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.

Produced by ABC Australia