White’s former wife Helen White told police in 2019 that her then-husband had bragged about beating gay men and had said the only good gay man was a dead gay man. She told the court on Monday that her husband had told her Johnson had run off the cliff. Scott White told police that he was himself gay and frightened that his homophobic brother would find out. Wilson said it was not possible to draw any conclusions beyond a reasonable doubt about what had happened at the clifftop. Johnson, causing him to stumble backwards and leave the cliff edge,” Wilson said. “In those seconds when he must have realized what was happening to him, Dr. Johnson must have been terrified, aware that he would strike the rocks below and conscious of his fate,” Wilson added. Wilson did not accept the defense lawyers’ argument that Helen White had been motivated to report him to police by a reward.
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. She said she only became aware of a reward when the victim’s brother, Steve Johnson, doubled the sum in 2020.
Outside court, Boston resident Steve Johnson thanked prosecutors and the judicial system for ensuring White was sent to prison.
