Book review series: (Part 21); Scott Watson: New Zealand: Ben Smart and Olivia Hope disappeared after boarding a boat in a New Zealand harbour in 1998. Scott Watson was convicted of their murder. Watson exhausted his legal processes years ago: But this is just one of those cases that won't go away. Two books on the case reach opposite conclusions. Keith Hunter calls it a serious injustice...Ian Wishart says the police got it right. Read on!

 


PUBLISHERS NOTE: Ben Smart and Olivia Hope disappeared after boarding a boat in a New Zealand harbour in 1998. Scott Watson was convicted of their murder. Watson exhausted his legal processes years ago: But this is just one of those cases that won't go away. Two  books on the case reach opposite conclusions. Keith Hunter calls it  a serious injustice. Ian Wishart says the police got it right. Read on:

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.

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BOOK: (A serious injustice):  "Trial by Trickery - Scott Watson, the Sounds Murders and the Game of Law by Keith Hunter," published by 4-Hunter Productions is reviewed by Dr. Robert Moles on his NetK site:

GIST: "This book argues that the case of Scott Watson, who was convicted of the murder of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope after they disappeared after boarding a boat in a New Zealand harbour in 1998 just does not stack up. I have to agree. This is a book which is a masterpiece of critical and scholarly analysis. The reasoning is methodical and rigorous. The argument is sustained and compelling. It argues that the conviction is based upon little more than tunnel vision and the desire to establish a case against a suspect who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It reminds me of the case of Guy Paul Morin in Canada. The Judicial Inquiry there established that the investigators were unfair and willing to create a case based upon bare suspicion and little else, whilst ignoring many factors which might have shown that they had the wrong suspect. Hunter's account of the "investigation" prosecution and appeal of Scott Watson demonstrates that they system has comprehensively failed at every level. In truth, there is not even a respectable case to be made out against Watson. Its not a question of saying that the jury must have believed certain witnesses instead of others. The court was simply misinformed and the jury were misled. As we have seen with the Keogh case in Australia, it is not difficult for the people involved with these cases to overcomplex things and then assert that those who raise concerns do not understand the complexities of the case or of the law. Obfuscation is the last resort of the exhausted mind. According to Hunter's account of the Watson case, obfuscation has been used on many occasions by many people who ought to have known better; from the investigation, through the prosecution and the trial and even in the appeal. The trouble with cases like Watson's is that people who are involved in barracking for the status quo, presumably hope that the agitators for a review will go away, and they can go on to ever greater and better things. However, it is in the nature of things that skilled and able people like Hunter will not just go away. The amount of time and effort which he has already invested in this project must be vast. Both the book and the DVD are finely produced and presented. Together they provide a compelling argument to show that the witnesses and the evidence were manipulated to provide a case to the casual observer which might result in a conviction. I have no doubt after reading the book and watching the video, that this will turn out to be one of the major international classics of miscarriages of justice. If Ben and Olivia were killed then there is not the slightest evidence to suggest that Scott Watson was involved in it. Indeed, there is a great deal of evidence to show that whoever did it it was not Scott Watson. The descriptions of a possible perpetrator do not match. The descriptions of the vessel do not match. The timings are woefully inconsistent with possible guilt. The issues put forward in evidence are manifestly consistent with the innocence of Scott Watson. Hunter provides compelling evidence to show that the judge had joined the prosecution in helping to patch up a case against Watson which was threadbare. As in most cases of this sort, the blame lies not with the jury, for they must rely upon the "evidence" which is given in court. However, if they are not told the truth, or if they are given incomplete information, then they will be bound to come to the wrong result, as they did here. Both the book and the DVD are superbly produced and presented, and Keith Hunter is to be commended for unravelling the complexities and explaining them in a manner which is as clear as it is compelling. I join with Hunter in stating that cases such as this show that a properly established Criminal Review Commission is urgently required. New Zealand offficials must act swiftly to correct this serious injustice if its reputation in the international arena is not to be sullied for a long time to come."

PUBLISHING INFORMATION: "The book is available at $NZ 29-99 and the DVD Murder on the Blade? at $NZ 23.99 www.hunterproductions.co.nz."

The entire review can be read at: 
http://netk.net.au/NewZealand/NZ10.asp

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STORY: (The police  got it right): 'Elementary' by  Ian Wishart;  New Zealand Herald; January 29, 2016.

HEADING: "New book claims: Forget the denials, Scott Watson definitely killed Olivia Hope and Ben Smart, but cops did contort evidence," 

SUB-HEADING:  "Exclusive - Former cop backs author’s case with tale of confession to Sounds murders."

PHOTO CAPTION:  "Scott Watson is taken to the Christchurch District Court in 1998 before being charged with the murder of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope."

GIST: "A new book claims convicted murderer Scott Watson is the person who killed Olivia Hope and Ben Smart despite Watson's claims he has been wrongly convicted. The claim is made by journalist Ian Wishart in Elementary - published today - and comes as a former senior detective in the case details an extraordinary claim that Watson had confessed to the killing. Wishart's book comes 17 years after Watson was convicted of murdering Ms Hope, 17, and Mr Smart, 21, on New Year's Day 1998. Watson has always denied any involvement but the new book claims police got the right person, although they contorted evidence to fit a prosecution scenario in which the bodies were dumped in Cook Strait. Wishart said the decision to use evidence that fitted a scenario covering the missing bodies created questions over the case and led to 17 years of speculation about the murders.

