Peter Beckett: New documentary to air on former Napier councillor accused of killing wife

Peter Beckett and his wife Laura Letts-Beckett. Photo / Supplied

A three-part documentary series on the murder trial of New Zealand man Peter Beckett accused of murdering his wife in Canada is set to air on TV here.

In Cold Water: The Shelter Bay Mystery, will be broadcast in New Zealand on Sky Open.

Beckett, a former Napier city councillor, was accused of killing his wife Laura Letts-Beckett after she died during a fishing trip in Canada in 2010.

What ensued was an intense police investigation, scrutiny of a strained relationship, an alleged plot to kill witnesses, and nine years behind bars before an eventual acquittal – all of which are explored in the true crime series directed by Trish Neufeld.

Peter Beckett and his wife Laura Letts-Beckett.

Its New Zealand release dates are expected to be announced soon.

Letts-Beckett, a 50-year-old Canadian school teacher, drowned in remote Shelter Bay on Upper Arrow Lake, inland northeast of Vancouver on August 18, 2010.

While initially thought to be a tragic accident, her husband – who was the sole witness to her death – was arrested for her murder a year later in a case that shocked both Canada and New Zealand, sparking discussions about whether a former Kiwi local body politician could be capable of killing.

Prosecutors painted a picture of Beckett, who was 57 years old at the time of arrest, as being a greedy, menacing man, who not only allegedly killed his wife for financial gain but also hatched a plot to kill witnesses while in jail.

Upper Arrow Lake, where Laura Letts-Beckett was thought to have drowned. Photo / Supplied

During Becket’s first trial in 2016, a cellmate, whose identity was suppressed, claimed Beckett gave him a list of names of people to kill including the police investigator, Letts-Beckett’s parents, a cousin and a lawyer, reported Hawkes Bay Today.

“It developed to where I was to take out witnesses for him upon my release – and by take out, I mean kill witnesses,” the informant told jurors.

The trial resulted in a hung jury and was declared a mistrial before Beckett stood trial again a year later at the British Columbia Supreme Court in Kelowna.

He was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment with no possibility of parole.

In 2021, the murder charge was dropped and Beckett became a free man, 11 years after the death of his wife and more than nine years spent behind bars.

The new documentary series will look at unanswered questions about the case.

In Cold Water: The Shelter Bay Mystery is a Canadian docuseries by AJP Productions, produced by Pablo Salzman, Thomas Robins and Suze Hannagan, and directed by Trish Neufeld.