For the second time, an Australian man was sentenced to imprisonment after he admitted killing gay US mathematician Scott Johnson around 35 years ago.
The court had convicted Scott White of killing Dr Johnson last year, however, he had won an appeal before he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
The dead body of Dr Johnson was found at the base of cliffs in 1988 in Sydney, at a time when the attacks on gay men had increased.
At the time, Dr Johnson’s death was ruled as suicide, but his family kept arguing that it was a hate crime.
Homosexuality has been decriminalised recently in New South Wales (NSW) and violence against people belonging to the LGBT community was common, but it was rarely investigated. The family of Dr Johnson fought for decades to ensure that the case is properly examined by the police.
White, who was only 18 years old when he had murdered Dr Johnson, admitted that he had punched the victim during a heated argument at North Head in Manly, which led to the 27-year-old falling off the cliff.
White ‘left Dr Johnson to die’: Judge
On Thursday, White was sentenced to nine years imprisonment with six years without parole by a judge at the NSW Supreme Court. The judge stated that the accused had “left Dr Johnson to die”.
“He had everything to live for,” said Justice Robert Beech-Jones, further emphasising that he had a loving family and was on the verge of receiving his PhD.
However, the judge stated that it was difficult to see the killing as a gay hate crime. Speaking to media outside the court, Dr Johnson’s brother Steve said the court’s judgment and prison sentence has finally given some peace and closure to his family.
“[It] means that this is over… we’re one of the lucky families that has a killer behind bars,” he stated. Speaking to BBC, he said that in 2018 there had been “no investigation whatsoever”.
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In January 2022, White left his legal team surprised when he accepted “I am guilty” during a pre-trial hearing, and soon the court gave him a 12-year prison sentence.
However, he maintained that he had no intention to kill Dr Johnson, and his legal team argued successfully that the plea was made by him when he was “confused” and “stressed”.
Previously, the police force had apologised to Dr Johnson’s family for not carrying out a proper investigation in the 1980s and failing to provide protection to the gay community.
“It was inconceivable to me that Scott went somewhere and jumped off a cliff,” said his brother Steve, who’s been fighting for the truth.
(With inputs from agencies)
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