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Scott Johnson was a 27-year-old American man who resided in Australia.

Scott was a gay man who had a significant other at the time of his death.

Johnson was originally from Los Angeles, and lived across the street from Disneyland. This was anything but the "happiest place on Earth" for Scott.

In the late 1960's and early 1970's being gay in California was still considered a crime.

Before Scott came out to his family as gay, and while he was a boy his mother's current boyfriend considered Scott to be a sissy and decided to try and "correct him" and "make him into a man".

It was not until Scott was in his mid-twenties that he had began to explore his homosexuality, aware that it would continuously bring attention to his family.

The reason Scott moved from the U.S to Australia in 1986 was to be with his partner who is now a professor in the U.S.

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The cliff at North Head in Manly, Sydney is where the body of Johnson was found. Ten meters back from the edge of the cliff, where Scott's clothes were found was a "gay beat" -- a place men met for casual sex.

Criminologists conclude that it would be unlikely that any criminal would risk their own life to commit acts against the gay community at North Head due to the rocky and rough terrain.

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Detective Chief Inspector Pamela Young uncovered no evidence to support a finding of murder.

In a 439 page report, Young made reference to the 2005 police operation Taradale, which revealed the deaths of three gay men in 1989 as a result of the individuals being forced to their death from the cliff at a gay beat in Bondi, Australia, but found no similar evidence in Manly, Australia.

Senators Edward Kennedy and Elizabeth Warren wrote letters to state MPs and ministers claiming there had been an error in the initial police investigation and called for police to take another look into the case.

"I got a message that Scott's body had been found at the bottom of a cliff. We were both crying at that point and I asked how it happened. By the time I got [to Australia] about 36 hours later the police had decided it was a suicide." - Steve Johnson, brother of Scott Johnson.

It has been noted that there had been 35 deaths, not including Scott's, that have been identified occurring at North Head between the years 1986 and 2000 with the bodies found at the base of the cliffs. 5 deaths were recorded as accidents, and the other 30 were recorded as suicide.

Chief Inspector Young found that eight unsolved deaths could have possibly been motivated by gay hate, although none at North Head or in Manly.

It is believed that there is two or more assailants involved in the case.

This is a time when gangs were known to roam the beaches to beat homosexuals.

This case is not the only cold case police have reviewed, dozens of cases and identified 23 involving gay men where there is suspicion of the cause.

Police are certain that at least five, including Scott's, were the result of gay hate crimes.

Evidence that a gang called "The Narrabeen Skinheads" had boasted about bashing an "American faggot" around the time of Johnson's death.

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Scott's partner believes it was a suicide, as Scott had previously told him that he had suicidal thoughts.

Scott's brother, Steve, has hired lawyers and private investigators to prove that it was not a suicide.

There is no known witnesses to Scott's death.

Chief Inspectors believe the case would have been ruled as suicide, but due to Steve Johnson's wealth and influence, he has managed to have the case reopened as he is adamant and believes the cause of death was murder.

There has been two police investigations and three coronial inquests for Scott's murder.

It was noted that the police were reluctant to investigate crimes involving the gay community in the 1980's, which is why Scott's death was initially ruled as a suicide. It was also believed that this case was just one of the many murders that occurred in the 80's and 90's that was not investigated as murders.

A coroner in 2017 declared that the death was due to a homophobic hate crime.

There is a $1 million award to anyone that comes forward with information about the case that will lead to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Scott's death.

The public wants to find justice for Scott, and have been a great support according to Steve.

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The Johnson family is still seeking answers today. The police and public try to be a support, but little to no new evidence is coming forward. This is a main reason as to why the reward for information was made.

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Click to watch!

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A $1 million reward is being offered for information on the 1988 murder of a man found to have been killed in a gay hate crime in Sydney.

Scott Johnson, a US national who was based in Sydney, was discovered at the bottom of Blue Fish Point near Manly's North Head in December 1988.

A 2017 inquest found the 27-year-old was the victim of a gay hate crime, after an earlier inquest ruled his death a suicide.

NSW Police said Mr Johnson's case was referred to a special team in September, and a $100,000 reward for information has been increased to $1 million.

