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Those “friends” were not friends. She paid to sleep on the boat and the fact that they wanted to argue instead of kicking someone off is wild to me. They just as shady

he’s innocent 100%. there’s no way. it boils my blood that someone can be locked up for life for a crime they obviously didn’t commit just so the pigs could save face

How is it possible to put someone in jail for a DOUBLE MURDER, with NO evidence or BODIES. So unfortunate for Ben and Olivia and their families, truly horrific. But, Scott has lost his life to the real murder too. Unbelievable.

Imagine being Amelia, not kicking an extra person off the boat and telling your little sister to go find somewhere else to sleep and then having her go missing. Wtf? That was her little sister. She must have felt horrible.

I can’t believe a man was convicted of a crime like this with zero evidence. The parole rules aren’t fair either.

She was so close to her sister she kicked her out of the boat they both paid, knowing she’s drunk and underage. Just WOW. Poor Olivia she deserved better.

This must really haunt Guy Wallace considering he was the one who saw the real killer and knows he is still out there and the fact that he knew in his gut they shouldn't go with him but couldn't stop them or convince the police of who and what he actually saw.It must have felt like the Twilight zone.

This is why I don't think my irrational fear of being falsely accused of a crime and imprisoned is all that irrational

What a frustrating case! I think Scott was wrongly convicted and it's one of the worst injustices I've ever had of.

It’s sad when people wrongly get convicted. It’s kind of scary that someone can get put away for life with very little evidence that didn’t even commit a crime. Unfortunately it happens a lot.

I’m from NZ and this case is such an unsettling mystery. Most of us here don’t believe Scott had anything to do with it, nor had enough evidence to be charged with anything..

I'm from New Zealand, I'm from the Marlborough region. I have family members that knew Scott and gave a character statement. Thank you for covering this case, this means a lot to us, thank you

I wasn’t there but in my eyes there’s no way he’s guilty. Months of bugging his home and two separate forensic searches and nothing came up. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a case where police literally tell the public that their star witness is ‘remembering wrong.’ And that the other witnesses who saw the boat are wrong too. How fucking insane. Those cops had an agenda for sure. That poor man, and those kids’ families will never know what happened to them.

when she said he was found guilty I literally went "WHAT?? WHAT THE FUCK???" OUT LOUD and continued to do so until the video was over. dude there's NO way

Can you imagine being Amelia and knowing you could have saved your sister and her friend but you just let them leave? Heartbreaking.

Let's also remember that the new detective(whatever his name was) IMMEDIATELY shifted the case to a homicide investigation instead of a missing persons investigation with absolutely NO EVIDENCE to suggest that the two were dead. They didn't even have witness statements to suggest the two were dead, nothing even circumstantial. That to me immediately set the tone for how this case was going to go.

The police are scared of getting proved wrong if they test the scull. Guy kept on telling them they’re getting it wrong so did the other 2 witnesses WHO SAW THE ABDUCTOR. It’s so frustrating bc you’ve just convicted an innocent man and not given the victims and their family’s justice

Wait, never mind the shoddy police work, HOW ON EARTH did they find a HUMAN SKULL and not test anything about it to find out who it was?!

Holy shit, could you imagine having fun and drinking for a New Years party and waking up being accused of a DOUBLE murder :(

People in true crime often say "this case is going to get you frustrated" but this is honestly the first time I was so mad at a case being so mishandled

The real killer is out there somewhere just laughing. Makes me sick

It is so scary to think that the actual murderer is just roaming free, and this man is serving time for what another human has done.

As a new zealander this case is so untalked about i honestly forgot about it until now. rlly not fair blew over so quick. our government makes our crime rates so low because they don’t prosecute anyone for anything and when they do they try to shush it. thank you for bringing it to the light

It’s outrageous that they could imprison him with no proof at all! Maybe he wasn’t a great person but is terrifying because this could happen to anyone if they’d decide to frame us. I can’t believe he got charged and it got never overruled, there is no proof he has even met these people and so much points in another direction. It’s like they didn’t try to look for a guy and a boat that actually fit the description at all. It’s crazy.

