Steven Johnson denies murdering tenant Christopher Jarvis over $2210 rent dispute
A landlord is on trial, accused of murdering a man who was last seen leaving his regional home more than two decades ago.
A man has denied he killed his tenant over a $2210 dispute, claiming he had no involvement in the other man’s death or disappearance more than two decades ago.
Steven Frederick Johnson, 74, is on trial in the Victorian Supreme Court charged with the murder of Christopher Jarvis.
Mr Jarvis, 38, was last seen leaving his home in Wangoom, near Warrnambool in Victoria’s far west, about 6am on June 13, 2006.
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Johnson allegedly struck Mr Jarvis to the back of the head with an imitation pistol, held him down on the ground while he yelled for help, and then shot him in the ear.
Mr Jarvis was bleeding from the head when Johnson and the other man allegedly dragged him into the boot of his car and drove to a remote forest, senior crown prosecutor Mark Gibson KC said.
The jury was told Mr Jarvis could be heard moaning from the boot and was still alive when Johnson pulled him out in the forest.
Johnson allegedly grabbed a baseball bat from the car and struck Mr Jarvis with force, killing him.
He and the other man then allegedly dug a shallow grave in the forest and buried Mr Jarvis before leaving the scene.
The two men dumped Mr Jarvis’s car at Thunder Point in Warrnambool and set fire to the vehicle, the jury was told.
The 38-year-old’s body has never been found.
Mr Gibson told jurors Johnson and his tenant had been fighting over $2210 in rent Mr Jarvis allegedly owed.
Johnson had filed for Mr Jarvis to vacate the Wangoom property and pay the outstanding funds, with a court hearing listed for the day after the alleged murder.
Mr Jarvis did not show for the hearing and his partner reported him missing.
Johnson was interviewed over Mr Jarvis’s disappearance in November 2022, where he admitted the pair had been in a dispute.
Forty minutes after the interview wrapped, Johnson went to his co-accused’s home and told the other man he was worried because “shit’s hit the fan”.
Johnson was subsequently charged with murder but prosecutors dropped the charge for three years before reinstating it in 2025.
It was not disputed that Mr Jarvis was dead but Johnson denied being involved in any violent assault, defence barrister Patrick Doyle SC told the jury.
The landlord was fighting Mr Jarvis over unpaid rent but it was not a motive for murder because he was trying to resolve the case in court, Mr Doyle said.
The barrister also urged jurors to interrogate the evidence of Johnson’s co-accused and consider whether his story was consistent.
The trial will continue on Thursday.
