Scott Philip White,50,shocked his legal team when he was arraigned at a pre-trial hearing in the NSW Supreme Court on Monday and told the court he was guilty of murdering the 27-year-old gay mathematician,whose body was found at the bottom of a cliff near Manly’s North Head in 1988.
Scott Johnson's body was found at the base of a cliff at North Head on December 10,1988.Supplied
Supreme Court Justice Helen Wilson asked White’s barrister Belinda Rigg whether he spoke in error,but she was unable to say for certain. As the court “can’t be assured that was simply a mistake”,Justice Wilson said,the court adjourned the pretrial argument – due to determine the admissibility of evidence at the trial set down for May – and hear instead an application to vacate the plea.
Justice Wilson observed White was “very emphatic” and repeated the words “guilty” or “I’m guilty” at least three times “in a manner which was very determined and very firm,and using a loud and clear voice”.
But Ms Rigg told the court that,while her client was not unfit to plead,he suffered from stress and anxiety and required support for an intellectual disability,and was distressed prior to his appearance in court on Monday.
The court heard White had raised an intention to plead guilty on several prior occasions,but Ms Rigg said these were moments of high stress and,after calming down,he accepted legal advice that he had a strong case,and to proceed with the trial.
Police arrested Scott White in May 2020.Supplied
After declaring his guilt on Monday,White apologised to his lawyers,telling them he appreciated their work “but I can’t handle it”.
A transcript of the conference with his lawyers was tendered to the court,and Justice Wilson said it “stuck out” to her that White asserted it wasn’t a “split – I take that to mean a split second – decision”.
On Thursday,the judge refused to grant White leave to withdraw his plea and convicted him of the murder. She also lifted a non-publication order in place that had prevented media from reporting the proceedings.
White’s conviction comes more than 30 years after a bungled police investigation and subsequent inquest concluded that Scott Johnson had died by suicide.
US mathematician Scott Johnson’s death was initially declared a suicide after police failed to identify the location as a gay beat.Supplied
Police had incorrectly told the first coroner that the area around the cliff was not a gay beat,a place where homosexual men gathered for sexual liaisons. A second inquest returned an open finding.
In 2017,following years of campaigning by Mr Johnson’s family led by his brother Steve,a third inquest into the death not only established that the cliff area was a gay beat,but also heard from gay men that it was frequented by gay-bashing gangs.
That inquest found Mr Johnson had most likely died as a result of an alleged “gay-hate attack” – either thrown,hounded or frightened off the cliff by at least two people motivated by anti-gay bigotry.
The following year,a $1 million reward was offered,and led police to narrow their investigation to focus on “a particular person of interest”. The amount was then increased to $2 million when Mr Johnson’s brother Steve,a self-made millionaire,matched it.
White was arrested in May 2020,and the court heard he had made a confession to police which he later withdrew.
Ms Rigg indicated her client intended to appeal against his conviction. He is due to return to court for sentencing on May 2.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories,analysis and insights.Sign up.