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Posted by Melanie Nathan June 6, 2014

Journalist Susan Donaldson James has encapsulated the astounding story behind a documentary film to be be shown in the U.S.A., throughout June, on the World Channel, associated with PBS, as part of series of programs for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride month. The story reflects Internet pioneer Steve Johnson’s  quest for answers and justice in the mystery surrounding his younger brother’s death more than two decades ago. It was not a suicide, as ruled, but murder –- the result of a gay-bashing incident in Australia.

She reports:

In December 1988, Scott Johnson was celebrating the completion of his doctorate in mathematics and had everything to live for. But just days later, his naked body was found mangled on the rocks at the bottom of 164-foot-tall cliffs near Manly, just north of Sydney — a hang-out or “beat” for gays.

The 27-year-old’s clothes were found neatly folded at the top of the cliffs, and his wallet was missing. After 36 hours, New South Wales police assumed the death was a suicide as there was no evidence of foul play.

“Scott and I were as close as two brothers could be,” Johnson, now 55 and co-founder and CEO of the advertising company Choicestream, told ABC News. “He was a brilliant, idealistic young man. The day he died, he had just finished the final proof for his math Ph.D. He had just gotten off the phone with his professor who had congratulated him.”

Family and friends were baffled because Scott had shown no signs of negativity or depression. Johnson was haunted by the death, not knowing if he had slipped or been pushed. READ MORE HERE.

Johnson’s 25-year quest to find his brother’s killer is the subject of a documentary, “Australian Story: On the Precipice. It aired previously in 2013 in Australian.

The 30-minute documentary resulted last year in the New South Wales Police re-opening the cold case and offering a $100,000 reward for “information on how [he] died.”