Tensions between police and the family of Scott Johnson, a US citizen who died near Blue Fish Point in Manly in 1988, are at boiling point after the NSW coroner granted a third inquest into the death on Monday.
Speaking to Lateline on Monday evening, Detective Chief Inspector Pamela Young, who from 2013 headed a two-year investigation into the death, suggested then-NSW Police Minister Mike Gallacher had been unduly influenced by Scott Johnson's brother, Steve, to give the case an unusual amount of attention.
Since then, counsel for the Johnson family, John Agius SC, has written to the NSW Police Force requesting Young be removed from the investigation into Johnson's death.
Scott Johnson was a PhD student who had moved to Australia to live with his partner, Michael Noone. His body was found at the bottom of a cliff at North Head near Manly, known as a gay beat at the time. His clothes were placed "in a neat bundle" at the top of the cliff.
On Monday, NSW Coroner Michael Barnes ordered an extremely rare third inquest into Johnson’s death.
The first inquest, held in 1989, ruled the death a suicide. At a second inquest in 2012, Deputy State Coroner Carmel Forbes threw out the suicide verdict and recorded an open finding.
In February 2013, the investigation headed by Young began. It provided no new evidence "directly related to Scott being murdered", Young said outside court on Monday.
However, Johnson's family remain convinced he was killed in a homophobic attack. Agius told the Glebe Coroner's Court on Monday that a new inquest could only bring the finding of death by unlawful homicide.
Agius said a private investigation had found 50 persons of interest and identified five gangs who were known to violently attack gay men in same area that Johnson died.
There is "not a skerrick of evidence" that Johnson might have committed suicide, said Agius, adding there is "no reason to suspect [Johnson], with all of his senses, could have met an accidental death."
In an interview on ABC’s Lateline on Monday, Det. Chief Inspector Young slammed the conduct of former NSW police minister Mike Gallacher, saying he had prioritised the Johnson family over 700 other cases in the Unsolved Homicide Unit.
Young told Lateline she was called to a meeting between Gallacher and the Johnson family in Feburary 2013, the day after the investigation into Johnson's death was featured on Australian Story. Young said she was directed to prioritise the Strike Force Macnamir investigation, and a $100,000 reward for information into Johnson's death was offered.
Young described Gallacher's conduct as "absolutely improper, and wrong on every level in relation to homicide investigation". Young also implied that Steve Johnson's wealth – he is an IT entrepreneur who has spent over $1 million investigating his brother's death – factored in to the increased attention on the case.
The following day, also on Lateline, Gallacher responded to the comments, saying he had not behaved improperly and would meet with any victim or family who requested it.
"There was never a direction given to police and I vehemently deny that allegation in the strongest possible terms," he said.
Daniel Glick, a journalist, private investigator, and friend of the Johnson family, attended the meeting with Gallacher, Young, and Steve Johnson in February 2013. However, he strongly disputes any allegations of unfair influence on Steve Johnson’s part.
Glick told BuzzFeed News he and Steve Johnson had never met Mr Gallacher prior to this meeting, and were "stunned" by Young's demeanour. "She was just sitting there as if she was waiting to get all of her teeth pulled at a dentist's office," he said.
Glick described Young's accusations of Steve Johnson exerting pressure on Mike Gallacher as "another one of those baffling statements".
"We had never met Mike Gallacher prior to that meeting, we had spoken to a member of his staff and asked for a meeting. I don't know what undue influence means in Pamela Young's eyes," he said. "If there's any suggestion that Steve Johnson paid any member of the NSW government present, future or past, for any favours, that would be 100% inaccurate".
Young also described to Lateline the initial 1989 investigation into Johnson's death as "not at all" flawed, saying it was "to the standard of the day".
Glick told BuzzFeed News that if this was the case, then "the standard was very, very low".
"They didn't interview any member of the family. They didn't try to find the last people that spoke to Scott. They didn't try to retrace his steps. They moved the clothes before they took pictures of the crime scene," Glick said.
Speaking outside court after the coroner’s decision on Monday, Steve Johnson said the police had “rushed to judgement” in the 1989 inquest into his brother’s death.
"I came into this same building 26 years ago in 1989 when the police had rushed to judgement as they've done in so many other deaths of gay men in Sydney during that time and decided Scott had committed suicide with no evidence," Steve Johnson said.
"The second inquest in 2012 considered the family's investigative work – no police investigation had been done at that time – so we really see this as the first inquest and are so grateful for it."
The matter will be next be heard in Coroner's Court in late November.