Roger Rogerson

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Roger Caleb Rogerson
Born January 3, 1941 (1941-01-03) (age 67)
Occupation Police officer

Roger Caleb Rogerson (born January 3, 1941) is a controversial former Detective-Sergeant of the New South Wales Police Force. He was one of its most decorated officers, having received awards for bravery, outstanding policemanship and devotion to duty including the Peter Mitchell Trophy, the highest annual police award.[1]

Rogerson is also well known for his association with other 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 Arthur "Neddy" Smith, Graham "Abo" Henry, Warren Lanfranchi and Christopher Dale Flannery. Neddy Smith was a convicted heroin dealer, rapist and armed robber who has claimed Rogerson gave him the "green light" to commit crimes in New South Wales. Henry and Lanfranchi were also heroin dealers and armed robbers, while Flannery specialised in contract killing.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Police career

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. By 1978 his reputation was sufficient to gain convictions based on the strength of unsigned records of interviews with prisoners. He was brought in to investigate the bombing of the Sydney Hilton despite no connections to the Special Branch investigating the case. The convicted bomber Tim Anderson, who was released in 1991, claimed the confession Rogerson extracted was fabricated, and that he and other members of the Ananda Marga sect were convicted because Rogerson falsified statements.[2]

The Peter Mitchell Award was presented to Rogerson in 1980 for the arrest of escaped armed robber Gary Purdey. 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 interview.[3]

Rogerson was responsible for the shooting death of Warren Lanfranchi. During the inquest the coroner found he was acting in the line of duty, but a jury declined to find he had acted in self defence. Rogerson was later commended by the police force for his bravery. However, it was alleged by Lanfranchi's partner, Sallie-Anne Huckstepp, and later by Neddy Smith, that Rogerson had murdered Lanfranchi as retribution for robbing another heroin dealer who was under police protection and for firing a gun at a police officer. Huckstepp, a heroin addict and prostitute, appeared on numerous current affairs programs, including 60 Minutes and A Current Affair, demanding an investigation into the killing. She also made statements to the New South Wales Police Internal Affairs Branch. She was later murdered, her body found in a pond in Centennial Park, New South Wales.

Fellow police officer Michael Drury has alleged that Rogerson was involved in his attempted murder. Drury claims he refused to accept a bribe Rogerson offered to change his evidence in a heroin trafficking trial of convicted Melbourne drug dealer, Alan Williams. On June 6, 1984, Drury was shot twice through his kitchen window as he fed his three-year-old daughter, Belinda. Rogerson was charged with the shooting and Williams testified that Rogerson and Christopher Dale Flannery had agreed to murder Drury for $AU50,000 each. However, on November 20, 1989, Rogerson was acquitted.[4]

Rogerson received a criminal conviction, which was overturned on appeal, in 1985 for involvement in drug dealing, allegedly conspiring with notorious Melbourne drug dealer Dennis Allen to supply heroin.

[edit] Post-police work

Rogerson was dismissed from the NSW Police Force on April 11, 1986. He was subsequently successfully prosecuted for perverting the course of justice in relation to $AU110,000 deposited by him in bank accounts under a false name. He spent nine months in jail in 1990 before being released on bail pending an appeal. His appeal was unsuccessful and he spent a further three years in jail from 1992 to 1995. Rogerson was depicted by Richard Roxburgh in the miniseries, Blue Murder, first broadcast in 1995.

After leaving the police, Rogerson worked in the building and construction industry as a supplier of scaffolding. He also became an entertainer, telling stories of his police activities in a show called The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, with former Australian footballers Warwick Capper and Mark "Jacko" Jackson.[5]

On February 17, 2005, Rogerson and his wife were convicted of lying to the 1999 Police Integrity Commission. Rogerson served 12 months of a maximum two-and-a-half year sentence. He was released from Kirkconnell Correctional Centre on February 17, 2006. Rogerson's wife, Anne Melocco, was sentenced to two years periodic detention for the same offence.[6] Following his release from prison in 2006, Rogerson resumed his entertaining career with Mark "Jacko" Jackson by appearing in a show called The Wild Colonial Psychos with Jackson and Mark "Chopper" Read.[7]

It has been reported that Rogerson has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease however he unequivocally denies this, and claims to have documentary medical proof.[6]

[edit] Current status

Rogerson is currently working as a contributor on news.com.au, offering his opinion on the Melbourne Gangland Wars and its dramatisation, Underbelly.[8] Rogerson claims that he has completed an autobiography about his time as a detective and that his 160,000-word manuscript is currently being reviewed by an editor to "cut out some of the bullshit and make it a good read". He anticipates its release in early 2009 and says "we haven't thought of a name for it yet but it'll have 'Roger Rogerson' right across the front of it."[9]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Investigation into the relationship between Police and Criminals: First Report
  2. ^ http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/Committee.nsf/0/a467316feb212c4cca256cfb0013c1d2/$FILE/Research%20Report%20on%20Trends%20in%20Police%20Corruption.PDF
  3. ^ http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/Committee.nsf/0/a467316feb212c4cca256cfb0013c1d2/$FILE/Research%20Report%20on%20Trends%20in%20Police%20Corruption.PDF
  4. ^ Goodsir, D. Line of Fire: The inside story of the controversial shooting of undercover policeman Michael Drury, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, 1995 ISBN 1-86448-002-5
  5. ^ The Good The Bad and The Ugly
  6. ^ a b Rogerson leaves prison in limo
  7. ^ Rogerson's roadshow
  8. ^ Roger Rogerson Reviews 'Underbelly' and Blogs Live
  9. ^ Rogerson, Roger. "Q&A with Roger Rogerson", News.com.au, 2008-04-03. Retrieved on 2007-04-10. 

[edit] References