I would just like to say what an awful friend she had. She paid to have a safe space to sleep in... and she was turned away. That is something I would not like to live with.

soon after this case happened, my dad was fishing in the Marlborough sounds and he caught a watch on his line that had the initials "B.S" on the back of it. He contacted the police and all they said was "nah you're miles away from the location so it won't be anything" as if disposing of evidence isn't something murderers literally do. Never found out if it was just a coincidence or if my dad actually stumbled upon evidence and police ignored it because it didn't fit their storyline.

Their “friends” should’ve never let them go like at all. Also I have no idea how that detective got his job. My 10 year old brother would do a better job than he did, very obviously he just didn’t like Scott and wanted him incarcerated. It’s very very very clear the insane miscarriage of justice, ignoring reports dismissing evidence, literal tampering of evidence which is a crime in itself and the refusal to test the skull. It’s literal discrimination.

About the fact he painted his boat and it was especially clean, A LOT of people on new year get inspired to tidy and make a fresh start for the new year.

If you ask me, as soon as the Water taxi guy said about the description of the boat and the person they knew who he was and that's why they started to cover up, either the mistery guy was a Police officer pretty well known or was someone very well connected and worst they probably knew this person was about to do what he did

So sad how she paid for that boat and they couldn't stay on it overnight. Things could've turned out so differently, it's heartbreaking.

Crazy to think that the actual murderer is probably still out and about and got away with all of it. I low key feel bad for Scott. I can’t ever imagine being falsely accused for something that you know deep in your heart that you didn’t do. Real true Justice for Olivia and Ben, I hope they really get that one day. A theory could also be that the police were probably working with the scrubby looking man. I don’t know much about boats but his boat looks pretty luxurious. He was probably rich or had connections with the police. It’s pretty common after all to see people with higher status’ get away with crimes and police work with them. Idk because there’s no reason for the police to be going this hard on a targeted suspect that didn’t even fit the description at all of real life witness like Guy and the 2 couple. What if they are protecting this scrubby man. Really have a strong feeling Scott didn’t do it and if thats really the case, I hope he gets justice as well

One thing I thought of while listening is why didn’t the police ask the water taxi driver to retrace the route he took Ben & Olivia, including where he dropped them off. That would help a lot with finding possible witnesses, seeing if Scott’s boat was in that vicinity, among other things.

This is seriously the WORST case of dodgy police work I've ever heard of! Serial Killers have gotten away with murder with a lot more physical evidence, and there was none in this case! I feel so bad for the guy of he's innocent, and it definitely sounds like he is

I’m from New Zealand and I promise our police force isn’t always crap at cases, the Olivia hope and ben Smart Case really scares me and my mum was good friend with Ben’s brother. My family doesn’t know what to think of this case but I believe that he’s innocent

As a mother, I would in no way ever be satisfied with this type of verdict. My heart goes out to their parents. I wish I could believe they just ran off together but the witness statements as to seeing the two kids on the boat with the scruffy man made my stomach sink. The police set up and incarcerated an innocent man in the aftermath of a double murder meaning someone with blood on their hands walked away and probably became a serial killer.

I'm from Marlborough and we have a building dedicated to Olivia Hope at my high school, such a heartbreaking case 😞 Thank you so much for covering it!

The dude who was driving a water taxi and worked near water, so like he knew his boats and immediately noticed the ketch. I trust him like he has to know details a regular person doesn't. Edit: turns out he also killed himself :/

the thought that the murderer could be still out there living his life normally or even doing the same things again and again it’s absolutely horrifying. Rest in peace for these 2 young souls

One of the most frustrating things about hearing about this is the police going after a different guy completely unrelated to the evidence, WHILE the murderer is GETTING AWAY WITH IT

I’m gonna be honest, I’m from New Zealand and I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve heard of this case, so good on you Ellie for spreading the word on cases like these that more people need to here about!

I've followed this case for a long time, and it has always enraged me. I don't believe that Scott killed Ben and Olivia. His conviction, with a lack of any tangible evidence, is absolutely unjust. There is far more than just 'reasonable' doubt here, the crown's case was so full of holes that I still struggle to understand how they managed to get a conviction out of it. Meanwhile Scott is stuck in prison, and gets to watch real killers start their sentence, do their time, get parole and leave, while he's still stuck there pleading his innocence. Scott's case ranks as probably the worst miscarriage of justice in NZ's recent history (alongside the wrongful convictions of Arthur Allan Thomas and Teina Pora). If you're interested in more cases from NZ with some less-than-stellar police work, check out David Tamihere (the murder of Swedish backpackers Urban Hoglin and Heidi Paakkonen), the murder of Lisa Blakie, the Lundy family murders or the Crewe murders. Edit: the Lisa Blakie case was also run by Rob Pope, the same guy that ran the Scott Watson case, and is also controversial for the same reasons.

