Former NSW detectives Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of 20-year-old Jamie Gao in May 2014.
Both men were found guilty by a jury in June of the killing to steal 2.78kg of methamphetamine Gao was attempting to sell to the pair, and dumping his body at sea bundled in a tarp and chains
Justice Geoffrey Bellew said Rogerson, 75, and McNamara, 57, had acted with “a complete disregard for the life of another human being”.
The pair were “overwhelmed by greed” in their killing of Gao, a university student and small-time drug dealer, with the motivation being to steal the drugs – worth about $500,000. Gao was shot dead inside storage unit 803 at the Padstow Rent A Space storage centre, before his body was dumped at sea.
Bellew ordered that Rogerson also spend at least nine years behind bars for stealing the drugs.
McNamara must serve at least nine years behind bars over the plot to lure Gao to a darkened storage shed in the city’s south-west where he was killed.
There were shouts of “be strong, be strong” from the public gallery of the New South Wales supreme court in Darlinghurst on Friday afternoon as the prisoners were led down to the cells.
Bellew said he was satisfied that McNamara and Rogerson had hatched their plan to kill Gao “well in advance” of the murder.
“The deceased was executed in cold blood, just as the offenders had planned,” he said. “The joint criminal enterprise to which each offender was a party was extensive in its planning, brutal in its execution, and callous in its aftermath.”
But he could not say which man fired the fatal shots.
Although gunshot residue found on Rogerson’s clothing gave rise to an “obvious suspicion”, Bellew said he could not be satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt that he was the triggerman.
The pair had blamed each other for the fatal shooting and lawyers for the both, who still deny the crimes, argued against the imposition of a life sentence.
Gao’s family said in a statement it was the best outcome they could have hoped for, and thanked the police, director of public prosecutions and courts for their work.
“To have these two men, who took Jamie from us, sentenced to essentially die in jail, is absolutely fitting,” the statement said.
“The courts can’t lessen the term of Jamie’s death or the impact that his death, the investigation and ensuing trial has had on our family. Unfortunately, there is no opportunity for a lesser sentence for Jamie or for those of us left behind.
“When it comes to losing a family member you love through murder, there is no real justice. There has been no opportunity to present evidence to clear Jamie’s name of the alleged crimes he’s been accused of committing as put forward at various junctures throughout the trial. There was no burden of proof offered to him prior to finding him guilty in the court of public opinion.”
