NSW police lose urt bid to exclu Stt Johnson killg om gay hate quiry | Sydney | The Guardian

Contents:

• HOW THE 1988 GAY HATE CRIME MURR OF STT JOHNSON SYDNEY WAS ROLVED
• STT JOHNSON: MAN NFS TO 1988 GAY HATE MURR
• DEEP WATER: WERE 30 UNSOLVED SYDNEY ATHS REALLY GAY HATE CRIM?
• SYDNEY MAN GETS 12 YEARS FOR MURRG GAY AMERIN 1988
• STT JOHNSON: NVICTN FOR MURR OF GAY US STUNT SYDNEY QUASHED
• NSW POLICE LOSE URT BID TO EXCLU STT JOHNSON KILLG OM GAY HATE QUIRY
• BONDI RISE MEMORIAL HONOURS VICTIMS OF SYDNEY GAY HATE CRIM DURG 1970S TO 1990S
• NSW ERNMENT ANNOUNC QUIRY TO SYDNEY'S UNSOLVED GAY AND TRANSGENR HATE CRIM, MURRS
• NSW QUIRY TO VTIGATE 40 YEARS OF UNSOLVED SYDNEY GAY HATE ATHS
• WHEN GANGS KILLED GAY MEN FOR SPORT: ATRALIA REVIEWS 88 DEATHS
• ATRALIAN MAN FAC POSSIBLE LIFE SENTENCE FOR PHG GAY AMERIN TO HIS ATH OM A SYDNEY CLIFF
• ATRALIAN DOCUMENTARY INVTIGAT SPIC DEATHS OF 88 GAY MEN SYDNEY: WATCH

HOW THE 1988 GAY HATE CRIME MURR OF STT JOHNSON SYDNEY WAS ROLVED

From the 1970s, gay men were found sla parks, hom or washed onto sharp rocks below Sydney’s seclud gay cy’s buddg LGBTIQ muny was beg targeted while much of the muny looked vlence reached a bloody crcendo the late ’80s and early ’90s fuelled by a “moral panic” triggered by the HIV epimic.

Among them was 25-year-old WIN Televisn newsrear Ross Warren whose keys were found at the base of a cliff at a Tamarama gay beat body was never found but homophobic youths were known to be lnchg attacks on gay men the area to assert masculy or as gang iatn. The mystery surroundg the gay hate crime murr of Stt Johnson has been one of Atralia's most puzzlg and emotnally three ronial quts, a rerd $2 ln reward and the persistence of fay members and police, a killer has now been nvicted. Detectiv arrted Whe at his Lane Cove home on Sydney's north shore May 2020 and charged him wh wasn't known to police before an rmant me forward wh rmatn, but tectiv said he wasn't surprised when police knocked on his years earlier, the NSW ernment had announced a $1 ln reward for rmatn that lead to the arrt and nvictn of Mr Johnson's 2020, his brother Steve Johnson doubled the reward by makg a personal ntributn of $1 ln — the first of s kd reward and last year's arrt followed two police vtigatns and three ronial first, 1989, found Mr Johnson mted suici — somethg his brother and fay had always open fdg was returned the June 2012 qut and wasn't until 2017 that then-roner Michael Barn led the ath was the rult of a gay hate Force Welsford was set up soon after by NSW Police, led by Detective Chief Inspector Peter said police had fought long and hard to break through a wall of silence volvg two groups wh rmatn – those who were volved the attack and those who were told.

(Supplied: NSW Police)Durg the fal qut, was also unvered how police failed to vtigate many gay hate crim that took place Sydney over s, spe many 2017 qut heard that a group of Narrabeen skheads had bragged about assltg an "Amerin faggot" around the same time Mr Johnson had qut was also told that soldiers at the Army School of Artillery at North Head ed to brag about attackg gay men and nsired "fun and gam". "For the dozens of other gay men who lost their liv the 1980s and '90s, a world full of anti-gay prejudice and hatred, " he last year, the NSW ernment announced an quiry to btal hate crim mted agast members of Sydney's gay muny between 1970 and 2010.

