Roger Rogerson trial told Jamie Gao hoped for ‘one big deal’

It was supposed to be his ‘one big deal’ but instead Jamie Gao was shot by two former cops, a jury has heard.

Roger Rogerson at the NSW Supreme Court where he is accused of murder. Picture: Justin Lloyd

It was supposed to be his “one big deal” but instead of leaving a warehouse with drug money, Jamie Gao left in a surfboard bag, shot by former cops Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara, a jury has heard.

Mr Rogerson, 75, and Mr McNamara, 56, have pleaded not guilty to murdering Gao in Padstow, in Sydney’s southwest, in May 2014. On the opening day of the NSW Supreme Court trial, crown prosecutor Chris Maxwell QC told the 15-member jury that on May 26 that year, the young man’s body was spotted by fishermen out at sea, wrapped in a surfboard bag and tied up in a blue tarpaulin.

Mr Maxwell said the body was found six days after Gao walked into the storage shed with Mr McNamara, followed closely by Mr Rogerson. The trio’s movements in and out of the shed were caught on CCTV and a post-­mortem examination later revealed Gao had been shot twice in the chest.

“It is the crown case that Mr Gao was shot and killed during the period after he entered unit 803 at around 1.46pm ... and the point when he was dragged out by both accused at around 2.18pm,” Mr Maxwell said.

He said the reasons that led Gao to walk into that shed, and the reasons why the two ­accused were with him, would be the ­subject of much of the evidence during the trial.

“What is abundantly clear, however, is that Mr Gao was shot dead behind closed doors at a point in time during that approximate 30 minutes,” Mr Maxwell said. He conceded the crown could not establish which of the accused pulled the trigger, but he said the jury needed only to be satisfied that the two men were part of an agreement to kill or ­seriously injure Gao, a 20-year-old university student, in order to deliver guilty verdicts against both.

Prosecutors will offer evidence from Gao’s loved ones that he had been involved in the supply of ­illicit drugs — specifically ice — in the lead-up to his death.

Gao’s cousin is expected to testify that Gao had told him on one occasion that “street dealing was below him”. “If you’re going to do a deal, it is better to do one big deal,” Gao is claimed to have said.

He later spoke of a “massive” deal with “Glen”, adding that he was soon going to be rich.

It is alleged that Gao had met Mr McNamara, who was working as a private investigator, when he was engaged to do some Cantonese interpreting in a case invol­ving drugs in 2013.

Mr Maxwell said prosecutors would allege Gao’s role in the “massive” deal was to drop off more than 2.5kg of ice at the Padstow meeting, and that this was taken by Mr Rogerson and Mr McNamara after Gao was shot.

AAP