SYDNEY - Two former Australian police detectives, including a once decorated cop who has spent time in prison and been linked to underworld figures, were on Wednesday found guilty of murdering a university student during a drug deal.
Two former Australian police detectives, including a once decorated cop who has spent time in prison and been linked to underworld figures, have been found guilty of murdering a university student during a drug deal in 2014
Roger Rogerson, 75, and Glen McNamara, 57, had pleaded not guilty to killing 20-year-old Australian Jamie Gao, whose body was found floating off Sydney in 2014.
Both men blamed each other for shooting Gao dead, but a New South Wales Supreme Court jury found each man guilty of murder and supplying a large commercial quantity of the drug ice.
"While this is the verdict our family were hoping would be delivered, true justice can never really be served," a statement from Gao's family read, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
"No 20-year-old deserves to lose their life over a stupid mistake."
The court heard that the former policemen lured Gao to a meeting at a small storage unit in suburban Sydney, shot him, and stole the 2.78 kilograms (6.1 pounds) of ice the business student had brought with him to sell.
After stuffing his body into a surfboard bag, they drove it to McNamara's boat and dumped Gao at sea in a plan which was undone by a fisherman spotting it six days later.
During the hearing, both men claimed the other had fired the fatal shots, with Rogerson reportedly saying he entered the storage unit to find "an Asian man lying on the floor... and he was dead".
McNamara said that Rogerson, who fatally shot a drug dealer in 1981 while trying to arrest him, had shot Gao and then threatened to hurt his family unless he helped dispose of the body.
Prosecutors described these versions as "far-fetched and unbelievable" and said Gao had told his cousin he was involved in a drug deal with a man called "Glen" which would make him rich, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said.
Detective Inspector Russell Oxford, who led the investigation, said the case had complexities but ultimately boiled down to a simple crime.
"It simply came to a case of three men walking into a unit and two coming out. It's as simple as that," he said.
Neither Rogerson or McNamara, who will face sentencing hearings next month, have been police officers for years.
Rogerson was dismissed from the force in 1986 following allegations he improperly associated with known criminals and was later jailed for conspiracy. McNamara reportedly left the police force in 1990.