Steven Frederick Johnson found guilty of murdering Christopher Jarvis in 2006 cold case

Steven Frederick Johnson, a 74-year-old former police officer, has been found guilty of murdering Christopher Jarvis, his tenant, in a dispute over $2,210 in unpaid rent.

A Supreme Court jury delivered the verdict after a 21-day trial in Warrnambool, which heard that Johnson orchestrated a violent attack on Jarvis, resulting in his death and the destruction of his body and car.

Christopher Jarvis, 38, disappeared from his Wangoom home near Warrnambool on June 13, 2006, and his body has never been found. The court heard that Johnson murdered Jarvis with a baseball bat before dumping his body in bushland and setting fire to his car.

Members of Jarvis's family cheered and celebrated in court when the verdict was delivered, while Johnson's family members sat in shock. Johnson had pleaded not guilty to one charge of murder.

The jury deliberated for four days before returning a guilty verdict. No bail application was made, and Johnson will return to court for a sentencing hearing on December 14.

Speaking outside court, Jarvis's family spoke of their relief at the guilty verdict. "It's been the longest 20 years to finally get what we've wanted — a little bit of closure, so we can hopefully move on," his daughter, Bree, said.

Jarvis's son, Cale, said he hoped Johnson "rots in his dirty little cell for the rest of his life, and thinks about his actions".

The murder was initially treated as a missing person case, before police began reinvestigating and arrested Johnson in 2022. The Supreme Court heard that Johnson fired a starter pistol in Jarvis's ear on the day of the attack before bundling him into his own car.

Johnson then drove Jarvis to the nearby Framlingham Forest, where he killed him by hitting him over the head with a baseball bat and buried him in a shallow grave. Prosecutors believe Christopher Jarvis's body is somewhere in Framlingham Forest, near Warrnambool.

The murder was carried out the day before the men were due to appear at a contested hearing in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) over the rental dispute.