Once a poster boy for good policing, another extraordinary chapter in Roger Rogerson's life has come to a head.

The former detective sergeant of the New South Wales Police Force became infamous for his alleged crimes and misdemeanours in the 1980s.

For a whole decade, Rogerson was better known as "Roger the Dodger" in media headlines.

And despite being implicated in two killings and a host of other underworld activity, he continues to protest his innocence.

Awarded for bravery, 'killed in cold blood'

Throughout his early career, Rogerson received at least a dozen bravery awards.

The Peter Mitchell Award, the highest annual police award, was presented to him in 1980 for the arrest of escaped armed robber Gary Purdey.

Just a year later, Rogerson shot dead drug dealer Warren Lanfranchi in a Chippendale lane, in inner Sydney.

An inquest found he was acting in the line of duty and he was never charged — but the controversy lingered.

Lanfranchi's girlfriend, Sallie-Anne Huckstepp, believed her partner was killed in cold blood and demanded an investigation into his death.

Sorry, this video has expired Sallie-Anne Huckstepp talks to the press outside court in 1981

She was later murdered, her body found in a pond in Centennial Park in New South Wales.

She had publicly accused a number of police including Rogerson of corruption. No one was ever charged with her murder.

Rogerson: the man in a safari suit with piercing blue eyes

In 1982 Rogerson gave an interview with then Sydney Morning Herald reporter Neil Mercer.

Mercer described Rogerson as wearing the "latest fashion, a safari suit".

He said throughout the 70-minute interview, Rogerson appeared calm, the gaze of his "piercing blues eyes" never shifting.

Roger Rogerson when he was a NSW detective (right) and SMH police reporter Neil Mercer in Darlinghurst in 1982. ( Fairfax Media: Peter Morris )

Rogerson spoke of his "regret" over the killing of Lanfranchi.

"I regret it, of course I do. I regret being put in a situation where a man's life is taken. I believe I acted in good faith, and that if I had not shot him, he would have shot me," he said.

When Mercer asked Rogerson about allegations regarding "corruption, heroin dealing and skimming the proceeds of armed robberies", Rogerson replied: "The allegations are completely untrue."

In 1984 Rogerson was accused of conspiring to murder his colleague, drug detective Michael Drury.

Drury was shot twice through his kitchen window while feeding his three-year-old daughter.

Drury claims he refused to accept a bribe from Rogerson to change his evidence in a heroin trafficking trial.

But Rogerson was found not guilty.

Sorry, this video has expired Warren Lanfranchi and Michael Drury cases against Roger Rogerson

In 1986 Rogerson was dismissed from the NSW Police Force, over what he said in an ABC interview in 2006 was over a misunderstanding about some gold coins.

He told the ABC, then commissioner Jack Avery was the lead in a campaign against him.

In 1995, Rogerson was released from jail after serving more than three years for perverting the course of justice.

The conviction was over money deposited by him into a bank account under a false name.

In 1993 he wrote to reporter Harrison from prison, sounding what Harrison described as "upbeat".

"There are about 16 ex-coppers here, including former deputy commissioner Bill Allen, who is almost 71 years of age and a nice old bloke, so I have plenty of mates to talk to," Rogerson wrote.

"I have been sitting here writing this letter as well as watching the first State of Origin match at Lang Park. Thank God the Blues won. I bet a chocolate bar on them winning. Believe me — that's a big bet down here."

'I locked up many blokes I liked'

In the same 2006 interview with the ABC, Rogerson recalled the first time he shot someone.

"Everything was done in the line of duty," he said.

"I mean there were always other people around me, other detectives ... I didn't sort of go out at night with my gun and gun down people or chase people on my own.

"Every shooting incident was part of a fairly large operation."

When asked if he always played by the rules in the early days of his career, Rogerson said he believed he did.

"I was a young fellow, I worked with older men, senior men, I learnt from them."

Roger Rogerson escorted from NSW Supreme Court in February, 2016. ( AAP: Paul Miller )

When pressed on being quoted in a previous media interview of saying "the police culture at the time was that it was justified provided the bloke was guilty", implying he verballed suspects,

Rogerson said he did not recall saying that, but that "it's been alleged it was part of the culture at the time but I'm not going to admit that I verballed anyone".

Rogerson famously had ties with underworld figure Ned "Neddy" Smith. In the interview he claimed it was just a friendship and they weren't "colluding or conspiring to commit crime".

Previously he said he knew more criminals than any other policeman. When asked what he did with those criminal acquaintances, he replied: "I'd mainly have a drink with them".

"Look, there's many blokes I locked up for crimes I liked," he said.

Rogerson teams up with Chopper, Warwick Capper

Roger Rogerson (C) became an entertainer alongside Mark "Chopper" Read (R), and Mark "Jacko" Jackson. ( AAP: Rob Hutchison )

After leaving the police force, Rogerson worked in the building and construction industry as a scaffolding supplier.

He also became an entertainer, telling stories of his police activities in a stage show called The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, with former footballers Warwick Capper and Mark Jackson.

In 2005, Rogerson and his wife were convicted of lying to the Police Integrity Commission in 1999.

He spent 12 months of a maximum two-and-a-half year sentence in Kirkconnell Correctional Centre.

Rogerson's wife, Anne Melocco, was sentenced to two years' periodic detention for the same offence.

Following his release from prison in 2006, Rogerson revived his stage career with a comedy alongside Jackson and Mark "Chopper" Read.

In 2009 he published an autobiography about his time as a detective, titled The Dark Side.

Anne Melocco, the wife of convicted ex-policeman Roger Rogerson, leaving court in 2005. ( Fairfax Media: Wade Laube )

Rogerson charged with drug deal murder

In 2014 Rogerson was charged alongside former police officer Glen McNamara with the murder of Sydney student Jamie Gao during an alleged drug deal.

Mr Gao was shot twice inside a storage unit in Sydney's south-west on May 20, 2014.

McNamara said Rogerson shot and killed Mr Gao before threatening him and his family, but Rogerson claims he found Mr Gao already dead.

Today, Rogerson was found guilty, alongside McNamara, of Mr Gao's murder.