Roger Rogerson questioned over murder of Perth brothel madam Shirley Finn in 1975

INFAMOUS cop-turned-convicted killer Roger Rogerson has been quizzed in jail about the 1975 murder of a Perth prostitute at the same time as his old partner-in-crime Neddy Smith.

• Notorious crim landed in Perth the day brothel madam died

INFAMOUS cop-turned-convicted killer Roger Rogerson has been quizzed in jail about the 1975 murder of a Perth prostitute at the same time as his old partner-in-crime Neddy Smith.

The notorious ageing criminals and now sworn enemies were interviewed by detectives while in the geriatric and hospital wings respectively of Sydney’s Long Bay jail, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

It was claimed in explosive evidence at a Perth ­inquest this week that serial killer Smith was flown to Perth and paid $5000 to kill brothel madam Shirley Finn, who died after being shot in the back of the head.

Criminal Arthur (Neddy) Smith leaves the Supreme Court in Sydney after he was acquitted of an 1986 murder.

Shirley Finn was found murdered in 1975.

Roger Rogerson.

Disgraced former detective sergeant Rogerson, 76, is alleged to have been in Perth around the time Ms Finn’s body was found.

It is claimed he was seen drinking with an alleged corrupt police officer and “Mr Sin” Abe Saffron, the organised crime figure and brothel owner who ran Kings Cross at that time and had extensive business interests in Western Australia.

Smith, now suffering from advanced Parkinson’s, walked into the ­interview with Perth detectives aided by his Zimmer frame and told them in a shaky and quiet voice: “I’m not going to admit to anything but I will talk to you.”

WA Police investigated whether Rogerson, then at the height of his career, was in Perth at the time on secondment, which was a popular practice between police forces at the time.

Ms Finn, wearing a full-length ball gown, was found dead in her Dodge car near the ninth fairway of the Royal Perth Golf Club.

Ms Finn was found dead the same day ‘Neddy’ Smith arrived in Perth.

She was killed just three days before a tax hearing, at which she was threatening to blow the whistle on illicit dealings by politicians, businessmen and police.

She was said to have been in a relationship with then WA police minister Ray O’Connor, who died in 2013.

Ex-cop Rogerson in his 1981 heyday.

Infamous crim 'Neddy' Smith and his wife Debra during their jail wedding day inside Long Bay Jail.

It is not known what information about Ms Finn’s murder WA police thought Rogerson might have.

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Former detective James Boland told the Perth Coroner’s Court on Tuesday he was working for the fraud squad in 1975 when he ­received information from a “career criminal” that seemed “credible” to him at the time.

He confirmed he had ­received information about Smith’s possible involvement in Ms Finn’s death but did not know if the information was ever followed up because he was ordered by a superior officer to “let it go”.

Mr Boland said he was told Smith, a heroin dealer and armed robber, flew to Perth on June 23, 1975 — the day Ms Finn was killed.

The inquest was adjourned to September 11.