Australian man sentenced to 9 years in prison for gay American’s 1988 manslaughter
- Scott Phillip White pleaded guilty last year to the murder of Scott Johnson – a greater crime – and had been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison
- Johnson’s death was originally thought to be a suicide but police eventually opened an investigation into what they suspected was a gay hate crime in 2012
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 Wales state Supreme Court to Los Angeles-born Scott Johnson’s manslaughter.
White had pleaded guilty last year to the then-27-year-old’s murder – a greater crime – and had been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison. But he changed his mind and had the murder conviction overturned on appeal.
He was pressured into a plea deal after police intercepted a prison phone call between White and a niece in October last year in which he confessed to striking his victim at the cliff top.
Manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 25 years.
Having already served part of his sentence, White will be eligible for release on parole in 2026.
“Not much is known of the death beyond a punch on a cliff, a fall from a cliff and decades of pain and grief that followed,” Justice Robert Beech-Jones said during sentencing on Thursday.
