“It should be understood that the court is not sentencing a violent and reckless young man for a targeted attack on a gay man,” Wilson said.
White had a record of violent crime before and after the murder but had not committed any offense since 2008. She said she only became aware of a reward when the victim’s brother, Steve Johnson, doubled the sum in 2020. Under cross-examination on Monday, Helen White denied she had been aware of a 1 million Australian dollar ($704,000) reward for information on Johnson’s murder when she went to police in 2019. Wilson did not accept the defense lawyers’ argument that Helen White had been motivated to report him to police by a reward. Johnson must have been terrified, aware that he would strike the rocks below and conscious of his fate,” Wilson added. “In those seconds when he must have realized what was happening to him, Dr. Johnson, causing him to stumble backwards and leave the cliff edge,” Wilson said.
Wilson said it was not possible to draw any conclusions beyond a reasonable doubt about what had happened at the clifftop. Scott White told police that he was himself gay and frightened that his homophobic brother would find out. She told the court on Monday that her husband had told her Johnson had run off the cliff.
NATO Talks With Finland, Sweden Falter But Will Continue