STT JOHNSON: MAN NFS TO 1988 GAY HATE MURR

Image source, Steve JohnsonImage ptn, Stt me to Atralia 1986 om the USA man has fally nfsed to the murr of Cambridge Universy graduate Stt Johnson after more than 30 27-year-old's naked body was found at the bottom of North Head cliffs, a well known gay cisg ground Sydney, Atralia, back the time, his ath was led as suici - somethg his fay never Whe was arrted and charged 2020, and this week unexpectedly plead guilty at a pre-trial lawyers attempted to have the admissn whdrawn, argug that Whe, 50, was not mentally on Thursday, a Supreme Court judge rejected that motn, wrg the plea was entered " a loud clear voice, and an emphatic and termed manner". "It was nceivable to me that Stt went somewhere and jumped off a cliff, " his brother Steve told Rad 1 Newsbeat 2018, when he was sperately mpaigng for the tth behd his brother's 2005 Steve says he beme aware of quts to siar aths of gay men at Bondi Beach Sydney - the moment when he says he "woke up" to what might have happened to his younger lol police showed ltle tert re-openg Stt's se, Steve hired an vtigator who unvered urt rerds of gangs who roamed northern beach Sydney at the time mtg asslts agast gay source, Steve JohnsonImage ptn, Steve (left) has spent more than 30 years tryg to fd out the tth about his brother Stt's athAll the years later, Steve told ABC that he was grateful a trial uld be avoid. On both ocsns police found nothg to nvce them Stt hadn't taken his own November 2017 a roner led Stt had been murred by a gay hate gang, which led to a new was timated up to 80 gay men were murred by homophobic gangs and around Sydney the late eighti - wh many phed off third qut created a lot of publicy, wh Atralian police eventually renewg their vtigatn and offerg a $1m reward for rmatn, wh Steve reportedly offerg an addnal $ rerds show "a strike force" was assembled, and followg rmatn received om a member of the public, foc turned to Stt was arrted and charged wh murr on 12 May source, Steve JohnsonImage ptn, Steve says he spent summers wh his brother travellg, readg philosophy and dog maths togetherNew South Wal Police Commissner Mick Fuller prevly said Stt's ath was one of the most challengg s he's ever worked on - mostly bee no-one was willg to talk about his murr.

Stt moved om the US to Atralia 1986 bee, at the time, domtic partnership laws (siar to civil partnership) were some of the most clive the homosexualy had only been crimalised New South Wal 1984 and Steve believ police did not take hate crim serly at the time of his brother's source, Steve JohnsonImage ptn, Stt moved to Atralia 1986 to be wh a man he met at Cambridge Universy"The gay muny were send class cizens. In 2012 the New South Wal puty state roner Carmel Forb overturned the suici fdg but uld not terme how he police have formed Operatn Parrabell, a team of eight tectiv who will apply an FBI measure of hate bias – creria to terme if a crime is motivated by bias agast, for stance, sexual orientatn – to see if as many as 88 Sydney aths datg om the 1970s onward, cludg 30 unsolved s, were gay hate s were marked suici or e unknown, but past police nclns are now beg lled to qutn.

DEEP WATER: WERE 30 UNSOLVED SYDNEY ATHS REALLY GAY HATE CRIM?

A new SBS vtigatn has unvered “ser mistak” were ma the ial vtigatns, cludg the misspellg of one ad man’s Johnson tells Guardian Atralia that applyg the FBI hate bias creria is unlikely to unver gay hate crim bee the strgent checklist requir s to be solved, perpetrators to be intified and their hatred of victims to be proclaimed. The aim is to attract a natnal dience to the story, and to unver more possible gay hate crim and murrs producer, Darren Dale, says he was spired by hearg 2012 about the murr of Ahmed Ghoniem, who was found Sydney apartment wh multiple stab wounds and blunt trma juri.

Shawn Seet, the director of the ld Canberra polil drama The Co, is at the the prent day, fictnal Detective Senr Constable Tori Ltigman, played by Yael Stone of Orange Is the New Black, her own DNA to see if match DNA found on a piece of lead pipg, which she spects may be her gay brother’s. Photograph: Sean O'Reilly/SBSThe ‘gay ATM’It was not until 2005, 17 years after Stt Johnson’s ath, that Steve realised his beloved brother might have died vlently: he had been sent a clippg about the vlent aths of three other gay men year the NSW senr puty state roner Jacquele Milledge found that the televisn newsrear Ross Warren, 25, and barman John Rsell, 31, had been murred two separate attacks 1989, most probably thrown off a cliff at Bondi’s Marks Park, which was known as a gay beat. His brother says this was an implsible ncln: many gay men have told his vtigatn that the area had been a popular beat sce the 1960s but gay men were often too sred to report asslts bee “police treated them like perpetrators, not victims”’s vtigatn also clud terviewg former gay-bashg gang members, who had sentially operated wh impuny bee there was still a “lot of hatred towards gays”, he says.

