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Update: White was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years and 7 months in prison, according to The Associated Press.
An Australian man admitted to allegedly killing an American man in Sydney in 1988 in what has been called by prosecutors a hate crime, The Associated Press reported Monday.
Scott White allegedly admitted to police in a 2020 interview, which was played in court, that he killed Scott Johnson by pushing him off a cliff, the AP reported. White, 51, also pleaded to guilty to killing Johnson back in January, though his lawyers have attempted to appeal that, according to the outlet. Johnson was an openly gay man.
“I pushed a bloke,” White told police, according to the AP. “He went over the edge.”
White’s statement describing the incident reportedly contradicted a previous statement he made to police in which he claimed he attempted to grab Johnson and prevent him from falling.
WATCH:
In 2017, a coroner ruled Johnson’s death was the result of “actual or threatened violence by unidentified persons who attacked him because they perceived him to be homosexual,” according to the AP. The cliff where Johnson was reportedly killed was a spot known for gay meetings. (RELATED: Man Arrested For Attempted Murder, Hate Crime After Punching 67-Year-Old Asian Woman 125 Times)
Additionally, White’s former wife, Helen, alleged that White “bragged” to their kids about beating up gay men at the location, the outlet reported. She supposedly questioned her former husband about the case after she read about it in a 2008 newspaper article, but he reportedly claimed to her that the incident wasn’t his fault.
Steve Johnson, the victim’s brother, pressed authorities to continue investigating the case and offered a substantial financial reward to find the perpetrator, according to the AP.
An unnamed informant supposedly helped point police in White’s direction, the AP reported. Previously, Johnson’s death had been ruled a suicide, despite his clothes being found at the scene and his wallet being missing, also according to the outlet.
White allegedly met Johnson at a bar, according to the AP. Johnson was believed to have stripped off his clothes atop the cliff prior to his death, the outlet reported.
Johnson, who was originally from Los Angeles, was studying at Australian National University at the time of his death.
He faced up to life in prison.