![Roger Rogerson leaves King Street Supreme Court in Sydney on Wednesday. Photo: Christopher Pearce Roger Rogerson leaves King Street Supreme Court in Sydney on Wednesday. Photo: Christopher Pearce](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/6888536d-2bdc-459f-8854-889e5c3b7535.jpg/r0_0_729_410_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![Former detective and true-crime author Glen McNamara has denied killing university student Jamie Gao. Photo: James Alcock Former detective and true-crime author Glen McNamara has denied killing university student Jamie Gao. Photo: James Alcock](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-feed-data/daa00021-36ca-4559-a268-0f0bb6679987.jpg/r0_0_725_410_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Two former detectives charged with the same murder shared many a thing in Silverwater jail.
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They shared notes, conversations – even the same cell.
For 52 nights Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara slept within centimetres of each other in 2015.
And now they are sharing a courtroom together.
But the men are blaming the murder of university student Jamie Gao student on each other.
The pair is accused of shooting Mr Gao dead inside a Sydney storage unit and taking the three kilograms of the drug ice he had brought to a meeting.
A NSW Supreme Court jury heard on Thursday that the pair spent many hours together in jail, often discussing the case they have been charged with and swapping notes about the brief of evidence.
A court heard the pair discussed points of "reasonable doubt" in the case.
The court also heard for the first time that Mr McNamara was also a former prison guard at Long Bay jail.
Mr McNamara has said the only reason he was participating in conversation and note taking with Mr Rogerson was to conduct a "covert operation" in regards to his co-accused.
"You say that all of this activity you were engaged in within conversation and document writing was all part of you covert operation ?" Mr Rogerson's barrister George Thomas asked.
"Yes," Mr McNamara replied.
During cross-examination, Mr Thomas asked Mr McNamara about several conversations the pair shared on the inside.
"And you discussed with Mr Rogerson the written notes that you had made in relation to the material in the brief ?" Mr Thomas asked.
"Yes," Mr McNamara replied.
"You gave him written notes concerning your reading of matters in the brief of evidence?"
"Yes."
Mr McNamara told the jury, "We had multiple conversations every day."
Several pages, on which both accused had written notes, were tendered as evidence.
One of the handwritten notes was titled "knowledge of Gao", another "reasonable doubt" and the other "questions".
Mr McNamara's defence is that Mr Rogerson shot Mr Gao inside unit 803 at Rent a Space, Padstow.
He has argued he only helped to dispose of the body of Mr Gao because Mr Rogerson threatened his life and the lives of his daughters.
A court has heard he acted under "duress".
But Mr Rogerson will argue it was Mr McNamara who shot and killed Mr Gao in the dimly lit shed.
In his opening address Mr Thomas said his client walked into the shed and saw a body on the floor.
"Jamie Gao was dead on the floor with a handgun lying near him when Roger Rogerson entered that storage shed," Mr Thomas said.
The trial before Justice Geoffrey Bellew continues.