Scott Johnson

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American's 1988 Death in Sydney Takes Another Turn

Australian Man Gets
9 Years for Killing
Gay American in 1988

UPDATED

Jun 8, 2023 4:12 AM CDT

Australian Man Gets 9 Years for Killing Gay American in 1988

'I think our family’s got some peace and I would even say closure,' Scott Johnson's brother says

(Newser) - An Australian man who admitted killing a gay American by punching him off a cliff top in Sydney in 1988 was sentenced on Thursday to nine years in prison, ending the victim's family’s 35-year battle for justice. Scott Phillip White, 52, had pleaded guilty in the New South...

Confession in 34-Year-Old Murder: 'I Pushed a Bloke'

'I Pushed a Bloke.
He Went Over the Edge'

May 2, 2022 12:02 PM CDT

'I Pushed a Bloke. He Went Over the Edge'

Australian court hears confession in 1988 murder of American Scott Johnson

(Newser) - A man told police he killed American mathematician Scott Johnson in 1988 by pushing the 27-year-old off a Sydney cliff in what prosecutors describe as a gay hate crime, a court heard on Monday. Scott White, 51, appeared in the New South Wales state Supreme Court for a sentencing hearing...

Brother's Perseverance Helps Bring Arrest in 1988 Killing

He Plunged From Cliff in 1988.
34 Years Later, an Admission

update

Jan 20, 2022 3:35 PM CST

He Plunged From Cliff in 1988. 34 Years Later, an Admission

Australia's Scott White confesses in court to killing American Scott Johnson

(Newser) - Update: An Australian man has admitted to murdering an American mathematician who fell to his death from a cliff in Sydney in 1988, reports the AP . Scott White admitted in court that he killed Scott Johnson, whose death was initially ruled a suicide. The 27-year-old Johnson was gay, and prosecutors...

30 Years After He Fell to His Death, a Ruling

They Said His 1988 Death Was
Suicide. Now, It's Definitely Not

They Said His 1988 Death Was Suicide. Now, It's Definitely Not

Australian coroner finds Scott Johnson's death was a hate crime

(Newser) - It's believed that Australia has only twice opened a third coroner's inquest into someone's death: with the infamous case of Azaria Chamberlain , the baby taken by a dingo, and with the 1988 death of a 27-year-old American mathematician. On Thursday, a coroner gave the ruling his brother...

In Dark Slice of History, Teens
Forced Gay Men Off Cliffs

Feb 1, 2017 4:03 AM CST

In Dark Slice of History, Teens Forced Gay Men Off Cliffs

Australian police now probing deaths from as long ago as 1976

(Newser) - For nearly two decades, Scott Johnson's death had been labeled a suicide. The 27-year-old's naked body was found Dec. 10, 1988, on a cliff overlooking Sydney's northern beaches, with his clothes folded above. His brother didn't buy it, and in 2005 he developed an alternate theory:...

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