Yes Scott Watson did kill Ben and Olivia

The Court of Appeal has rejected the latest appeal by Scott Watson for the murders of Ben Sharp and Olivia Hope. I am pleased but not surprised. He has had his case considered by every court possible.

• Found guilty by unanimous verdict after a three month High Court trial in 1999
• Court of Appeal dismissed appeal in 2000
• Privy Council declined leave to appeal in 2003
• In 2020 the Governor-General referred the case back to the Court of Appeal which has now delivered its decision

The decision is here. Key points:

• The concerns raised with ESR’s quality management system do not raise any real issue with the reliability of the Hair evidence.
• This is not a case where the scientific evidence used at trial has since been undermined and revealed to be unreliable. Indeed, the evidence given at trial has been confirmed as reliable by the experts who gave evidence at the appeal hearing.
• we have concluded ESR generally adhered to relevant quality standards relating to the collection, handling and forensic examination of the Hairs and are satisfied there is no material issue
• we have found the results obtained from the DNA testing of the Hairs conducted in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom reliable
• we have determined, in light of our consideration, that a miscarriage of justice did not occur in respect of the Hair evidence

The Court of Appeal also deals with the issues of identification of Watson, and the so called ketch. Worth reading the full decision.

I hope this gives some finality to Ben and Olivia’s families.