$1 Million Reward on Scott Johnson's Death Determined to be a Gay Hate Crime in Sydney

 Scott Johnson's death was determined to have been the result of a gay hate crime.

A A$1 million (NZ$1.04m) reward and a "fresh eyes" police investigation has been announced into the death of young American Scott Johnson, 30 years to the day since he fell from a cliff in Australia - now deemed to be a gay-hate killing.

Scott's brother Steve Johnson, who never believed the original finding of suicide, had flown to Sydney from the US to stand alongside New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller on Sunday morning and announce the state government's tenfold increase in the reward for information leading to the killer or killers.

"Someone knows what happened to Scott, either because they were present or because they heard of what happened from others who were present," says Johnson, a tech entrepreneur who has spent more than A$1 million of his own money seeking the truth since 2005.

That campaign has thrown the spotlight on dozens of other gay-hate killings and assaults, currently the focus of a NSW upper house parliamentary inquiry, which has discussed the prospect of establishing a judicial commission.

Anglers found the naked body of Scott, a 27-year-old mathematics PhD student, at the base of a 60m cliff near Blue Fish Point, just south of Manly, on the morning of December 10, 1988.

Police now accept the cliff-top area was a gay beat, where men gathered for casual sex, and in November last year the then state coroner Michael Barnes concluded two or more assailants - motivated by hatred of gays - either pushed Scott off the cliff or that he fell while trying to escape. 

Steve Johnson said: "It is likely that those who were involved in Scott's death would have bragged about it given the culture of gay-hate amongst groups in Sydney at the time. It's 30 years to the day since Scott's death. I encourage anyone who has any information to come forward and provide it."

Of more than 240 rewards on offer in NSW, this becomes only the seventh elevated to $1million. Police Minister Troy Grant said: "I hope it finally leads to the answers that Scott's family have been seeking."

Commissioner Fuller said: "Scott's death is possibly one of the most challenging investigations I've seen - and it's believed one of the greatest hindrances has been an unwillingness for witnesses to come forward."

He said the reward could be "that final motivation needed for someone to speak with police".

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Yeomans has since September been leading a specialist investigative team, Strike Force Welsford, which is conducting "fresh inquiries" into the case.

DCI Pamela Young, formerly of the force's Unsolved Homicide Team, led a two-year re-investigation of the case which, in 2015, advised the coroner there was no evidence to support a finding of homicide.

Coroner Barnes demanded her removal from the case following an ABC television interview in which she claimed former police minister Mike Gallacher "kowtowed" to the Johnson family's influence and improperly sought priority for Scott's investigation above hundreds of unsolved homicides.

Gallacher said yesterday: "This announcement vindicates my belief that this case needed a fresh set of eyes."

Barnes, after hearing testimony from a succession of known gay bashers - all denying they killed Scott - was unable to identify any suspects.

Fuller said: "This case captured the attention of people around the world and has certainly stayed in the hearts and minds of the LGBTIQ community, and to keep the investigation progressing, we need people to talk to us."

Johnson pleaded to anyone who knew what happened: "Do this for Scott, do this for all gay men who were subject to gay hate, and now, do it for yourself."

Sydney Morning Herald

This is a follow up story this blog is followed through the years

 Steve Johnson at the site of Scott Johnson’s death, which was part of a pattern of homophobia-driven crimes in the 1980s and ’90s. “This isn’t just about Scott’s case,” Steve Johnson said. “I think all these cases need to be looked at.”CreditMatthew Abbott for The New York Times