A coronial inquest ruled in 1989 Mr Johnson had taken his own life, while a later inquest in 2012 returned an open finding.

A third inquest pointing to Mr Johnson suffering a fatal clifftop fall due to having been threatened or attacked for being homosexual.

Mr Johnson's brother Steve flew from the US to attend today's police media conference about the reward.

The tech entrepreneur has reportedly spent more than $1 million of his own money trying to find out the truth of what happened to his brother.

"After 30 years I can finally say: Scott, the police are keen to find your killers," Mr Johnson said.

"The police are the ones that can help you tell us what happened that day. We're with you now, we're going to find out what happened, we may finally get answers and justice for you."

"Someone knows what happened to Scott, either because they were present or because they heard of what happened from others who were present."
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
"It is likely that those who were involved in Scott's death would have bragged about it given the culture of gay-hate among 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."

© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2018

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'It's likely those involved in the death bragged about it'

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A $1 million reward is being offered for information on the 1988 murder of a man found to have been killed in a gay hate crime in Sydney. Scott Johnson, a US national who was based in Sydney, was discovered at the bottom of Blue Fish Point near Manly's North Head in December 1988.

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“Australian Police Offer $1 Million Reward in Scott Johnson Murder Case.” PinkNews, PinkNews, 9 Dec. 2018, www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/12/09/scott-johnson-murder-reward/.

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A $1 million reward is being offered for information on the 1988 murder of a man found to have been killed in a gay hate crime in Sydney.

Scott Johnson, a US national who was based in Sydney, was discovered at the bottom of Blue Fish Point near Manly's North Head in December 1988.

A 2017 inquest found the 27-year-old was the victim of a gay hate crime, after an earlier inquest ruled his death a suicide.

NSW Police said Mr Johnson's case was referred to a special team in September, and a $100,000 reward for information has been increased to $1 million.

A coronial inquest ruled in 1989 Mr Johnson had taken his own life, while a later inquest in 2012 returned an open finding.

A third inquest pointing to Mr Johnson suffering a fatal clifftop fall due to having been threatened or attacked for being homosexual.

Mr Johnson's brother Steve flew from the US to attend today's police media conference about the reward.

The tech entrepreneur has reportedly spent more than $1 million of his own money trying to find out the truth of what happened to his brother.

"After 30 years I can finally say: Scott, the police are keen to find your killers," Mr Johnson said.

"The police are the ones that can help you tell us what happened that day. We're with you now, we're going to find out what happened, we may finally get answers and justice for you."

"Someone knows what happened to Scott, either because they were present or because they heard of what happened from others who were present."
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
"It is likely that those who were involved in Scott's death would have bragged about it given the culture of gay-hate among 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."

© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2018

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'It's likely those involved in the death bragged about it'

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A $1 million reward is being offered for information on the 1988 murder of a man found to have been killed in a gay hate crime in Sydney. Scott Johnson, a US national who was based in Sydney, was discovered at the bottom of Blue Fish Point near Manly's North Head in December 1988.

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Same Sex Marriage: Public Polls since 1988 - 2010

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Same Sex Marriage: Public Polls since 1988 - 2010

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Alyssa, Lilly, maddy C: should be better organuized but good job lots of info!!

Tyler, Julia, Jen: The "The Case" column should be split up into smaller ones, but it had a lot of detailed stuff, good job!

Austin and group: the same with the one above it needs to split the panels up a bit.

cam,  michaela, shannon:
very detailed info, and lots of it. why did the gangs choose beaches?

Mike: Good setup and very informative, a little confused on the story tho.

Jacob: I believe this may be one of the biggest rewards for an unsolved case-Interesting

Lexus: Videos were cool, like the layout. Lots of facts.

riordan, victoria, nathan:
- nice use of quotes
- its cool that you chose a hate crime outside of the us
- very detailed and well done

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“Australian Police Offer $1 Million Reward in Scott Johnson Murder Case.” PinkNews, PinkNews, 9 Dec. 2018, www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/12/09/scott-johnson-murder-reward/.