As a New Zealander, I've heard of this case SO many times and every time I hear someone say "Glad they found the guy" my blood boils.

How tf can they convict him with literally zero evidence? Corrupt officials surely had to be paid to falsely convict him. And they focused the entire investigation onto framing Scott instead of looking into what actually happened to Olivia and Ben. AND they found a human skull and just refused to test it. Absolutely outrageous! Someone needs to start a petition for this guy. Hoping for the best for this guys future

If you want another case with extremely sad and frustrating Police work there's this Swedish case called "kevin" and it's about a 4 year old boy who was found murdered and his two friends (age 7 and 5) was found guilty. There's a documentary with footage of the questioning of these boys and much more. It was truly the saddest case I've ever seen

The people that took her place on the yacht SHE paid for makes my blood boil

The man they put away for this is innocent. I'm a kiwi, and I think most of us think he is innocent

I live in NZ. Unfortunately there is a history of police basically finding a ‘scapegoat’ and sticking to it regardless of evidence or witness testimony or literally anything to the contrary. Police ego will not allow for an admission of error. Absolutely disgusting.

I’m also frustrated about the police and Scott’s situation, but I’m even more frustrated as to why they didn’t focus on the main purpose of the case, they only focused on Scott. What happened to Ben and Amelia? How did they just disappear and the police didn’t search for the descriptions they were given? Do they even care that two people went missing or just wanted Scott in jail?

Let’s appreciate how Eleanor never dissapoints us with her narratation and her kindness and empathy. Keep going Eleanor

Perhaps I missed this but I can't believe they arrested and convicted him without finding either Olivia or Ben's bodies

The human skull being found is THE MOST frustrating thing in this case! I wish police would've done their jobs then not just those who are curious or want to know the ending but Olivia and Ben's families would have closure and a most likely innocent man wouldn't be in jail.

This is so so upsetting! It’s insane to think that whoever did this is out on his boat somewhere across the world with the memory of this terrible act and how they got away with it. If there’s a way to send Scott money to his books or something, lmk. This is heart breaking

I’m 1000% convinced Scott is innocent, NOTHING matches his description is totally different his boat is totally different and actual WITNESSES of the “mystery man” have even said Scott is NOT the man they left with…. Lord what sh!t police work😩 I’ve never been so frustrated by a case omggg

From the way they immediately chose him as the suspect and manipulated evidence, it makes me wonder if it wasn't someone in, or connected to, the police force who committed the murders.

Cases like this are so frustrating!! When the police basically decide who the killer is and use evidence to support that!

OMG, I'm a long time watcher and from New Zealand! So excited to finally have you covering a case from NZ!!

When they find him innocent I want every single police officer involved in this case who falsified evidence to be given a life sentence, this genuinely disgusting.

Being a jerk doesn't mean you're a murderer. If I was the family I would demand that the bones found be tested. Happy New Year love.

Eleanor, thank you so much for providing the trigger warnings in the beginning! Ofc the topic of murder and death is horrible in of itself, but my dad was admitted to the hospital on new year's eve due to complications with cancer and it doesn't look good and I honestly don't think I could stomach this topic now on top of hearing about it everyday, so I'll have to find another video to watch but still, thank you!

I've heard of people getting away with murder on more evidence than this. This case is flabbergasting me

How on earth could a jury determine that this man was guilty WITHOUT A SINGLE DOUBT, given all of the contradictory evidence (or lack thereof)??!! I am completely baffled and infuriated by this case. Very well-covered though, Eleanor 👏🏻

Eleanor is always so respectful to the victims and their families. She has outstanding story telling skills. You’re awesome and so fabulous Eleanor! Please never stop doing what you do!

I was born and raised in Marlborough and I had heard stories of this case but no one really liked to talk about it, so I had never really heard all of the facts of this, so thank you for covering this one! ❤ love from NZ

Totally unrelated to the topic: I have just been binge-watching your videos, and I am really impressed by all the great work you've been doing and how you have kept this great work up through all that has happened in your life during these years. Just wow, thanks for the countless hours of incredible videos you have given us all out here.

