Australian Man Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison for Gay American's 1988 Manslaughter
U.S. News & World Report SYDNEY (AP) An Australian man who admitted to killing a gay American by punching him off a cliff top in Sydney in 1988 was sentenced on Thursday to nine years in prison.
Scott Phillip White, 52, had pleaded guilty in the New South Wales state Supreme Court to Los Angeles-born Scott Johnsons manslaughter.
White had pleaded guilty last year to the then-27-year-olds murder a greater crime and had been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison. But he changed his mind and had the murder conviction overturned on appeal.
Manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 25 years.
Having already served part of his sentence, White will be eligible for release on parole in 2026.
Not much is known of the death beyond a punch on a cliff, a fall from a cliff and decades of pain and grief that followed, Justice Robert Beech-Jones said during sentencing on Thursday.
