Notorious former NSW detective Roger Rogerson and his co-accused Glen McNamara murdered Sydney student Jamie Gao in a darkened storage unit two years ago before dumping his body at sea, a jury has found.
The trial of 75-year-old Rogerson and McNamara, 57, unfolded over four months at the NSW Supreme Court during which both men pointed the finger at the other over the shooting death of the 20 year old.
But it took the jury just six and a half days of deliberations to reject their version of events and unanimously find both men guilty of murder.
The panel of seven men and five women also returned guilty verdicts on two counts of commercial drug supply after accepting prosecution allegations that McNamara and Rogerson "ripped off" Mr Gao of 2.78kg of the drug ice.
Rogerson appeared to swallow hard in the moments after the jury forewoman announced the verdicts on Wednesday morning against him, while McNamara blinked beside him.
Justice Geoffrey Bellew thanked the jurors for their service, telling them the trial had carried on far longer than anyone anticipated and each was exempted from further jury service for life.
As the jury left Sydney's historic King Street courtroom after handing down the verdicts, only McNamara stood in observance.
Rogerson, wearing the oversize camel coat that has been his uniform throughout the marathon trial, slumped back in the oak-panelled dock and stood only when the judge moved to formally convict him.
It's not the first time Rogerson has been on the wrong side of the law.
Though the jury was never told of the disgraced former policeman's lengthy criminal record, documents attesting to his criminal history were handed up by Crown Prosecutor Christopher Maxwell QC and will be considered by Justice Bellew at a sentencing hearing on August 25.
Over the course of the lengthy trial - the second faced by Rogerson and McNamara over Mr Gao's murder, after an earlier trial had to be aborted - prosecutors alleged the ex-detectives plotted to lure Mr Gao to the Padstow Rent A Space storage unit where he died and steal 2.78kg of methamphetamine from him.
Crucial CCTV footage captured Mr Gao entering the shed in Sydney's southwest with McNamara, followed moments later by Rogerson.
A supplied image of murdered Sydney man Jamie Gao, aged 20. Source: AAP
But the two former friends had very different accounts of what transpired during those few fateful minutes, and in the half hour before they were caught on camera carrying Mr Gao's body from the shed, wrapped in a silver surfboard bag and stuffing it into a waiting car.
According to McNamara, it was Rogerson who gunned Mr Gao down on May 20, 2014, after a planned drug deal turned sour.
After pulling a gun from his pocket and killing Mr Gao, McNamara said Rogerson took aim at his own head.
"I'll do you. Get up and help you weak c**t or you will be on the floor next to him," McNamara claimed Rogerson had told him.
"Do as I tell you or I'll kill your girls."
McNamara admitted taking Mr Gao's body out to sea and dumping it in the ocean, where it was spotted by fishermen six days later, but claimed he did so under duress.
One of McNamara's adult daughters, Jessica McNamara, gave evidence in his defence during the trial and could be seen sobbing at the back of the courtroom after her father was led away to the cells on Wednesday.
But Rogerson insisted that Mr Gao was already fatally injured and on the ground when he arrived at the Padstow storage unit.
He claimed McNamara had told him Mr Gao shot himself during a struggle sparked by a car-jack attempt.
A sentencing hearing for the two defendants will take place on August 25, although McNamara has already indicated he will appeal against his conviction.
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