Peter Beckett, a former councillor of Napier City, has reportedly asked the Canadian Supreme Court to be fully acquitted for the charge of first-degree murder over his wife’s death.
Beckett’s first-degree murder conviction was overturned by British Columbia’s Court of Appeal last year, and the former New Zealand politician is now asking the country’s top judicial authority to find him not guilty once and for all, according to a report by Castanet.net. Beckett was released on bail more than a month ago, after spending more than nine years in prison.
On August 18, 2010, Laura Letts-Beckett was found dead in Upper Arrow Lake near Revelstoke due to drowning. Her death was initially thought to be accidental by the police. Almost a year later, Beckett was arrested and went on trial twice – first in Kamloops, which ended in a hung jury and a mistrial, and in Kelowna, where he was convicted of first-degree murder. Prosecutors argued that Beckett killed his wife to cash in on her life insurance and teacher’s pension, while Beckett maintained his innocence, saying that she fell off their boat and he was unable to save her.
In front of the BC Court of Appeal, Beckett argued his conviction be overturned on several grounds, including improper submissions by the prosecutor and errors by the judge. Now, Beckett has appealed to the Canada Supreme Court to be formally considered as acquitted.
