MY HUNT for a KILLER

MORE THAN THREE DECADES AFTER HIS BROTHER’S MYSTERIOUS DEATH, STEVE JOHNSON REVEALS POLICE ARE DRAWING CLOSER TO AN ANSWER

- Michael Crooks

Since 1988, Steve Johnson has flown into Sydney 20 times, but not to take in the city’s famous beaches and landmarks – it’s to solve the heartbreaking mystery of his brother’s death. And this time, the American feels the answer is closer than ever. “People have come forward with information,” he tells WHO, during his latest visit in March. “And I sense the police are getting closer. So I wanted to do whatever I could to help.”

To that end, the tech entrepreneur and Harvard graduate has pledged $1 million for information into the death of his “warm, gentle, kind” brother Scott Johnson, whose naked body was found at the base of cliffs near Manly at Sydney’s North Head on December 10, 1988. The offer matches a reward NSW Police put up in 2018. Though police called Scott’s death a suicide, a ruling upheld by the initial inquest, a third inquest in 2017 found that Scott was likely a victim of gay-hate violence during a period in Sydney where gangs targeted homosexual men. Now, police have revealed their investigation is focused on a “particular individual”, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report.