Scott Alan White, the man convicted over the 1988 death of American mathematician Scott Johnson, has opted to stay in prison rather than apply for parole.
The latest development in the long-running case has come as unexpected move to prosecutors, investigators and Johnson’s family.
Warning: This story discusses the murder of a gay man and a series of assaults of LGBTIQA+ people, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527.
The death of Johnson was originally ruled a suicide but only after his brother Steve Johnson spent decades researching the details of his brothers death did police reinvestigate the case.
Johnson’s naked body was found at the base of cliffs near Manly Beach in 1988. His death was ruled a suicide. The area at the top of the cliffs was a well-known cruising area for gay men and later evidence that gay bashings regularly occurred at the spot became more apparent.
Johnson’s family fought for decades to have his death re-examined and after two additional coronial inquests it was reclassified, leading to the arrest of Scott Alan White. Police became aware of White’s involvement in the death following a tip-off from his ex-wife.
White was first tried in court on murder charges. Initially he pleaded not guilty to the charges but during the trial confessed he was responsible for the mathematician’s death. Soon after his legal team attempted to withdraw his confession, but the judge refused to accept the withdrawal.
The 52-year-old was sentenced to 12 years in jail, but his conviction was quashed when the appeal’s court found the judge in his trial had applied the wrong legal test when assessing if he should be allowed to withdraw his plea. White maintained he was innocent.
He later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. and was sentenced to nine years behind bars. He would have been eligible for parole this year.
Now just days out from the hearing to determine if he should be released White has withdrawn his application, opting to stay behind bars.
The news has been welcomed by Johnson’s family.
“Apparently he’s chosen to give himself more time, and I can’t say I am upset about that,” Scott’s brother, Steve Johnson, told 9News.
Retired Inspector Peter Yeomans , who worked on the case, was also taken aback by the move.
“In my 45 years of service and most of that doing major crime, I’ve never heard of that before,” Yeomans said.
Steve Johnson recounted his decades long effort to get justice for his younger brother in the book A Thousand Miles From Care.
