Laura Letts-Beckett and Peter Beckett. Photo: Supplied
By Amberleigh Jack*
Review: When the wife of Peter Beckett - a former Napier councillor - drowned in Canada in 2010, he maintains his back was turned and he tried to save her.
A year later he was charged with her murder.
Those who followed the coverage of Laura Letts-Beckett's death, and the legal processes that followed, may have an idea of whether justice prevailed in a case that at times feels like it was plucked straight from the fiction aisle at the local library.
But the new three-part documentary series - In Cold Water: The Shelter Bay Mystery - will have you doubting what you believed - regardless of what side of the fence you sat.
The series takes an in-depth look into the circumstances, evidence and commentary around the case, from the day of the death through the years that followed. Beckett features heavily throughout - recalling the investigation, the initial trial, a mistrial, the guilty conviction in 2017 and eventual bid for freedom - insistent that the death was "not homicide or murder", but questions, "was it suicide or accident"?
In 2010 Beckett and Laura took an inflatable boat on Upper Arrow Lake in the province of British Columbia to fish for trout. Laura - a non-swimmer who wasn't wearing a lifejacket - wound up in the water and ultimately drowned.
Shelter Bay, where the drowning occured. Photo: Supplied
In Cold Water plays out like a 'whodunit' drama - complete with in-depth interviews from all sides, media coverage, re-enacted court transcripts, and a stranger-than-fiction plot twist involving a prison informant and an alleged conspiracy to kill off multiple witnesses.
But the fascinating and complicated story of that fateful day in 2010 isn't a matter of who. The question is whether a crime ever occurred at all.
It's easy to dislike Beckett. He's not charismatic and appears unemotional and gruff. But through conversations from all perspectives, including a former campground manager, investigating officers, Beckett's former friends and Laura's family members - plus players from both the prosecution and defence sides, the viewer will be left with more questions than answers at every turn.
Laura Letts-Beckett's cousin, Shirley Auvigne. Photo: Supplied
There's a lot packed into three hours. Details of the marriage come into play. Financial motives arise, as do allegations of domestic assault. Inconsistencies and oddities around Beckett's recollections and behaviour are highlighted - from leaving his sinking wife to swim to shore to find a rock to help him dive, to questions about his shoes, his performing a haka in court and alleged behaviour at the campgrounds before the death.
But, we're told, there wasn't a smoking gun or physical evidence. Was it murder? Or, as Beckett insists, "the biggest miscarriage of justice in the world".
In Cold Water won't answer the question, nor does it aim to. Instead, it will have you questioning the facts, the evidence and the justice system.
Then it'll throw twists that feel like they're taken straight out of a crime novel. Like the prison informant and former cellmate who comes forward with a story about being solicited to get rid of witnesses.
So odd you couldn't make it up? Or - as Beckett insists - "just bizarre stuff"?
Peter Beckett. Photo: Supplied
Whether you followed the case from its beginning, or have never heard the story, In Cold Water is captivating, and gripping and will have you feeling uneasy about the way justice played out - regardless of what you believe.
Was an innocent man locked up and convicted, or was the conviction of a guilty man ultimately overturned?
Whichever the answer may be, this series will leave you mulling over possible answers long after the credits roll.
In Cold Water: The Shelter Bay Mystery airs on Prime Video on November 12 and across three nights on Sky Open from November 18 at 8:30pm.
*Amberleigh Jack is a freelance entertainment writer
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