A lawyer for the family of a former Australian Protective Services whistleblower wants a coroner's inquest into his death after it emerged that a bloodstained knife was found near his body and that he might have died of an insulin overdose.
And the national president of Whistleblowers Australia, Jean Lennane, said this week that Gary Lee-Rogers was not a diabetic and she believes he might have been given a "hot shot" of insulin at knifepoint.
"There was insulin found in the flat but he was not a diabetic, so why would he have had it, unless it was planted?" she said yesterday. "There was no report of a syringe having been found in the flat."
Dom Velcic, a solicitor acting for Mr Lee-Rogers's mother, Aileen Leslight, said yesterday he had written to the Queanbeyan coroner, the State Coroner and the NSW Attorney-General, saying questions "need to be answered".
Mr Lee-Rogers, 45, claimed to have been subjected to harassment by Australian Federal Police after he tried to expose corruption in the APS. Shortly before he died last year he claimed to have been assaulted by a federal policeman.
He was facing fraud charges and was last heard of on September 26, when he complained to federal police internal affairs that he had been assaulted. His body was found five days later.
Mr Velcic said an autopsy report by Michael Burke, of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, raised many questions.
It said Mr Lee-Rogers had a history of alcoholism and depression and that in the previous two weeks he had attempted suicide by drinking two bottles of port and overdosing on insulin. His mother told the Herald she had no knowledge of attempted suicide.
Mr Burke said in the autopsy report: "Beside the bed was a knife which appeared to have blood near the top of the blade."
Mr Lee-Rogers had had no life-threatening injuries or illness. His blood showed the presence of anti-depressant medication.
Mr Burke said: "One is unable to exclude an insulin overdose leading to hypoglycaemia as the cause of death. There is no evidence to suggest other persons were involved in his death."
Mr Velcic said too much about the inquiry was unsatisfactory. He took exception to the fact that toxicology report was being prepared by the Federal Police, which were the subject of allegations.
