A Thousand Miles From Care

A gripping and heartbreaking story, A DEATH IN MANLY tells the 30 year quest Steve Johnson undertook to uncover the truth about his brilliant brother’s brutal murder in Manly.

At the entrance of Sydney Harbor, the cliffs rise fourteen stories above the Pacific, like a gigantic skirt made of sandstone. North Head, one of the most memorable cliffs, is a gorgeous place to watch the sunrise. But it’s an unforgiving place to lose your footing. When Steve Johnson’s younger brother Scott went over the edge in 1988, he hit an outcrop on the way down and exploded on the rocks below.

A DEATH IN MANLY draws upon the mountain of exclusive materials Steve amassed over his 32-year quest, including sealed court transcripts, police records, interviews with suspects, inquest reports, correspondence with gang members, private investigations, and much else. It utilizes unique details, interview transcripts and insights based on Johnson’s close relationship with authorities and high-ranking New South Wales officials developed over more than three decades.

This profoundly impactful book traces the steps Steve Johnson and his family and friends took to solve an alleged suicide turned murder, navigating an openly hostile police force and a maze of dead ends, unreliable informants, skinhead gangs, a faked confession, police-connected drug rings, and setbacks at every turn. All of it ends with an extraordinary turnaround by police who, with an operation worthy of Mission Impossible, apprehended a suspect, 32 years after Scott’s death.