Imagine being the so called friends of Olivia and being more concerned about your one night stand than the person who actually paid to sleep on the boat and is supposed to be your friend.

I genuinely think that police tampering with evidence should be an instant long prison sentence, they tried to take away someone's freedom and ruin their lives, they should have theirs taken away. It's so unbelievably common as well, that making it a crime is needed to reduce this and it should be a high priority due to it being so common.

This happened in my home town! I grew up going to school where they dedicated the music block to Olivia. My heart goes out to both of the families. Our town is a small place and everyone knows everyone. Thank you for covering this case as it is so often forgotten here in Aotearoa NZ

As someone from NZ, I remember the time when this happened. I remember it being controversial at the time and the case pops up in the news here and there. In general it’s gone down as an infamous case that polarizes people similar to the David Bain/Bain murders (another juicy NZ case if you haven’t looked at this already). David Bain was eventually equites so there might be some hope for Watson at his upcoming appeal.

how are the police gonna ignore literally the LAST person to see the victims smh. Poor olivia and ben, may they rest in peace🕊

I love how she lets us make our own opinions and that she tells the story so well and that we can understand the timeline. Wish you all a happy new year !

I feel so bad for Olivia and Ben’s families. They deserve to know what really happened to their children. And I also feel bad for Scott, if the police did indeed railroad an innocent man, as it sounds like they did. They stole the rest of his life away from him, and they let the real killer go free.

Maybe the detective is friends or related to " scruffy man" or maybe they're bribed

As a guy who sails I really appreciate that you went into so much detail to understand the types of boat etc. Especially as that really shines a light on why it's obvious he was innocent. Sad thing it seems the police didn't go into that much detail as they obviously just thought of all boats are bascially the same and therefore the taxi driver was just mistaken. When it is genuinely impossible to mistake the two. One has an extra mast.

Just to give you an update on detective Rob Pope, he got promoted to Police Commissioner and then was forced to resign in 2011 when a damning report came out about the terrible police culture he had overseen, it was the 3rd report saying the he should step down due to his incompetence and disgusting police work culture. In the last report it was specifically about SA committed by police officers and associates not being taken seriously.

I’m from Christchurch, South Island of New Zealand. I was just a kid when this was on the news so thank you for your report! You pretty much nailed it!! Well done

Wow, this has to be one of the worst cases of police incompetence and down rignt criminal negligence I've seen in a while. Those disgraces aught to toss themselves in the river and go chase their imaginary monsters straight into the grave. That, of course, is assuming this was merely a case of such baffling incompetence I question how these men can tie their shoes without strangling themselves, and not a display of outright corruption used to cover up for the real killer who they knowingly didn’t even try to search for. So either these cops were so lacking in mental faculties they'd lose a game of checkers to a dead fish, or these men actively subverted this case in order to prevent justice from being done and knowingly convict an innocent man. I struggle to decide which is worse, honestly, but I know which one sounds more likely. Planted evidence, false testimonies, dismissal of real evidence and repeated witness testimony, and a failure to even make the appeance of a real attempt to follow the evidence, all of this is blatantly a frame job.

If I was Olivia I would of woke up those who did not help pay for boat rental and told them to water taxi back or start swimming. Also Olivias older sister made it back to boat first so she and friends should of made sure to keep off those who did not pitch in the boat rental. Olivias older sister should have made sure a comfy spot was available for Olivia to sleep. Girl code: You never leave one behind. Something my besties and I was always taught.

As a boat person it is literally impossible to mistake a 2 masted Ketch for a tiny 1 masted yacht. This is genuinely infuriating seeing arrogant sailing illiterate police thinking they know more when they are this incompetent, heck they seem to be illiterate at basic police work as well.

im from New Zealand, born and raised. i learnt about this story when i was young, and its stuck with me. its so mind boggling, especially because almost everyone here is so friendly. i dont understand how someone can kill another person, its insane to me.

I remember this case really starkly. It was the first NZ crime I actually remember. Thanks for finally covering it!

