Yacht clean but clothes missing, court told

By Alison Horwood

A thorough police search of Scott Watson's impounded yacht failed to uncover the clothes he was wearing on New Year's Eve 1997.

Detective Sergeant David Landreth, of Christchurch, yesterday told the Watson double-murder trial that he spent two days compiling an inventory of the items found on Blade after it was seized on January 12. He discovered lockers of clothes in the forward berth, but the blue denim shirt, white T-shirt and brown leather boots that photographs show Watson wearing at the Furneaux Lodge party were not found.

Watson has been charged with murdering Olivia Hope, aged 17, and Ben Smart, 21, after allegedly luring them on to Blade with an offer of a bed for the night. He denies the charges and the trial will begin its ninth week on Monday.

Detective Sergeant Landreth described how Blade was hauled from the water in Picton and put under guard at the Woodbourne Air Base in Blenheim.

During an intensive four days police removed any items of interest and dusted for fingerprints, while forensic scientists used Luminol, high-voltage lights and sticky tape to test for blood, hair, fibres or prints. He described how the team working on the boat wore protective clothing, hats and shoe-covers "so that only their faces were showing," and took extreme care not to contaminate the scene.

"It very quickly became apparent that the hard surfaces on the boat had been wiped down with a cloth with moisture on it," he told the court.

Even the cassette tapes had been cleaned.

The Crown says Watson meticulously cleaned Blade in the days following New Year's Eve to remove all traces of the Blenheim couple.

Detective Sergeant Landreth said hairs were found in the cockpit deck area, in the bristles of a red scrubbing brush and in the forward berth, and what appeared to be hairs were found in the fibres of the anchor rope. What appeared to be smears of blood were found on a tiger-motif blanket in the forward berth, on two inside surfaces, on the step into the boat and on the outside deck area.

Further testing of some spots was inconclusive, he said.

The relevance of the blood and hairs is not expected to be known until next week when the forensic experts from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research give evidence.

Detective Sergeant Landreth told the court that a piece of foam was missing from the squab in the forward berth and from another squab in the cabin.

He also described how it took about 10 minutes to crawl on his side into a small cavity under the cockpit, where he found the windvane.

The Crown says Watson removed it to change the appearance of his yacht.

After the examination, Blade was re-rigged and put back into the water at Picton on February 20.

Detective Sergeant Landreth and the Marlborough harbourmaster, Alexander Van Wijngaarden, took the yacht to Furneaux Lodge and then to Eerie Bay in Tory Channel.

The aim of the trip was to test the time it took to motor between Endeavour Inlet and Eerie Bay, then compare that with Watson's statement to police.

The water, wind and tidal conditions were similar to what they were on January 1.

The jury will not sit today and Detective Sergeant Landreth is expected to finish his evidence on Monday.