60 Minutes reporter Liz Hayes has had her fair share of tough interviews but this one was particularly emotional.
Speaking to retired undercover drug squad detective Michael Drury, tears welled up as he recalled the moments after he was shot in his home following his rejection of a bribe from Roger Rogerson, former officer turned murderer.
30 years ago, Rogerson asked Drury to tamper with evidence in a case against Melbourne heroin dealer Alan Williams.
He told Liz: “I knew if I reported Rogerson for attempting to bribe me, perhaps my life was in danger… I became edgy. I had a premonition and a very strong feeling that my life was in serious danger.”
His instincts were right. On June 6, 1984, shots were fired through Drury’s kitchen window while he was feeding his daughter. His wife and other daughter were in the other room.
“I remember getting up and I could see the blood down this side of the wall,” he recalled.
Michael Drury
Drury was shot and told his wife and kids to get in the bedroom and stay there. “My only regret was both my daughters were babies and they were both crying and all I wanted to do was go kiss them… That’s all I wanted to do and just stop them from crying.”
Both Drury and Hayes got emotional and struggled to hold back the tears.
Following the shooting, Drury was in a coma for 10 days. When he woke, he told police that he believed it was Rogerson and notorious hitman Chris Flannery who attempted to kill him.
Rogerson was then charged with conspiring to commit murder and trying to bribe a police officer but he was let off with an acquittal.
Murdered uni student Jamie Gao
The 60 Minutes interview aired after Rogerson and detective Glen McNamara were yesterday found guilty of the murder of 20-year-old Sydney uni student Jamie Gao, and their involvement in the supply of 2.78kg of ice.
Rogerson and McNamara will be sentenced in August.
