Oz Ex-Detectives Killed Student In Drug Deal

The former cops shot 20-year-old Jamie Gao, stole his crystal meth and then dumped his body at sea in a surfboard bag.

Two former Australian detectives have been found guilty of murdering a 20-year-old university student during a drug deal.

Roger Rogerson, 75, and Glen McNamara, 57, had both blamed each other for the death of Jamie Gao, whose body was found floating off Sydney in 2014.

They had each pleaded not guilty to shooting the student dead.

But a New South Wales Supreme Court jury rejected their defence and found each man guilty of murder and supplying a large commercial quantity of the drug ice - the purest and most potent form of methamphetamine, also known as crystal meth.

The court was told the former policemen lured Mr Gao to a meeting place in suburban Sydney, shot him, and stole the 2.78 kg (6.1 pounds) of drug the business student had brought with him to sell.

They then stuffed his body into a surfboard bag, drove it to McNamara's boat and dumped it at sea.

The plan unravelled when the student's body was found by a fisherman six days later.

During the trial, both men had 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 Mr Gao and then threatened him unless he helped dispose of the body.

Prosecutors described these versions as "far-fetched and unbelievable", and said Mr 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 reported.

Detective Inspector Russell Oxford, who was in charge of 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.

Mr Gao's family released a statement after the conviction which said: "While this is the verdict our family were hoping would be delivered, true justice can never really be served.

"No 20-year-old deserves to lose their life over a stupid mistake."

The pair will be sentenced next month.

Rogerson, a once decorated policeman, was dismissed from the force in 1986 after allegations of links to known criminals. He was later jailed for conspiracy.

McNamara reportedly left the police force in 1990.