Double-killer Watson weds in prison chapel

By MONIQUE DEVEREUX and AINSLEY THOMSON

EXCLUSIVE - Convicted double murderer Scott Watson has married a Rotorua woman in a private prison ceremony.

Watson and 35-year-old Coral Phylis Branch wed on May 28 in the chapel at Auckland Prison in Paremoremo.

Watson, who turns 33 this month, is serving at least 17 years for killing Ben Smart and Olivia Hope, who vanished in the Marlborough Sounds on New Year's Day, 1998.

He will not be eligible to leave prison before 2016.

The Herald understand Ms Branch, a solo mother of four, has been visiting since Watson arrived at the prison. She has sent him regular letters and clothing packages.

On the marriage certificate her occupation is listed as "homemaker" and her usual address as Rotorua.

Watson's occupation is "boatbuilder". His address is given as Auckland Regional Prison, Private Bag 50-124, Albany, where Paremoremo prison mail is sent.

Neither Ms Branch nor Watson has married before.

Ms Branch's neighbours knew of the marriage. They said last night that she was defensive about her relationship with Watson and advised the Herald against approaching her. One neighbour said Ms Branch had tried to marry Watson for some time, but the marriage had initially been turned down by prison authorities.

Prisoners have no conjugal rights and Watson, now in the medium-security wing, had to return to his cell immediately after the ceremony.

His parents, Chris and Beverly, who live in Picton, and his sister Sandy, who is thought to be closest to him, could not be contacted last night.

But neither Watson's brother, Tom, nor his wife, Trudy, appeared to know about the wedding. Asked if she attended the ceremony, there was a long pause before Mrs Watson very quietly answered, "No."

Asked if she knew about the marriage at all, Mrs Watson consulted her husband before saying, "Look, I don't know." She did not want to hear any details of the wedding and declined to comment further.

Coral Branch's father, Ron, said he and his former wife, Raewyn, had been estranged from their daughter for many years.

He did not know where she lived but said she had four children that he knew of.

He knew who Watson was but did not know how the couple met.

"Probably through the bloody courthouse ... I wouldn't know much about her and I don't want to."

Waiheke accountant Mike Kalaugher, who is involved in a campaign to prove Watson's innocence, would not say if he knew about the ceremony or attended.

"I think he just wants to keep some privacy ... I don't think he wants it publicised or anything."

Corrections policy says any inmate's request to marry will be approved provided: he or she is legally allowed to marry; is mentally competent; the marriage has been verified by the intended spouse; and "the marriage poses no threat to institution security or good order, or to the protection of the public".

Inmates cannot give or receive gifts. Photos can be taken, but only one camera and one spare film are allowed. The ceremony must be "conducted without media publicity".

* monique_devereux@nzherald.co.nz

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