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Scott Johnson (Justice For Scott Facebook page)

Police in Australia are offering a $1 million reward to anybody who can come forward with information about the gay hate murder of Scott Johnson.

Johnson was just 27-years-old when he was found dead at the base of a cliff in Sydney, Australia, in December 1988.

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The death was initially ruled a suicide, however last year, the state coroner ruled that he was actually the victim of a gay hate crime.

It is thought that he might have been pushed to his death by attackers, or might have fallen while trying to escape.

The $1 million reward will be paid if somebody comes forward with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said it was "horrendous" to think that the people responsible for Johnson's death were walking free, according to ABC News.

"If you know something, if you know who committed this crime, and if you know who was at the scene at the time, there is $1 million on the table to get to the bottom of the truth."

Johnson's death was a hate crime

There have already been two police investigations and three coronial inquest into Johnson's hate crime murder.

Subsequent inquests found that police were reluctant to investigate crimes in the gay community in the 1980s, which led to Johnson's murder initially being ruled a suicide.

Johnson's brother Steve has not given up the fight to find his killers. He attended the police press conference yesterday, and asked people with information to come forward.

"For Scott's sake, for the sake of all the other gay men who died, for the sake of our community, please tell us what you know."

It is now just over a year since a coroner declared that Johnson's death was the result of a homophobic hate crime.

Last November, state coroner Michael Barnes found that he "fell from the cliff top as a result of actual or threatened violence by unidentified persons who attacked him because they perceived him to be homosexual."

Johnson - who was originally from the US - had been in a relationship with an Australian music PhD student, and was applying for permanent residency in the country when he died.

He was a mathematician and was studying for a doctorate at the Australian National University at the time of his death.

The reward is an 'incredible step'

Speaking last year, Johnson's brother Steve said that his killers "are probably alive" and that their friends "know who they are."

"I wish they would come forward," he added, according to The Australian.

Speaking to The New York Times yesterday, Steve Johnson called the $1 million reward an "incredible step."

"I'm very encouraged," he said. "The million dollar reward is speaking to the community that the police are taking this seriously and they need people's help."

It is thought that Johnson's hate crime murder was one of many that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s in Australia that were not investigated as murders at the time.

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Australian police offer $1 million reward in Scott Johnson murder case

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Police in Australia are offering a $1 million reward to anybody who can come forward with information about the gay hate murder of Scott Johnson. Johnson was just 27-years-old when he was found dead at the base of a cliff in Sydney, Australia, in December 1988.

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Alberici, Emma. “A Mystery Reopens: Suicide or Gay Hate Crime?” ABC News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 3 Jan. 2017, www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-12/was-scott-johnsons-death-suicide-or-a-gay-hate-crime/8110386.

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Updated January 03, 2017 11:37:00

On December 10, 1988, 27-year-old American Scott Johnson was found dead at the base of the cliffs at North Head in Manly, Sydney.

Since that day, Scott's heartbroken older brother Steve Johnson has reportedly spent up to a million dollars on private detectives looking for a murderer who NSW Police are confident does not exist.

A first inquest in 1989, held before then deputy state coroner Derrick Hand, found Scott jumped from the cliff at North Head with the intention of taking his own life.

There had been no evidence of anyone else being present and no injuries at autopsy other than those that could be explained by the fall.

Scott was found naked and his clothes, watch, cash card, student travel pass, money, pen, comb and key were neatly placed together some 10 metres back from the edge of the cliff.

There was also evidence he had previously attempted suicide.

In a second inquest in 2012, former deputy state coroner Carmel Forbes overturned the 1989 finding.

Ms Forbes said knowledge gained in the intervening years showed that the area where Scott's clothes were found was a "gay beat" - a place men met for casual sex.

It had also become apparent that there was a culture of violence against the gay community in Sydney in the late 1980s.

Still the evidence did not allow her to make a finding as to how he fell to his death.

On Tuesday, December 13, Coroner Michael Barnes will begin hearing representations from both sides as they embark on a near unprecedented third inquest into Scott's death.

Scott Johnson's death was referred to the NSW Police's Unsolved Homicide team for investigation.

