murder: Killer Cop.
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