Merv Jenkins was the Australian Intelligence Organisation's senior man in
Washington. A key part of his role was to liase and swap information with
American intelligence agencies such as the CIA.
During East Timor's breakaway from Indonesia in mid 99 the CIA was desperate
for more information on the Indonesia-controlled militias running rampant in
East Timor. The Americans used their contacts with Jenkins and put him under
extreme pressure to pass over secret Australian intelligence to Washington.
The information Jenkins passed to the Americans came to light in Australian
defence circles. An investigation was mounted and he was accused of passing
secrets to his US allies. He faced a prison sentence and the ruin of a
prestigious career. In desperation he chose to take his own life.
The widow of the former top Australian intelligence officer has broken her
silence about the controversial death of her husband in Washington two years
ago. Sandra Jenkins is demanding a full public inquiry into the events
leading up to the suicide of her husband Merv, whose body was found at his
Arlington, Virginia, home on June 13, 1999, his 48th birthday.
Sandra Jenkins speaks for the first time about her husband's death and the
cloud of official suspicion that surrounded him in the last weeks of his
life. She believes her husband would be alive today if a Government
investigation
into allegations against him had been better handled.
For Merv Jenkins, whose Washington civilian posting followed an impeccable
record of military service, the investigation came as an extraordinary
shock.
We explore the secret life and death of a man whom former colleagues
describe as an Australian patriot.