Unsolved homicide team takes on the case

The protocol for managing and prioritising the 700-strong caseload is to balance the principal of equal justice for all deceased persons and the likely solvability of the case.

Given the lack of evidence specific to Scott's death, the case was deferred in preference to other cases.

On February 12, 2013, the office of then NSW Police minister Mike Gallacher contacted the Commander of the Homicide Squad, Michael Willing.

The minister had spoken to the now world-renowned internet pioneer Steve Johnson and on account of that conversation requested a reinvestigation of Scott's death.

Strike Force Macnamir was formed and Pamela Young - one of the state's most respected detectives - was assigned to lead the case.

A two-year investigation by Detective Chief Inspector Young uncovered no evidence to support a finding of murder.

In her 439-page report, Chief Inspector Young made extensive reference to the 2005 police operation Taradale, which revealed the deaths of three gay men in 1989 were as a result of them being forced to their deaths from cliffs at a gay beat in Bondi.

She found no evidence of similar violence against gay men at the cliffs in Manly.

Criminologists concluded the rough and rocky terrain made it improbable that criminals would risk their own lives to commit acts of gay hate at North Head.

In a candid interview with Lateline, Chief Inspector Young expressed the view that Steve had improperly used his influence as a wealthy businessman to successfully lobby state and federal politicians and ultimately the NSW Police minister to have his brother's case re-opened.

"He called me in for a meeting after he'd arranged it with the Johnson family and I - my input wasn't invited or welcome - but I saw a lot of what I would describe as kowtowing by the minister [Gallacher] and his staffers to Steve Johnson in particular.

"I was amazed and incredulous. I didn't understand. I was quite confused. I wasn't understanding what was happening.

"I did think the process and how we helped families to understand what's possible is to manage their expectations.

"Steve Johnson arrived with very high expectations about finding that Scott had been murdered and my role is to help them see that that might not always be possible if there's not the evidence there."

Chief Inspector Young is one of the most senior police officers in the state with a stellar reputation among her peers.

She is described as professional, intelligent, admired, tough, committed and without compromise, responsible for investigating the most complex crimes including the 2011 deaths of 11 residents at the Quakers Hill nursing home and the Family Law Court Bombings in the 1980s.

She told Lateline she had been involved in at least 300 cases in her 30-year career and had great respect for victims' families.

"Now, the minister didn't ask, but I have the responsibility of hundreds of families who expect thorough reviews and expect successful reinvestigations," she said.

"They have lost loved ones too. And they come from all walks of life. Some are not as well off as others.

"My role and the role of the commander of the homicide squad is to treat them equally.

"It is about their loss of a family member. It's not about who they are, who they influence, their status or a network that they have."

Her work with Strike Force Macnamir involved a review of 30 unsolved NSW deaths referred to her by Steve's team of private investigators

Chief Inspector Young could find no link between those and Scott's death.

After an exhaustive investigation, only eight were found to be unsolved and possibly the result of gay-hate-related crimes.

None of the bodies were found in Manly where Scott met his death.

A so-called "confession" and sources claiming knowledge of Scott's "killing" were discredited, uncorroborated or proved to be unreliable.

Chief Inspector Young and her team reviewed thousands of historical crime reports to substantiate assumptions about a "gay hate crime epidemic" in Manly, but the only evidence of violence at North Head involved 21-year-old Richard Milton who pleaded guilty to the stabbing of Brian Thomson at North Head in 1986.

Immediately before the crime, the pair had engaged in consensual sex.

Mr Milton served a prison sentence between February 4, 1986 and March 3, 1989 and is therefore not a suspect in the death of Scott.

Close brothers

From the age of eight, Scott lived across the road from Disneyland, but his home in Los Angeles was anything but the happiest place on Earth.

It was the late 1960s and early 1970s when being gay in California was still a crime.

According to Steve Johnson, their mother's boyfriend thought Scott was a "sissy".

Long before Scott had come out to his family as gay and while he was still just a boy, his step-father was trying to "correct him" and "make him a man".

With age, Scott became shy and introverted, immersing himself in his education.