Image source, Steve JohnsonImage ptn, Stt Johnson (pictured) was killed 1988An Atralian man who nfsed to killg US mathematician Stt Johnson 1988 has had his nvictn overturned on Whe was sentenced to jail May, 33 years after Mr Johnson's body was found at the base of cliffs ath was led as suici at the time, but his fay have long believed was a gay hate Whe, who is gnively impaired, matas he did not kill Mr lawyers succsfully argued the 52-year-old's guilty plea was ma when he was "nfed" and "strsed" Whe - who was 18 at the time of the alleged murr at North Head Manly - had surprised his legal team when he clared "I am guilty" durg a pre-trial hearg the New South Wal Supreme Court half an hour, he had signed a statement sayg he didn't kill the 27-year-old and had ma the plea bee he was worried his ex-wife - who claimed he had nfsed the killg to her - would "e after" the urt rejected an attempt by Mr Whe's lawyers to whdraw the plea and he was sentenced to eight years and three months Friday, the NSW Appeal Court found that the applitn to whdraw the plea should be nsired aga, settg asi Mr Whe's nvictn and the applitn is succsful, Mr Whe may face a retrial. Speakg outsi urt, the tective charge of vtigatg Mr Johnson's ath, Peter Yeomans, said the man's US-based fay were "very disappoted" wh the Johnson's brother Steve mpaigned for s for the se to be re-vtigated and lled the sentence May a "relief" police force has prevly apologised to the fay for not vtigatg the se properly the 1980s and failg to protect the gay is now timated up to 80 gay men were murred Sydney around that perd - wh many phed off Jtice Helen Wilson May found there was not enough evince to tablish Mr Johnson's ath was a gay hate crime, she termed that his sexualy had "fed [Mr Whe's] difference to his victim's fate" on this story. A bid by New South Wal police to exclu a high-profile killg om a gay hate quiry has been ath of US mathematician Stt Johnson is one of dozens of s unr the spotlight at a special missn of quiry to spected gay hate crim Sydney between 1970 and 27-year-old died after he was punched at a gay beat on Sydney’s northern beach.

SYDNEY MAN GETS 12 YEARS FOR MURRG GAY AMERIN 1988

In the latt velopment, Stt Phillip Whe plead guilty to throwg the punch that ultimately ed Johnson to fall to his month, jtice Robert Beech-Jon dismissed “what appears to be an absurd suggtn [by police] that Dr Johnson killed himself” when sentencg Whe to ne years past newsletter promotnafter newsletter promotnNSW police had argued Johnson’s ath was outsi the current quiry’s terms of reference on the basis the matter was not unsolved, the man rponsible for his ath intified as gay and a sentencg judge did not fd the ath to be motivated by gay the quiry’s missner, jtice John Sackar, on Tuday led s terms of reference were much wir and answers to qutns such as how and why Johnson died were still not urt did not make a fdg beyond reasonable doubt that Whe was motivated by gay hate, but did not le out the possibily, he is due to hand down his fal report next month. An elrly man om Victoria has been charged wh the murr of a father almost 35 years ago what police say was a gay-hate crime based on a false perceptn of his sexual pots:Raymond Keam died om severe head juri 1987The alleged murr was examed by a taskforce set up to vtigate gay hate motivThe AIDS Council of NSW said was a step closer to jtice for other victimsStan Early, 75, was arrted at a home Melbourne's south-east and was extraded across the NSW borr, where he spent the night behd bars at Albury Police allege the Clayton man was rponsible for the ath of Raymond Keam, 43, whose body was found grass at Alison Park Randwick January 1987. (Supplied)The martial arts expert died om "severe head juri", wh a 1988 ronial qut revealg he was likely stck by a person or persons alleged murr was examed by tectiv om Strike Force taskforce was set up to vtigate whether there was a gay-hate motive behd the aths of 88 men between 1976 and 2000 — cludg that of Stt Johnson.

