New Zealand murder case where no bodies were found
"Scott Watson" redirects here. For the Canadian academic, see Scott Watson (curator).
Murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope
Date
1 January 1998 (1998-01-01)
Duration
Missing for 26 years, 4 months and 9 days
Location
Endeavour Inlet, Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand
Coordinates
-41.093599, 174.187584
Type
Disappearance, presumed murder
Deaths
Smart and Hope presumed dead in absentia
Missing
Ben Smart, Olivia Hope
Convicted
Scott Watson
Trial
June to September 1999 Justice Dick Heron presiding
Verdict
Guilty
Convictions
Murder
Sentence
Life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 17 years
Ben Smart and Olivia Hope, two young New Zealanders, disappeared in the early hours of the morning on New Year's Day, 1January 1998. The two friends had been celebrating on New Year's Eve at Furneaux Lodge in the Marlborough Sounds with other partygoers. The pair accepted an offer from a stranger to stay aboard his yacht in the early hours of the morning, and it was the last time they were seen alive. The disappearance of the duo sparked one of the most publicised and controversial investigations in New Zealand's history.
After a five-month investigation the police arrested Scott Watson, a resident of Picton. At trial, he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of seventeen years.[1]
The police investigation and subsequent trial generated considerable media attention and public debate. Watson has maintained he is innocent and has filed several unsuccessful appeals. In June2020, it was announced that his case would be referred back to New Zealand's Court of Appeal.[2][3] The case remains the subject of on-going speculation[4] in New Zealand as a possible wrongful conviction[5] and has been the subject of several books and documentaries.[6]
^"The Queen v Watson [2000] NZCA 46; [2003] NZAR 193 (8 May 2000)". New Zealand Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
^White, Mike (26 June 2020). "Sounds murders: Scott Watson's case sent to Court of Appeal". Stuff.
^Leahy, Ben (26 June 2020). "Scott Watson, convicted of murder of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope, granted new appeal". NZ Herald.
^ Explainer: the controversial case of Scott Watson, Stuff, 18 November 2015
^ Scott Watson says he'll never get justice, Stuff, 1 August 2020
^ The Marlborough mystery, Mike Kalaugher.
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