Police confirm human remains found floating in waters off Cronulla on Monday morning were those of Gao

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Former New South Wales detective Roger Rogerson has been charged with the murder of university student Jamie Gao.

Police confirmed the human remains found floating in waters off Cronulla in Sydney's south on Monday morning were those of Gao.



On Tuesday Rogerson was charged with murder and supply a large quantity of a commercial drug. He appeared briefly in Bankstown local court, where his lawyer did not apply for bail. It was formally refused by magistrate Elaine Truscott.

Rogerson was arrested in Sydney on Tuesday morning.

About a dozen detectives, including plainclothes officers, arrived at Rogerson’s home in Padstow, south-western Sydney, shortly after 11am and left escorting the 73-year-old in handcuffs through a media scrum.

Rogerson’s lawyer, Paul Kenny, told reporters outside the house that his client had offered to hand himself in to police at midday, but was instead arrested in his home and “treated like a dog”.

"What has occurred in Mr Rogerson's house is a complete disgrace," he said, adding he would file an official complaint.

He said Rogerson would be defending any charges.

Kenny warned the media earlier against creating an “American-type hysteria situation”.

“If things aren’t calm you’ll see a total lack of cooperation with the media,” he said. “There will be no OJ Simpson situation.”

He rejected suggestions Rogerson had been “on the run” from police in Queensland. “He’s never dodged the police, that’s completely incorrect,” he said.

NSW detectives flew to Brisbane on Monday seeking to question Rogerson, 73, over the murder of 20-year-old Gao, who was last seen about 1.30pm last Tuesday getting into a white car in Padstow.

Police will allege the young man was killed when a $3m methamphetamine deal in a nearby rental storage unit went wrong.



Another former detective, self-styled “honest cop” Glen McNamara, 55, on Monday was charged with the business student’s murder and commercial drug supply.



It followed the discovery by fisherman early on Monday of a body wrapped in blue tarpaulin, bobbing in the water off Shelly Beach at Cronulla.

Detective Superintendent Luke Moore said Gao was accompanied to Padstow last Tuesday by two men who remain unidentified. He left the pair behind when he got into the white car, after which he vanished.



"The nature of that meeting was secretive; it was something he was excited about," Moore said.



Moore said police were notified on Wednesday that Gao was missing, saying they “strongly believe” Gao was involved in a drug transaction, and that he had known one of the people he met “for some time”.

“We believe it was a drug transaction and Mr Gao had those drugs with him when he went to the other car.”