Scott Watson in the High Court at Christchurch in 2015. Photo: SuppliedScott Watson can challenge crucial eyewitness evidence that placed him with Ben Smart and Olivia Hope in the Marlborough Sounds on the night he's alleged to have murdered them. Watson has always denied killing, or even ever meeting, Hope and Smart after New Year's celebrations in a Marlborough Sounds holiday hideaway. A crucial part of the Crown case against Watson was his identification by the late Guy Wallace, the water-taxi driver who transported Smart, Hope, and another man that night to a mystery yacht. It came after an investigation by former High Court judge Sir Graham Panckhurst QC raised concerns about forensic evidence used to convict Watson.

Source: Otago Daily Times May 25, 2022 14:20 UTC