MAINTAINS INNOCENCE

Aussie Court Overturns Conviction in American Gay Man’s Murder

Scott White revoked his earlier guilty plea in the murder of U.S. mathematician Scott Johnson, claiming innocence.

An Australian appeals court has overturned the murder conviction of the man jailed for killing American mathematician Scott Johnson in what has been deemed a gay hate crime. More than 30 years after Johnson’s body was discovered at the bottom of cliffs in the beachside suburb of Manly in 1988, Scott White’s conviction and 12-year prison sentence—which was handed down in May—were quashed by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal despite his prior admission of guilt in January. White signed a statement half an hour after the guilty plea maintaining his innocence. In court, his lawyers argued the guilty plea was made when their client was “confused” and “stressed.” White is cognitively impaired. The 52-year-old is now likely to stand trial in the NSW Supreme Court for the murder. At the time of Johnson’s death, police initially ruled the 27-year-old died by suicide, refusing to investigate further. But Steve Johnson, the victim’s brother, began pushing for the case to be reexamined after insisting his brother died in a gay hate crime, and a second investigation was launched in 2012.