Scott is my cousin! It really is heartbreaking how he was treated and it is awful watching him be denied parole time after time and you're right, he will likely get denied again next year! He was able to come to the funerals of his mum and our grandma but was whisked away from both before he could pay any respects and what's worse? The bloody media staking out the funerals didn't let us grieve in peace all so they could get a shot of him! The ripples this has had for my family has been far reaching and devastating. Thank you for your respectful handling of telling this story Eleanor, there are 3 victims in this case.

Oh My GOD! SOMEONE FINALLY COVERED BEN SMART AND OLVIA HOPES CASE!!!!! I am from Queen Charlotte sound, very close to where this happened. Most of us think Scott Watson is innocent.

This case reminds me of a very well known murder case in Poland. It was also New Years Eve in 1996 and a 15 year old girl was partying with her friends and later brutally r*ped and murdered by a group of men (at least 2). And an innocent person, named Tomasz Komenda, was convicted of this murder, even though he was 30km away with 12 other people who witnessed him, and there was no real evidence that he even was on the place of murder... But because of the corrupt police he was tortured and pressured to confess to everything. Tomasz was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2000, but got out in 2018 (after 18 years of abuse by prison mates) thanks to a detective/police officer who reviewed all of the DNA evidence, bite marks and witness testimonies. They finnaly arrested the two real murderers and senteced them to 25 years in prison in 2020. I think they should get life in prison for this murder, because in the years after the murder they were sexually harassing a lot of other women and got away with that... They are a danger to society. But I am happy that in this can Tomasz Komenda got out of prison and lives happy now. There is also a very good movie made about this whole case titled "25 Years of Innocence" (2020). There you get a really good idea of Tomasz's side of the story (Also the real Tomasz Komenda appears at the end of the movie). It was nice to see a happy ending, but you get angry to see how corrupt the police can be to snetence someone as fast as possible to get this case out of the way. Hopefully some evidence will come to life in the case of Ben and Oliva and Scott Watson will be free again. Sorry for the very long comment. Happy New Year everyone!!

my dad went to school with ben. was devastated when he went missing. they had just finished school, and it was a shock. the fernaux is on a walking track, one of nz's walking tracks. we went back, walked the track to fernaux lodge. he was so sad. thanks for talking about this.

Not only there is no physical evidence, there is barely any circumstantial evidence and yet the guy rots in prison? Like wtf? This is just infuriating... Plus the real killer may be still living his best life?

49:22 this section of Olivia’s hairs “appearing” in the second testing is so suspicious. Police definitely had some sort of involvement in sabotage in my opinion

absolutely shocked when opening this video on new years eve in New Zealand to hear the first 10 seconds of the video. LOLL

Cases of wrongful conviction like this absolutely *terrify* me. It's so scary how once the police have a theory they want to go with, they can persecute and charge you with literally NO EVIDENCE!!! I hope some actual evidence is found one day so that Ben and Olivia's families can actually know what happened that night.

I feel so bad for him because he’s clearly innocent. And those “friends”, I hope they never have another good nights sleep.

I can't believe he was found guilty! I agree he was a shitty guy but I don't think he murdered them, and I actually feel bad for him. Idk why but I'm so angry right now!!!

New Zealander here, since I was born late 1997 I cleary have no memory of this case so I just looked up Scott Watson and found some news articles from earlier today saying that tomorrow(10th June), he will start an appeal of his conviction. He's now in his early 50s and has spent around half his life behind bars, I hope they get it right this time, and he walks free.

you should look into the lacey fletcher case!! it's quite recent, but it really needs to be talked about more because it's so incredibly sad and disturbing

This story is so sad. An innocent man locked away and the victims will never get justice. It’s so clear that the police force was so corrupt during this case and just didn’t want to be proved wrong.

So happy to see a New Zealand case being covered! You should look into the unsolved Crewe Murders... Insane case

I’ve been waiting years for someone to cover this case! It’s so crazy

Thank you so much for covering this. As a New Zealander it an absolutely horrendous fuck up of our justice system and I believe he is absolutely innocent

This case is so frustrating….as you said. I call bs on the police this time. Super sad if he’s innocent (which it seems) 🙁

At this exact time 25 years ago, all of this was unfolding :( Still breaks my heart. Those beautiful young people. Olivia was just a kid.

NEW ZEALAND! Thankyou for covering cases on our little part of the world. Love your content ✨