By his mid-20s Scott was an accomplished mathematician and had begun exploring his homosexuality, aware that it would continue to be a source of tension within his family.

On his last trip back to the United States before his death, Scott made no contact with his parents.

Throughout their tortured upbringing, the Johnson brothers became increasingly co-dependent.

Scott and his big brother Steve shared a passion for hiking and long distance running.

They also took identical career paths, finding a common thrill in the early discoveries of computer coding.

Not long after Scott's death at the base of the cliffs at Manly, his brother found phenomenal success as an early internet pioneer.

He had commercialised the world-first algorithm he had developed with Scott that made it possible to send photos over the internet.

That discovery and its eventual sale to AOL made Steve an enormously wealthy and revered entrepreneur.

Steve's status as a successful internet pioneer finds him mixing in circles of influence.

Democratic senators Edward Kennedy and Elizabeth Warren wrote letters to state MPs and ministers claiming there had been a gross error in the initial police investigation and calling for another inquest.

In his 2013 statement to police, Steve spoke proudly of how effective his prodding of police and authorities had been in having his brother's case re-opened:

"Because this nuisance of an American won't shut up about this case and he has all these important friends, then I guess we better have an inquest. And so an inquest was scheduled."

Steve 'did not fully accept Scott's sexuality'

Scott moved to Australia in 1986 to be with his partner, now a professor in the US, who he met two years earlier while studying at Cambridge University in the UK.

They fell quickly and deeply in love, but Scott did not find the courage early in the relationship to share the good news with his brother.

According to Scott's partner, the Johnson brothers' relationship was "bordering on abnormal" in that they were incredibly close and would often keep to themselves.

After Scott's death, he told police:

"The esteem of his brother was the most important thing in his life."

When Scott did finally tell his brother about his relationship, as feared, his partner said Steve Johnson did not appear to approve and nothing since that time had made him feel that Steve accepted him or his relationship with Scott.

In a 2015 interview with Lateline, Steve Johnson rejected suggestions he was not supportive of Scott's relationship with his gay partner.

In his statement to police, he said Scott was concerned that Steve "did not seem fully accepting of [Scott's] sexuality".

He met his then-partner's cherished brother Steve just once before Scott's death despite being in a relationship with Scott for almost five years.

When the pair travelled to America as unemployed students, they weren't invited to stay at Steve's home.

When asked about this, Steve explained that there was no room - his house was too small.

The day of Scott's death

When Scott was discovered by fisherman at the bottom of the Manly cliffs he was naked and his clothes were neatly folded roughly 10 metres from the cliff top.

His brother Steve told police a Scotland Yard detective had remarked that he had never heard of a "jumper" taking his life naked "so you don't take your clothes off to jump off a cliff".

In contrast to this view, the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law published a report in 2008 reviewing naked suicides.

It reported that a "review of suicide cases in litigation revealed that an estimated 5 to 8 per cent had completed suicide while naked". At least a proportion of those cases included "jumpers".

The idea of Scott suiciding troubles Steve because no note or explanation could be found for such an hypothesis. Two thirds of people who suicide do not leave notes.

In media interviews, Steve is adamant his brother could only have been of positive mind in that first week of December in 1988.

He claims Scott had received good news from his PhD supervisor who had accepted that Scott had solved a category theory problem - a crucial hurdle before completing his doctorate in mathematics.

Steve Johnson has said that Scott had "completed" his PhD and received the good news confirming that on the day he disappeared.

In his own evidence, Scott's PhD supervisor recalls it differently. The supervisor told the coroner he had had only a brief conversation with Scott that day as he was too busy to talk to him.

Scott had told him he found a way of simplifying a complex mathematics problem he had been working on.

They organised to meet the week after. Twenty-eight years later in court, Scott's supervisor recalled that Scott had given a lecture a month before his death in which he had discussed a way of simplifying a complex category theory problem.

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He described Scott as an excellent student who was unassuming.

In the weeks after Scott's death, his PhD supervisor became friendly with Steve Johnson and invited him to stay at his home in Sydney.

Seven years after his death, Scott's PhD supervisor successfully lobbied the ANU to have the young mathematician awarded a posthumous PhD saying, "I thought it would be good for the family".

