STORY: "Convicted murderer Scott Watson denied parole for third time," by reporters Mariné Lourens and Mike White, published by Stuff.co on December 3, 2020. (Thanks to Dr. Bob Moles of 'Networked Knowledge' for bringing this story to out attention.)
PHOTO CAPTION: Scott Watson was convicted of murdering Ben Smart and Olivia Hope in 1998 but has always insisted he is innocent.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Scott Watson was 27 when he was convicted of murdering Olivia Hope and Ben Smart. He will turn 50 next year."
GIST: "Watson, now 49, was convicted of murdering Ben Smart, 21, and Olivia Hope, 17, after a New Year's Eve party in the Marlborough Sounds in 1998. More than two decades later, Watson still insists he is innocent.........Watson said he had attended eight sessions with a psychologist and indicated he was willing to address his risk factors, but the psychologist “wouldn’t engage”......He said he was expected to confess to the murders and explain the crime, and if he did not do this he could not participate in rehabilitation programmes......A family member said Watson was “caught in a vicious cycle” where the Parole Board told him to get appropriate treatment, but Corrections told him the treatment was not available to him...... In the meantime, there was a Court of Appeal hearing to look forward to next year, and applying for bail before that remained an option, he said. Smart and Hope disappeared on January 1, 1998, after seeing in the new year at Furneaux Lodge. The young friends had left the party and returned to the yacht Hope came on, called the Tamarack. When they found there was no room to sleep there, they got on a water taxi that was dropping off two other people. They asked the driver, Guy Wallace, if there was anywhere to stay on shore, at which point another man on the water taxi said they could stay on his boat. They were last seen getting on a yacht with the mystery man about 4am. Their bodies have never been found, despite extensive searching. Watson, who was 26 when Smart and Hope disappeared, was convicted of their murders in May 1999 following a three-month trial and sentenced to at least 17 years in jail."
Questions have been raised about the manner of the police investigation, notably by Mike Kalaugher, who in 2001 published a book which was critical of methods allegedly used by police to obtain Watson's conviction, and by Keith Hunter, in a 2003 television documentary and a 2006 book.
In November 2000, after the Court of Appeal hearing, a witness who testified at Watson's trial contacted the Weekend Herald to say his evidence given under oath was "nothing more than an act". He said he was being threatened by gang members in prison; he was coming up for parole and was put under pressure by police to testify and, "I agreed on the basis that my life was getting threatened". The witness changed his story at least twice more, which led Watson's lawyers to conclude he was completely unreliable.[20]
In 2003, Watson's lawyers Mike Antunovic and Greg King applied to the Privy Council, which found no grounds for further appeal.[21] In 2009, Watson unsuccessfully applied for a Royal Pardon.[22][23]
A 2010 report by the Independent Police Conduct Authority cleared police of allegations by Hunter and Watson's father Chris Watson. It found the police investigation had fallen short of best practice in areas which "had no significant bearing on the outcome of the investigation". No evidence was found that would support Hunter's other claims.[24]
In June 2015 Watson successfully challenged at court the Corrections Department's refusal to allow him to be interviewed about his case by North and South journalist Mike White.[25] On 8 and 9 November 2016, the interview went ahead as planned.[26]
Also in June 2015, Watson was denied parole on the basis of two failed drug tests and an unfavourable psychological report that attested him "a very high risk" of committing violent acts if he was released from prison.[27][28] On 6 December 2016, Watson was denied parole a second time because departmental psychologists again said his risk of violent offending was still "very high". By law, Watson must be reconsidered for parole before 6 December 2020, but can apply for an earlier hearing if he believes there has been a significant change in his circumstances.[29]
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.[30] 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.[31]
In June 2020, it was reported that Watson's case would be referred back to the Court of Appeal."\
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