A former police officer declared he had “served the state” and its people as he was found guilty of a cold case murder in the state’s south-west.
Steven Frederick Johnson, 74, was the landlord of missing Warrnambool man Christopher Jarvis when the father vanished from his home in June 2006.
The Warrnambool Supreme Court heard Jarvis’ burnt-out car was found at a popular seaside lookout in the regional town, but his body had never been located.
Police believe he was dumped in a shallow grave in the Framlingham Forest shortly after he was killed over a dispute about $2000 in unpaid rent.
Johnson had pleaded not guilty, arguing another man was responsible for Jarvis’ death.
After a jury returned a guilty verdict late on Friday, Johnson’s bail was revoked.
Family members sitting in the public gallery burst into sobs while other shook hands after the verdict was delivered.
When asked to state his name, age and occupation, Johnson stood before Justice Andrew Tinney and said: “I was a police officer for 15 years. I served this state, I served the people,” before staff intervened.
He appeared to try to speak to the victim’s distraught family seated nearby. Three of them were heard yelling back “do not speak to me” as security guards moved between the two groups.
One woman thanked Tinney before they were all ushered out.
After serving in the police force, Johnson ran a tip at Wangoom.
The jury was told Jarvis was attacked in his driveway by Johnson and another man as he tried to leave for work on June 13, 2006.
Johnson struck Jarvis to the back of the head with a starter pistol, held him down on the ground while he yelled for help, and then shot him in the ear, the court heard.
Jarvis was bleeding from the head when Johnson and the other man dragged him into the boot of his car and drove to the remote forest.
The court heard Johnson then grabbed a baseball bat from the car and struck Jarvis with force, killing him.
He and the other man then dug a shallow grave and buried Jarvis before leaving the scene.
The two men dumped Jarvis’s car at Thunder Point in Warrnambool and set fire to the vehicle, the jury was told.
Johnson and his tenant had been fighting over $2210 in rent Jarvis allegedly owed, senior Crown prosecutor Mark Gibson, KC, said.
Johnson had filed for Jarvis to vacate the Wangoom property and pay the outstanding funds, with a court hearing listed for the day after the alleged murder.
Gibson argued the dispute was Johnson’s motive to kill Jarvis.
“It’s no coincidence that Chris Jarvis went missing the day before that court case,” he said in his closing address.
“Johnson knew he had a fight on his hands.”
Defence barrister Patrick Doyle had argued his client had been happy for the court to sort out the dispute.
Doyle instead argued it was Johnson’s co-accused who was responsible for Jarvis’ death.
The man, who cannot be identified, gave evidence in the trial but repeatedly lied about Johnson’s involvement in the killing, Doyle said.
“All you have to go on is the word of a man who is a practised liar with an overwhelming incentive to stick to his story ... to get him off a murder charge,” he said.
Johnson, who was charged in March 2025, was remanded in custody before a pre-sentence hearing on December 14.
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