He told the coroner it took he and an academic colleague "two to three years" to complete Scott's PhD.

Steve later donated $1.6 million to the Science Faculty at Macquarie University.

"I don't know whether [Steve] said that was a reward for that [posthumous PhD award] for what we'd done for him," Scott's PhD supervisor told police in 2013.

Police 'decided it was a suicide': Steve

The American business giant is adamant that his brother was murdered and police rushed to conclusions about Scott's death being a suicide.

As Steve recollected in an interview on ABC's Australian Story in 2013:

"I got a message that Scott's body had been found at the bottom of a cliff. We were both crying at that point and I asked how it happened. By the time I got [to Australia] about 36 hours later the police had decided it was a suicide."

In the 28 years that have followed Steve's grieving trip to Sydney, the many facts supporting the suicide theory have been summarily discarded or discredited by Steve, his private investigators and his legal team.

At a Coroners Court hearing in April 2015, counsel assisting Steve Johnson, John Agius SC, asked the coroner to "cull" lines of inquiry about suicide from the remit of the third inquest into his death because there was "not a skerrick of evidence" suggesting he took his own life.

In 2007, Steve hired former Newsweek journalist Daniel Glick to help him prove that Scott could not have suicided.

On this first trip to Sydney and with nothing more than a hunch, Daniel Glick told local member for Manly, Mike Baird - now NSW Premier - that a murder had taken place in his patch.

His claims centred around the notion that Scott had been killed as part of a gay hate crime wave in Sydney during the 1980s.

Could Scott's death be a gay hate crime?

"Men don't go to gay beats to suicide" has been the constant refrain from both Steve Johnson and Mr Glick.

But a read through the 439-page report by Strike Force Macnamir tells otherwise.

Thirty-five deaths, not including that of Scott Johnson, have been identified as occurring at North Head between 1986 and 2000 with bodies found at the base of the cliffs.

Five of those deaths were recorded as accidents and 30 were unequivocally recorded as suicides because there were notes, witnesses, former attempts or long histories of mental illness involved.

Twenty-eight were men. Two were women.

Five of the deaths were recorded as the result of "misadventure" which is police-speak for accidental death.

When it comes to the "epidemic" of gay hate crimes, Chief Inspector Young could find just eight unsolved deaths in her caseload at the Unsolved Homicide unit that might have been motivated by gay hate.

None of them occurred at North Head or in Manly.

At the coroner's court, counsel assisting the Johnson family spoke of other unsolved gay hate crimes that happened in the "same general geographical area as Scott's death".

An examination of those "unsolved gay hate crimes" reveals that one occurred in Newcastle (170 kilometres away from North Head) and was unlikely to provide clues to explain Scott's death.

One of them was in Wollongong (100km away) and one in Tathra (540km away).

The other five were in suburbs several kilometres away and therefore not consistent with any pattern of crime that might indicate a possible murder in Manly.

It is also noted in the report of Strike Force Macnamir that criminologists consulted by police unanimously concluded the terrain at North Head made it not a viable location for "bias motivated crime".

In other words, it was difficult to get to and the terrain was hazardous: "Coordinating an attack at the cliff site posed a risk to the offender/s."

One hired investigator found it was a likely suicide

Former police officers were enlisted to help prove Steve's theory that police had botched the original investigation in to his brother's death.

But at least one former policeman who was employed by Steve came to a very different conclusion.

In his 2013 statement to police, John MacNamara, who had experience investigating gay hate crimes, said he felt the Johnson family had one agenda and that was to convince authorities that Scott had been murdered.

But his investigation led him to conclude it was most likely that Scott had finalised his affairs by folding his clothes and, for whatever reason, he jumped from North Head.

Mr MacNamara believes he may have fallen out of favour with Steve because of his opinion on the case.

His work advising the family slowed, then ceased, shortly after his appointment in 2007.

'Scott had considered suicide before': partner

Three years before Scott's death, the young mathematics genius had told his partner he'd had suicidal thoughts.

