On New Year’s Eve 1997, 17-year-old Olivia Hope and her close friend Ben Smart vanished after a party at the remote Furneaux Lodge in New Zealand’s stunning Marlborough Sounds. They were last seen boarding a water taxi in the early hours of the morning with a man who’s never been conclusively identified. What followed was one of New Zealand’s most high-profile investigations, leading to the arrest and conviction of Scott Watson — a man who still claims he’s innocent.

But the deeper you look into this case, the murkier it gets. With wildly conflicting witness statements, contaminated evidence, an allegedly unreliable memory, and new information buried for decades, this case has everything: mystery, obsession, media bias, and a whole lot of reasonable doubt ... or is there?

Today, Kristin dives deep into the 40,000-page police file and multiple sources on both sides of this controversial case to try and answer one big question: Did Scott Watson really kill Ben and Olivia… or was he wrongfully convicted?

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Sources:
The Scott Watson Case: What Really Happened to Ben and Olivia? – IanWishart.com

The case against Scott Watson - Newsroom

Chasing Ghosts: Murder In The Sounds

Hope-Smart murders 25 years on: Memories of the case as Scott Watson awaits court for appeal decision - The Front Page

Convicted double murderer Scott Watson’s parole hearing abandoned after running over time - NZ Herald

Ben and Olivia: What Really Happened? By Ian Wishart and Jayson Rhodes

Elementary: The Explosive File on Scott Watson and the Disappearance of Ben and Olivia by Ian Wishart

Elementary 2.0: The Unreleased Police Evidence on the Scott Watson Case by Ian Wishart

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