Electronic tracking for accused cold case killer as missing man’s family appeal for help to find remains

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An accused cold case killer will be released on bail with an ankle tracking device after concerns were raised he could return to a forest where homicide detectives believe his alleged victim’s body is buried.

Steven Frederick Johnson, 71, faced the Supreme Court of Victoria on Friday following his arrest late last year over the alleged murder of missing father Christopher Jarvis.

Christopher Jarvis went missing in 2006. His body has not been found.

Jarvis was last seen leaving his family home on Warrne Road in Wangoom, near Warrnambool in the state’s south-west, at about 6am on June 13, 2006, before his burnt out car was later found in a popular beachside car park at Thunder Point.

His remains have never been found.

Police allege Johnson and co-accused Glenn Ernest Fenwick, 59, confronted Jarvis, 37, in the driveway of his home amid a dispute over unpaid rent.

There, police allege Jarvis was struck to the head with an imitation firearm before being pinned to the ground and hit to the head with a baseball bat.

Christopher Jarvis was last seen alive in June 2006. His car was found on fire near the Warrnambool coast soon after.

The court heard Johnson then allegedly used a tractor to grade over the driveway in an attempt to cover the crime scene.

Following the fatal assault, police allege Johnson buried Jarvis in the sprawling 1100 hectare Framlingham Forest before the 37-year-old missing man’s car was dumped and torched.

At the time, Johnson and Jarvis had been due to face a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal hearing the following day.

Johnson claimed Jarvis owed him rent, while Jarvis claimed his landlord owed him money for repairs to the Wangoom property he shared with his partner and young children, the court heard.

Homicide squad detectives charged Fenwick and Johnson with murder 16 years after the alleged killing.

The court heard Fenwick later dobbed Johnson into police and took detectives to the forest, alleging the 71-year-old had told him the body was buried there.

Johnson denies any involvement in the killing.

Last month he took his bid for bail to the Supreme Court, citing a raft of medical conditions his lawyers said made prison time more onerous on him.

They also submitted it was a largely circumstantial case and if the two accused men were committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court, they weren’t expected to face a jury until at least 2024.

The prosecution though raised concerns that if released on bail, Johnson could return to the forest and deprive them of their “best evidence”.

Forensic analysis of the baseball bat, found inside the burnt out car, had failed to detect any usable DNA.

On Friday, Justice John Champion accepted Johnson was vulnerable in jail and granted him bail on the condition he provided a $500,000 surety, not go within five kilometres of the forest and report to police three times a week.

He must also wear a GPS tracking device on his ankle so police can monitor his movements.

Outside court, Jarvis’ family – who travelled to Melbourne for the hearing – pleaded with the public to help locate their father’s remains.

Step-daughter Nicole Raitt recalled a childhood marred with searching the clifftops on Thunder Point for a father they’d never find.

Son Cale Jarvis said while they were distraught and unhappy about Johnson being granted bail, they remained steadfast in their pursuit to find their father’s remains.

“The bail conditions do not exactly sit well with us, but there is nothing we can do. We just want the remains back to be able to put our dad to rest,” he said.

“It’s been 16 years we’ve been waiting and wondering. We still deal with it every day.

“We implore anyone out there who does know anything … please, we just want to put our dad to rest.”

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