STT JOHNSON: NVICTN FOR MURR OF GAY US STUNT SYDNEY QUASHED

"It was part of life beg a gay man Sydney at the time, you were aware of the hate crim … uld've been me, rather than the people I know, " Mr Wotherspoon lived through the 70s to 90s, a dark chapter of the Harbour Cy's history where dozens of mal were sla btal fashn. The NSW ernment has announced an quiry to btal hat crim mted agast members of Sydney's gay muny over 40 pots:The quiry will have the power to pel wns to prent evinceLiberal MP and gay man Shayne Mallard said was an emotnal dayHe said there was evince of at least 88 gay and transgenr murrsIn July 1989, 25-year-old newsrear Ross Warren disappeared om Sydney's eastern r had been parked on a street near the popular gay beat Marks Park, and his keys were found at the bottom of a cliff closed his se jt three weeks later, whout lotg his is spected to be among the dozens of men murred  Sydney through the 1980s and will form the basis of a judicial quiry announced by the NSW ernment on Wednday.

"Details about the ntent of the quiry, cludg s terms of reference, are yet to be month a memorial was unveiled at Marks Park Tamarama, the se of many spected murrs, to acknowledge and honour the victims of gay hate 4 Nov 2021Thu 4 Nov 2021 at 1:20am, updated 4 Nov 2021Thu 4 Nov 2021 at 3:29am. A 75-year-old Melbourne man has ma no applitn for bail after beg extraded to NSW and charged wh the murr of Raymond Keam, which police allege was mted based on a “perceptn” of his sexual orientatn durg a strg of gay hate crim body of Mr Keam, 43, was found grass at Alison Park Randwick, the cy’s eastern suburbs, January 1987.

He was charged wh an outstandg terstate warrant for Police homici squad manr Detective Supertennt Danny Doherty said on Thursday that Mr Early was also known as Stanley Keam’s ath was one of 88 killgs that occurred between 1976 and 2000 that were reviewed by police as part of Strike Force Parrabell for havg potential gay-hate bias, as well as allegatns of liberate police actn. “They were very happy wh the news, even though they’ve gone through such a sad, grievg time, ” he Police Mister David Elltt said the velopment was “proof posive” vtigators would go to the “nth gree” and never give up, and that an creased reward was a wonrful tool the ernment uld offer to lead to closure and hopefully a extend heartfelt ndolenc to the fay of Mr Keam, who he said had been the prime of his life and did not serve to die the “llo way that he did” Keam’s ath is alleged to have been among a strg of gay hate crim mted Sydney om the ner cy to the Bondi-Tamarama cliff topsy revealed he died om severe head juri and a 1988 ronial qut found he had died due to beg stck by an unknown person or Keam’s partner Diane Smart and adult children spoke about the murr June.

NSW POLICE LOSE URT BID TO EXCLU STT JOHNSON KILLG OM GAY HATE QUIRY

The unvarnished fact is that late at night, Marks Park, a grassy verge ppg the headland and the ncrete pathway skirtg the cliff face, had been a gay beat – a place where homosexual men would socialise and hook up – sce at least the late 1920s. Gangs like the Bondi Boys (otherwise known by their graffi tag PTK, or People that Kill) would prowl here, rryg out brazen acts of vlence; ’s likely that at least a few were serial offenrs; perpetrators of an anti-gay murr spree that swept across Sydney at the is no simple whodunn; volv a tangled tale of hate crim volvg multiple spects, gangs prisg up to 30 members, some of whom circulated among other gangs across Sydney, posg a dark mosaic of murr.

This is a lot more than n be said for the other men killed here, or for that matter, the vast majory of other murrs of gay men blightg Sydney at the a year to the day earlier, on another eezg night July 1989, Ross Warren, a handsome, charismatic weatherman and newsrear om WIN-TV Wollongong, vanished on this headland the early hours of a Saturday morng. ”In what was perhaps another watershed moment this year, a 75-year-old man was arrted for the murr of Raymond Keam, a martial arts expert and father of two who was found beaten to ath January 1987 at Alison Park, Randwick, then a well-known gay beat Sydney’s east. As Sue Thompson, a former state ombudsman’s vtigator who joed the police force 1990 to ordate s liaison wh the gay and lbian muny, tells me the podst: “Cliffs were the easit weapon; you didn’t have to rry anythg wh you.

