Jamie Gao murder trial: former detective Glen McNamara denied bail
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Version 0 of 1. Former NSW detective Glen McNamara has been denied bail after a court heard how he allegedly planned the “execution-style” murder of university student Jamie Gao and could dispose of a potential murder weapon if released. Crown prosecutor Chris Maxwell QC opposed McNamara’s bid to be released from prison on Friday, saying CCTV on the day of the alleged murder showed the strength of the case against him and co-accused, another former policeman, Roger Rogerson. Playing the footage to court, Maxwell said it depicted McNamara taking Gao into a storage unit in Padstow in Sydney’s south-west on 20 May before Rogerson’s arrival three to four minutes later. Once inside, it is alleged the pair shot Gao twice in the chest. The former cops could then be seen “dragging out a surfboard bag” from the unit which Maxwell alleged contained Gao’s body. McNamara, he argued, went to a degree of planning to carry out the crime. In the days before the meeting with Gao, for example, the 55-year-old is seen taking his boat out of storage. Gao’s body, wrapped in a blue tarpaulin, was eventually found in the waters off Cronulla. Days after the alleged murder, Central local court heard 2.8kg of the drug ice were also found in the back footwell of McNamara’s car. Maxwell said the two former cops had carried out the murder after their plan to supply drugs changed into a “rip-off” of 20-year-old Gao. If McNamara was released on bail, the crown said, he posed a flight risk because both his murder and drug supply charge carry life imprisonment. There was also a danger McNamara could potentially dispose of any alleged murder weapon, which has yet to be found. “If it’s not at the bottom of the sea, it is some place where he could take action to ensure it will never be found,” Maxwell said on Friday. |