Sallie-Anne Huckstepp

Sallie-Anne Huckstepp (nee Krivoshow, 12 December 1954 – 6 February 1986) was an Australian writer, sex worker and whistleblower, who was the victim of an underworld Homicide.

She came to attention in 1981 for speaking out about police corruption in Sydney, Australia.

Huckstepp's murder remains unsolved.

Huckstepp was born as Sallie-Anne Krivoshow into a middle-class Jewish family and attended Dover Heights High School and Moriah College in Sydney.

She left school at the age of 17 and married Bryan Huckstepp.

After travelling to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, her husband trafficked her into prostitution to help support his heroin addiction.

They later returned to Sydney, where Huckstepp continued to be prostituted, eventually developing a heroin habit of her own.

In 1981, Huckstepp met and began a relationship with Warren Lanfranchi.

Lanfranchi was a heroin dealer and standover man who worked with Neddy Smith.

In June 1981, Lanfranchi allegedly robbed a Sydney heroin dealer and later fired shots at a young policeman.

In Neddy: the Life and Crimes of Arthur Stanley Smith, Smith claims that Lanfranchi asked him to negotiate a payment with then-Detective Sergeant Roger Rogerson to escape being charged with the shooting.

Smith claims that Rogerson had instructed him to drive Lanfranchi to a meeting with him and to disarm him in the car.

Rogerson took 18 police officers with him to the meeting.

He claims that he was attempting to arrest Lanfranchi on suspicion of five bank robberies.

At the meeting in Dangar Place, Chippendale, Rogerson shot and killed Lanfranchi.

During the inquest into Lanfranchi's death, Rogerson claimed self-defense.

He was supported at the inquest by Smith and other police officers who were called as witnesses.

The inquest found that on the balance of probabilities, Rogerson had been trying to arrest Lanfranchi, but refused to find he had acted in self defence.

The matter went to the Supreme Court and was the subject of investigations by the New South Wales Ombudsman and Internal Affairs.

No action was brought against Rogerson, and he was exonerated and commended for bravery.

On 15 July 1981, Huckstepp, accompanied by her father, Jack Krivoshow, and a legal-aid solicitor, went to the New South Wales Police Headquarters in College Street, Darlinghurst, where she met with Detective Inspector Ralph and Detective Reith of the New South Wales Police Internal Affairs Branch.

She made the following statement which eventually helped lead to the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Wood Royal Commission:

Huckstepp also went to the media and gave extensive interviews, claiming that Rogerson had murdered Lanfranchi and stolen $10,000 Lanfranchi was carrying to bribe Rogerson.

She also claimed that Neddy Smith had lied to the inquest and was involved in a conspiracy with Rogerson.

Rogerson maintained his innocence.

In Neddy: The Life and Crimes of Arthur Stanley Smith, Smith wrote that Lanfranchi was "attempting to bribe Rogerson. I was the person [who] took Warren to this fatal meeting. There was an inquest and both sides threw plenty of shit at one another. I was right in the middle of it all. I could do nothing to bring Warren back to life, so I did the best thing I could. I know Warren’s family suffered deeply, but I cannot do anything about it."

He goes on to claim that as a result of his testimony at the inquest, Rogerson and other corrupt police officers gave him a "green light" to commit crime without fear of prosecution.

Huckstepp continued lobbying the media.

A documentary about her life was made and she began writing articles for a monthly magazine.

However, she continued using heroin, and in 1985, her then-partner David Kelleher was arrested on charges of importing heroin worth more than $2 million.

With Kelleher remanded into custody, Huckstepp began a relationship with a federal police officer, Constable Peter Parker Smith.

Huckstepp visited Kelleher regularly in prison, telling him she was attempting to get information from Constable Smith which could be useful in his trial.

In Catch and Kill Your Own, Neddy Smith claims that Huckstepp was trying to help Kelleher by making tape recordings of her conversations with Constable Smith.

On the evening of 6 February 1986, Huckstepp received a phone call in her Edgecliff apartment.

She rushed out, telling Gwen Beecroft - an acquaintance with whom she stayed at the time - that she would be back shortly.

The following morning, a man walking his dog found her body in Busby Pond, a lake in Centennial Park, New South Wales.

Huckstepp's murder resulted in one of the longest-running inquests of its kind in Australia.

It began in 1987 and lasted until 1991, though it only sat for a total of 19 days in that time.

It was alleged at the inquest that Huckstepp had gone to meet an unknown drug dealer to obtain a fresh supply of heroin and was then lured to Busby's Pond, a remote area of the park.

She was then strangled and drowned.