Man jailed for gay hate murder of mathematician wins appeal, to face trial

A man jailed for the gay hate murder of a US man has had his conviction overturned, after a court accepted he should be able to withdraw his guilty plea.

A man jailed for the gay hate murder of mathematician Scott Johnson at Manly has sensationally had his conviction quashed on appeal.

Scott Phillip White shocked his lawyers earlier this year when he pleaded guilty to the murder of Johnson more than three decades after the 27-year-old American’s naked body was found at the base of a cliff in Manly.

“Guilty. I’m guilty. Guilty”, White said loudly over the top of the court officer reading out the charge sheet during a pre-trial hearing in the NSW Supreme Court in January.

White had proclaimed his innocence and repeatedly instructed his legal representatives that he intended to plead not guilty before his surprise plea.

Scott Johnson, 27, was found naked at the base of a cliff at Sydney's North Head in 1988. Picture: Supplied.

Justice Helen Wilson sentenced White to a 12-year and seven-month term of imprisonment, with a non-parole period of eight years and three months, backdated to when he first entered custody in May 2020.

Later that morning, White signed a statement saying he had been “confused”, “stressed” and worried about his ex-wife “coming after me” when he declared he was guilty in the courtroom.

“I maintain that I didn’t cause Scott Johnson’s death. I want to confirm my plea of Not Guilty. I want to go ahead with my hearing and my trial,” White wrote in the statement.

He lodged an appeal against the conviction, arguing he should have been allowed to reverse his plea.

And on Friday the Court of Criminal Appeal granted him leave to appeal, quashing his conviction and remitting the matter to the Supreme Court.

Scott Phillip White has successfully had his conviction quashed. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Chief Justice Andrew Bell and Justices Richard Button and Natalie Adams also set aside Justice Wilson’s earlier dismissal of White’s application to withdraw the plea of guilty.

Johnson’s body was found by a fisherman on rocks at the base of the headland at Blue Fish Point at North Head in 1988.

Police initially believed Johnson took his own life and the case went cold for decades despite his family advocating for further investigation and three coronial inquests into his death.

The first inquest in 1989 found Johnson died by suicide and a second in 2012 returned an open finding.

A third inquest in 2017 found he fell to his death as a result of actual or threatened violence by unidentified persons who attacked him because he was gay.

Police interviewed White in 2020 after his ex-wife tipped off authorities.

White is expected to face trial at a later date.