Cold case trial told tenant was murdered over $2k in rent arrears
Steven Johnson pleads not guilty to one charge of murder, in relation to the disappearance of 38-year-old Christopher Jarvis near Warrnambool, 20 years ago.
In 2025, Steven Johnson is facing trial in the Victorian Supreme Court on a single charge of murder, following the disappearance of Christopher Jarvis in 2006. The case centers around a dispute between Johnson, who was Jarvis' landlord, and the tenant over $2,000 in unpaid rent. Jarvis went missing on June 13, 2006, with his burnt-out car discovered at Thunder Point, a coastal lookout near Warrnambool.
Prosecutors argue that Johnson hired a man to ambush Jarvis in his driveway early in the morning, causing him to bleed from the ear, and then drove Jarvis to Framlingham Forest where he was fatally struck with a baseball bat. The car was then dumped at Thunder Point and set ablaze. Johnson's defense lawyer, Pat Doyle, stated that the defense will argue Johnson had no involvement in Jarvis' disappearance and that the defense cannot determine what happened to him.
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