The Herald has been given exclusive access to the critical chapter in the book in which Wishart lays out three alleged sightings of Watson on New Year's Day - the day the murders were said to have been committed - in an area in which he had always denied being present.  The statements also claim a second person was on the boat, leading Wishart to allege Watson had an accomplice. The statements on which Wishart draws include claims that Watson's boat Blade was being painted while at sea. Wishart accuses a key witness with name suppression, dubbed "Keating" in the book, of manufacturing an alibi to protect Watson from scrutiny. He claims the new statements destroy the evidence from Keating, who has since died. The book is drawn from the contents of the police investigation file which was provided to Watson's defence and then distributed to other parties, one of whom passed a copy to Wishart. Wishart's 1999 book on the case cast doubt on the prosecution - a stance he has changed. Wishart told the Herald last night: "Having now seen the evidence they didn't use, but should have used, I'm absolutely confident Scott Watson is the killer of Ben and Olivia."

Ms Hope's father, Gerald, last night welcomed publication of the book as "the most in-depth review of statements I've ever read" on the case, with new material of which he was previously unaware. "It brings balance back to the trend of 'he's wrongfully convicted and is therefore an innocent man in jail'." Mr Hope said he had applied through the Department of Corrections to meet with Watson. "There are questions which have not been asked, let alone answered, and he alone can provide that information." He said there had been criticism - which he had also voiced - about flaws in the police case. "If only they had been a little bit more thorough and methodical in the process it would have removed doubt. But it comes back down to Watson, whether he was guilty as proven, whether he wants to show remorse and accept what he has done." The claim of a confession is included as a 50-word post-script in the book but was detailed yesterday to the Herald by Detective Senior Sergeant Wayne Stringer, now retired. He said "Keating" told him of a conversation he claimed to have had with Watson the day after the murders. Mr Stringer said he had become close friends with Keating, having met him when appointed as his bail officer by Detective Inspector Rob Pope, the officer leading the investigation into the murders.  He said the relationship developed until they were like "family". After Watson was convicted, Mr Stringer said he and his wife were at a dinner with Keating, who laid out what he claimed was a confession made by Watson on New Year's Day in 1998. "[Keating] told me that Scott Watson had told him what he did." Mr Stringer said that according to Keating, Watson attacked Ben Smart and "stabbed him to death" and then "stabbed her [Olivia] to death". Keating also claimed Watson told him he wrapped them in sails and spare chain and took them out to where they would never be found, and dropped them off. Mr Stringer said he knew Keating well and trusted him. "He didn't have any reason to tell me lies. I believe him absolutely ... I have no doubts about [Keating]. He was a bad guy but he was a good man." Corrections deputy chief executive Vincent Arbuckle confirmed a request had been made to visit Watson and was being assessed. Scott Watson is serving at least 19 years in prison for the murders of Olivia Hope, 17, and Ben Smart, 21, who disappeared on New Year's Day 1998. Watson has always denied involvement in the murders. Questions over his conviction include:

1 Watertaxi operator Guy Wallace dropped Olivia Hope, Ben Smart and a "mystery man" at a yacht he described in detail as a ketch. It was the last sighting of the two young people. Wallace initially identified Scott Watson, who was convicted of the murders, as the man who was with Hope and Smart, but later retracted his identification. However, he has not moved on his description of the ketch. Wallace was a key witness for the Crown.

2 Wallace's description of the vessel to which he delivered Hope and Smart led to an initial search for similar craft. There were a number of sightings of a 12m ketch (a two-masted vessel) as described by Wallace. Police have been accused of ignoring the ketch angle and focusing on Watson and his 7.2m single-masted sloop, Blade. The Crown has used photographs of the bay on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day to rebut claims of the ketch, but it has also been claimed it came and went during the night.

3 Rozlyn McNeilly was also a key identification witness for the Crown. She identified Watson as being the man she served at the bar of Furneaux Lodge on New Year's Eve, linked by police to the murders. She has also retracted her identification, saying she was tricked by officers. The Independent Police Conduct Authority was critical in 2010 of the police identification process.

4 The identification process has been intensely criticised. The "mystery man" description and the identikit issued by police based on those descriptions show an unshaven man with shoulder-length hair. Images taken on New Year's Eve show Watson as clean-shaven with tightly cropped hair. There was also a claim the "mystery man" had hooded eyes, as illustrated in a photograph of Watson shown to witnesses by police. It emerged the photograph was taken when Watson was blinking and his eyes half-shut.

5 One secret jailhouse witness testified that Watson confessed in prison. The inmate later retracted his claim.

6 Another secret jailhouse witness has had his credibility questioned after it emerged he received assistance from the police after testifying.

7 Guy Wallace has offered further information which increased speculation about the ketch, naming a specific location were he claims to have seen Hope, Smart and the "mystery man".

8 Although police say Wallace took Watson - "the mystery man" - to a boat in the bay with Hope and Smart, another watertaxi driver named John Mullen emerged to say he ferried someone resembling Watson to a boat. Watson had previously described the watertaxi operator who had taken him to Blade, and Mullen fitted that description.

9

Witnesses on a boat alongside Blade have given a version of events that competes with Crown testimony about Watson being returned to Blade.

10 The only DNA evidence in the case were two blonde hairs matched to Hope from a blanket inside Blade. They were not present on the first search of 400 hairs but were found on the second search - the same day Hope's hairbrush was present in the ESR lab.

The entire   story can be found at the link below:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11581337

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Read the Wikipedia entry at the link below: "In November 2017, a second application for a Royal Pardon was filed on Watson's behalf by an Auckland man and ex-convict, who had taken an interest in the Watson case.^[22] The application concerned the reliability of the evidence relating to two blonde hairs found on a blanket on Watson's boat. It included a report by forensic scientist, Sean Doyle, which questioned whether the hairs were really Hope's, and criticised the way these hair samples were handled at the time of the original trial. The blonde hairs, believed to be Hope's, were the only physical evidence linking the couple to Watson.^"

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Watson

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;