Cold case murder trial witness admits lying to police

A key witness in a cold case murder trial over the disappearance of a Warrnambool man in 2006 has admitted to previously lying to police.

Steven Frederick Johnson, 74, has pleaded not guilty to one charge of murder in relation to the disappearance of 38-year-old Christopher Jarvis on June 13, 2006, from his Wangoom home near Warrnambool.

It is the crown's case that Mr Johnson orchestrated a violent attack on his tenant, Mr Jarvis, over $2,210 in unpaid rent, before disposing of his body and setting his car alight.

The defence argues that Mr Johnson wanted to lawfully solve the rental dispute and he had no involvement in the disappearance.

In the Supreme Court in Warrnambool on Thursday, the jury heard from a key witness, who cannot be legally named, who claimed to have assisted Mr Johnson with the alleged killing.

'Doesn't ring a bell, sorry'

During cross-examination earlier in the trial, defence lawyer Patrick Doyle SC suggested the man was not truthfully recalling events in a number of circumstances, including how well he knew Mr Jarvis.

The man told the jury he had only met Mr Jarvis when he had paid $100 to Mr Jarvis for marijuana, and on another occasion Mr Jarvis failed to provide the drugs or refund the man.

Mr Doyle suggested that the man knew Mr Jarvis better than he let on, and had met Mr Jarvis many times and had socialised with him.

The man denied this.

On Thursday, audio from a November 2022 police interview with the unnamed man was played in court.

In the recording, police explained to the man that they were speaking to people about the 2006 disappearance of Christopher Jarvis and that Mr Jarvis had the man on his contact list.

During that interview, the police officers asked whether he knew Mr Jarvis and the man told the officers he did not.

"Doesn't ring a bell, sorry," the man said in the recording.

The defence repeatedly put it to the man that he had lied to police in 2022 about knowing Mr Jarvis, before the man admitted he did.

"Well, that's fine. Yes, I did. I lied to them," he told the court.

When questioned on another detail in the 2022 police interview recording, the man denied lying to detectives.

"I didn't lie about it, I just didn't tell the truth," the man told the jury.

"Can you explain that distinction to us, please?" Mr Doyle asked the man.

There was a moment of silence in the court room before the cross-examination continued.

Memory issues

Earlier in the trial, the man told the jury that he had memory problems.

"Are you a bit selective when you invoke this problem with your memory?" Mr Doyle asked the man.

The man replied no, and said he had trouble remembering his children's birthdays.

On Thursday, the man reiterated to the court that he had memory issues.

"I'm not here to recall every single thing," he told the court.

"I'm not here using that as an excuse."

Earlier in the trial, the man had told the court Mr Johnson was "greedy" with money.

On Thursday, Mr Doyle asked the man whether he was exaggerating his client's "meanness" with money, after offering examples of where Mr Johnson might be perceived to have been financially generous.

"Everyone owed Steve money, according to Steve," the man replied.

Earlier, the jury heard the two men had met up numerous times in the days prior to Mr Johnson's arrest in November 2022, after police had been asking questions about Mr Jarvis's disappearance.

During his evidence, the man told the court Mr Johnson said to him on one occasion, "I'm too old to go to jail for this shit".

"He told me to keep me [sic] mouth f*****g shut and not say anything,"