A forensic psychological autopsy after Scott's death concluded that "there are no definitive and overt indicators that Scott Johnson intended to take his life in December 1988, however there are a number of risk factors that may have contributed to a negative psychological state".

When Steve married his high school sweetheart, Scott's partner was not on the guest list even though Scott was the best man.

It was a matter of days after that wedding that Scott spoke to his partner about contemplating suicide.

He recalls that in a telephone conversation on or around September 3, 1985, Scott told his partner he was thinking of jumping to his death from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

His partner and two close friends he confided to in 1985 remain convinced Scott really did consider throwing himself off the Golden Gate Bridge.

The young mathematician had been unfaithful and his partner wonders if he contemplated suicide because he was so wracked with guilt.

This was also a time when AIDS was taking so many young lives.

Throughout their five-year relationship, the couple spent a lot of time travelling to college campuses in the United State and Britain.

Scott's partner told police he was unequivocal about what was said by Scott but could not remember if it was on a phone call or in a letter that he mentioned he was worried he might have contracted HIV/AIDS and was distressed for himself and for their relationship.

It was two years before the Australian Grim Reaper advertising campaign, when so little was known about how the virus was transmitted.

By the time Scott plunged to his death from North Head in Manly in 1988, aside from his partner, he had practically no close friends of his own.

A 'vulnerable young man'

Academic colleagues and others who knew him described a brilliant yet vulnerable young man who had no close friends and was socially awkward.

His de-facto told police there was something "very vulnerable about Scott".

In a letter dated May 13, 1989, Scott wrote to a mutual friend of theirs.

He states that while Scott was in the USA with his brother Steve in 1988, he bought and read a copy of Alan Turing's biography.

Turing was a gay Cambridge mathematician who took his own life.

He writes in the letter that he read the Turing biography after Scott's death, and that he was quite alarmed to find so many similarities between Scott's life and personality and that of Turing.

Scott's PhD supervisor also told police that at the behest of Scott, he had been in the process of organising a gathering of students to attend a theatre production exploring Alan Turing's life.

His life outside his PhD Studies at the ANU, Macquarie and Sydney Universities revolved around his partner's family and friends.

He had also become estranged from his mother, and at the time of his death, hadn't seen his brother in four months.

Police would conclude that it was more than a coincidence that this 27-year-old gay man would die in the very circumstances he envisaged for himself three years earlier - jumping to his death from a height over water.

Back then, Manly police were generally unaware that North Head was a place gay men would meet for casual sex - a so called "gay beat".

Police believe suspicions it was a gay beat were never raised because in the 1980s because gay beats were associated with violence, and there had been only one known act of violence at North Head throughout that time (the stabbing of Brian Thomson in 1986).

Despite countless appeals for information from the family's team of investigators, the stabbing of Mr Thomson remains the only known act of violence in the North Head area throughout the entire 1980s and 1990s and is not categorised as a gay hate crime.

Knowing now that North Head was a gay beat, Scott's partner mused that perhaps Scott, again overcome with remorse about a possible sexual dalliance, had done what he had talked about doing in 1985.

In his statement to police, his partner said: "You can go to a gay beat seeking sex with somebody and be so full of remorse afterwards or disgust that you can then suicide ... that might be a possible explanation for what happened to Scott."

Scott's partner says he suffered a "complete emotional breakdown" after Scott's death which was compounded by accusations from Steve that he was somehow to blame for Scott's death.

He told police:

"[Steve Johnson] accused me of being on the cliff with Scott, he's accused me of lying to his face, he's accused me of any, any number of appalling things all of which are without a skerrick of evidence.

"Scott was not just my lover, my boyfriend, my partner - he was also my best friend. He was my confidant."

There has been very little contact between Scott's partner and Steve in the past 20 years.

Scott's partner told police: "It became so apparent, so quickly, that Steve Johnson and I can't work together, he knows everything.

"He is convinced that the police are incompetent, that the Australian justice system is deeply broken, that our coronial system is corrupt and, I'm just left thinking, 'Great, fine, you're on your own'."

Death investigation was 'thorough' and 'comprehensive': Crime Commission

Chief Inspector Young was appointed to investigate Scott's death as head of Strike Force Macnamir.

