An almost unprecedented third coronial inquiry into the death of American Scott Johnson began in Sydney on Tuesday.
Accomplished mathematician Scott Johnson was found dead at the bottom of a cliff in Manly, on the northern beaches of Sydney, in December 1988.
An initial inquest held shortly after the death concluded Mr Johnson had taken his own life, but his family has never accepted that conclusion, instead believing believing he was murdered in a gay hate crime.
A second inquest in 2012 overturned the suicide finding, concluding the cause of Mr Johnson's death was an open question.
Mr Johnson's brother Steve addressed reporters during a break outside the court, renewing the family's calls for those with information to contact police.
"Scott's family hopes, I hope, that the public come forward and help us find out what happened to Scott," he said.
John Agius SC, the barrister representing the Johnson family, said gay hate crimes and so-called "poofter bashing" were common in Sydney in the late 1980s. A spike in the murders of homosexual men around this time was the focus of recent SBS investigation .
Tuesday marked the beginning of what is believed to be only the second coronial inquest in Australian legal history, with the death of baby Azaria Chamberlain case being the first.
The inquest continues Wednesday.