BONDI RISE MEMORIAL HONOURS VICTIMS OF SYDNEY GAY HATE CRIM DURG 1970S TO 1990S

Activists splattered red pat over 11 cy buildgs, cludg state parliament, the Downg Centre urt plex, and the headquarters of Channel 10 and The Sydney Morng Herald, then loted Jon Street, class were sprgg up ner-cy gyms and muny groups, and a group of gay volunteers – some of them former members of the army, navy and police force – began foot patrols along Oxford Street and Darlghurst Street foot patrol RtersStill, the murrs ntued. In May, one of their own, social science teacher Wayne Tonks, was murred his Artarmon apartment by two young men (not his stunts) was outrage when the so-lled gay panic fence, a cel wrkle the law that enabled killers to claim an alleged sexual advance provoked them to a murro rage, was ed the murr trial of Christopher McKnon, arrted for killg Mrice McCarty, a technician wh the Atralian Ballet, April 1991. ”Parkhill nces that the culture of the NSW police force reflected broar societal norms of the time, although possibly exacerbated by a mostly male staff and the AIDS crisis, which provid those wh an agenda agast gay men wh the perfect ammunn to stigmatise the LGBTQ muny even more.

NSW ERNMENT ANNOUNC QUIRY TO SYDNEY'S UNSOLVED GAY AND TRANSGENR HATE CRIM, MURRS

Whe was 18 and homels when he met 27-year-old Los Angel-born Johnson at a bar suburban Manly December 1988 and went wh him to a nearby cliff top at North ’s former wife Helen Whe told police 2019 that her then-hband had bragged about beatg gay men and had said the only good gay man was a ad gay told the urt on Monday that her hband had told her Johnson had n off the cliff. NSW Premier Domic Perrottet has announced the most extensive quiry to dozens of Sydney gay hate aths that have gone unsolved some s for more than half a pots:Gay hate crim were rampant durg the 1980s and 1990s SydneyA parliamentary mtee prevly found police failed to vtigate many spected gay hate murrsThe upg quiry will have signifint powers, cludg the summong of wnsThe special missn of quiry will be led by Supreme Court judge John Sackar and will vtigate 88 unsolved murrs mted agast LGBTQI people om 1970 to is thought the quiry may lead to new evince beg unvered or brg prevly unreported crim to light. A spate of btal bashgs and murrs Sydney brought terror to the LGBTQI muny for s and police were often not terted vtigatg the gangs targeted gay men parks and toilets, and victims were often found at the bottom of such se was the murr of Amerin mathematician Stt Johnson, who was found ad at the base of a cliff near Manly's North Head.

NSW QUIRY TO VTIGATE 40 YEARS OF UNSOLVED SYDNEY GAY HATE ATHS

(Supplied: NSW Police)A judicial quiry was one of the key remendatns of a 2018 parliamentary mtee to gay and transgenr hate crim, which found NSW Police were different to such crim and failed to properly vtigate them at the time. NSW Police tablished Strike Force Parrabell 2013 to vtigate the murrs of 86 gay men and found a third of the killgs were a rult of gay Strike Force found the AIDS crisis fuelled homophobia but nclud was "almost impossible" to intify a "gay-hate bias" om police vtigators workg on the s.

But the police, many of whom had a reputatn for hostily toward gay men, often rried out perfunctory vtigatns that overlooked the possibily of homici, former officials and police officers the police New South Wal, the state that clus Sydney, are reviewg the aths of 88 men between 1976 and 2000 to terme whether they should be classified as anti-gay hate 30 of the s rema unsolved, and the police have not said how many of the killgs were tied to gangs. Uniformed officers now march Sydney’s annual Gay and Lbian Mardi Gras Para, which drew a quarter-ln spectators last year and was attend for the first time by a prime mister, Mallm if the laws were changg slowly the 1980s — New South Wal crimalized sex between men only 1984 — society, cludg the police, was even slower to do so. ”Rearchers who have studied the matter say the gangs were loose allianc of young men, teenage boys and sometim girls who looked for victims to harass and asslt at Sydney’s so-lled gay beats — plac where gay men were known to meet, cludg seclud spots on the cliffs.

WHEN GANGS KILLED GAY MEN FOR SPORT: ATRALIA REVIEWS 88 DEATHS

He was found below a gay hangout, but the lol police officer who rpond to the ll ttified that he had not known that at the police found no signs of a stggle at the cliff top, but there had been a storm that uld have washed such evince away.

ATRALIAN MAN FAC POSSIBLE LIFE SENTENCE FOR PHG GAY AMERIN TO HIS ATH OM A SYDNEY CLIFF

ATRALIAN DOCUMENTARY INVTIGAT SPIC DEATHS OF 88 GAY MEN SYDNEY: WATCH