She is considered tough and tenacious with an eye for detail and a passion for solving complex crimes.

A 30-year veteran of the force, her own commander, Mick Willing, described her investigation of Scott Johnson's death as "outstanding".

Her team could find no links between Scott's death and any other hate crimes in Sydney around the same time and no pattern of violence in North Head, Manly.

Constant complaints by the Johnson family about Chief Inspector Young led to an examination of the investigation by the NSW Crime Commission.

That appraisal concluded that Chief Inspector Young and her team had been "thorough" and "comprehensive" in their lines of inquiry.

Steve remains adamant his brother was murdered and was furious to see Chief Inspector Young's interview on Lateline in April 2015, in which she claimed to have found further evidence that Scott had potentially suicided.

She managed to corroborate Scott's partner's claim that Scott spoke of a previous suicide attempt:

"He loved Scott and he has done the right thing with the investigation. And also he has provided the names of two mutual friends of his and Scott's who he told about Scott's very sorry attempt at suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge or at least thinking of attempting to jump from the Golden Gate Bridge to mutual friends. I think it's very important to mention the Golden Gate Bridge and compare it to North Head in that people can choose many varied ways of suicide. Scott has, some years before 1988, chose to at least speak about him thinking of suiciding from a height over water; it happened to be the Golden Gate Bridge. Lo and behold, in 1988, his body is found at a height of 60 metres from a cliff over water."

Following that exclusive Lateline interview, Steve successfully lobbied to have Chief Inspector Young removed from the case.

The case reopened, again

Before the Lateline interview, Chief Inspector Young expressed a desire to bring "balance" to a story that, in her words, had been misrepresented for too long.

She also spoke of her distress about how the relationship between herself and the Johnson family had soured.

"The fact that our relationship has broken down is a point of sorrow for me. It has never happened with any other next of kin, as we call them, never, ever. In fact many next of kin and I, we catch up regularly and we speak to each other. So I was disappointed that our relationship broke down," she told Lateline.

"But I wonder if it might be that Mr Johnson always struck me as someone who was quite determined to have one outcome, that he used influence, including I consider influence on the Government, to make the death of Scott a priority in my office over other jobs that we had.

"I think someone who resisted that influence that he felt quite confident about, and that person was me, I think he did have that - I felt he had that thought: if I wasn't with him, then I was against him, and that was never the case."

NSW Coroner Michael Barnes will hear the third inquest which begins on December 13.

It is thought to be only the second time in Australian history that a third inquest has been ordered in to the death of a single person. The case of Azaria Chamberlain is the only other known case.

Detective Sergeant Penelope Brown was installed to replace Chief Inspector Young as lead investigator on Scott's case.

Mr Barnes said:

"There are legitimate considerations such as the right of the family and the public to have the new evidence tested in open court. That may allay suspicions and concerns that are held by the family and perhaps some members of the community. It may lead to a different finding as to how Mr Johnson died."

It is Chief Inspector Young's view that Scott Johnson's death would have been a straightforward case of suicide had it not been for his brother's wealth and influence.

This week the court will hear from the first police responders, crime scene investigators and people who had contact with Scott in the weeks and months before his death.

The inquest will continue into 2017, when Chief Inspector Young and Detective Sergeant Brown are expected to give evidence.
Editor's note (3/1/17): This story has been edited to clarify the circumstances of the awarding of Scott Johnston's PHD; the donation by Steve Johnston to Macquarie University; and the finding of research into naked "jumpers". References to the amount of money spent by Steve Johnston on the investigation and on rewards and the relationship between Mr Johnston and the Kennedy family have been clarified.
Topics: crime, law-crime-and-justice, suicide, gays-and-lesbians, manly-2095, sydney-2000, united-states

First posted December 12, 2016 16:56:55

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A mystery reopens: Suicide or gay hate crime?

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It is thought to be only the second instance, since Azaria Chamberlain, that one person's death has been granted a third inquest. Emma Alberici asks why Scott Johnson's 1988 death at the base of a Manly cliff is being reinvestigated for a third time.