Today, both men gave evidence in the Christchurch District Court before Coroner Marcus Elliot.
In March 2015, Beckenridge, a Swedish-born helicopter pilot, broke a court order by collecting his 11-year-old stepson, Mike Zhao-Beckenridge, from his Invercargill school.
A week later, Beckenridge’s 4WD Volkswagen Touareg went off a cliff near Curio Bay, in Southland.
When police recovered the vehicle there were no bodies, Beckenridge and Mike have been missing since.
Mike’s mother, Fiona Lu, is convinced her son is alive and Beckenridge, her former partner, staged the pair’s deaths.
She claims he did this after she moved Mike from Beckenridge’s Queenstown home to Invercargill with her new partner, Peter Russell.
In 2023, Coroner Marcus Elliot held an inquest into the pair’s disappearance.
After new evidence came to light in June 2024, Coroner Elliot called for a new hearing to assess the information.
What Oliver Watson told police
That new information came from Oliver Watson.
He contacted police, alleging that after media reported the car had gone off the cliff, he spoke to his cousin Paul on the phone.
He claimed Paul told him he “sheltered” the pair and said: “We helped them out and they are alive”.
The court heard why Oliver did not come forward earlier.
“Oliver Watson held on to this information for over eight years before reporting to police,” Senior Constable Kenneth Patterson said.
“The explanation given for the delay being that he thought the Beckenridges would be found prior to the hearing, and he reported the information, fearing an incorrect finding was going to be reached.”
Oliver told police he thought it “odd” that Paul disclosed the information because they “were not close”.
“After that, after he got off the phone, he told his wife what Paul has said,” Patterson said.
“Paul Watson cannot recall speaking to Oliver on the phone, but accepts he may have.
“Stephanie Watson recalls (her husband) Oliver speaking on the phone with Paul around this time and after the call ended, telling her the Beckenridges were alive.”
Paul’s brother John told police that Oliver Watson was “addicted to drugs”.
He said Oliver had “a fixation with Paul’s farm, believing he had some entitlement to it”.
Paul told police he had never met or spoken to Beckenridge.
He said Oliver’s allegation was “untrue.”
Oliver Watson retracts allegations
In court this morning, Oliver retracted his allegations in what Crown prosecutor Deidre Elsmore described as “a complete turnaround”.
“At no time did he mention that the Beckenridges were alive,” he said of the phone call with his cousin in 2015.
“No… he never mentioned that… he did not say they were alive.”
He said Paul stated “don’t worry, they’re alright” but “at no time did he say he helped them”.
He agreed with Elsmore that the statement from Paul — a man of deep faith — might have been “comforting” rather than an admission.
“I did think of that later… it could be interpreted that way… that could mean they are now with the Lord.”
He said police took his statement at his home, and “the whole thing turned into a social event”.
He signed the statement after looking over it, but “didn’t notice” he had been recorded alleging Paul had “helped”.
He said that was “an anomaly” and also blamed it on the police officer’s handwriting.
He went on to also sign a typed version of the statement.
“Very poor on my part,” he said.
“Paul never said that… simple as that.”
“It sounds bad, it looks bad. I don’t believe I even said that, but there it is.”
He also retracted a claim Paul’s wife and others in the Curio Bay community had been involved in “helping” the Beckenridge’s.
Oliver also admitted he did not know his cousin well, that there had been some animosity between them over ownership of the family farm and that he had been on the methadone programme for 25 years after battling addictions to “heroin and morphine”.
He also retracted a claim that Paul’s wife had been involved in “helping” the Beckenridges.
Paul Watson ‘forgives’ cousin
Paul Watson did not want to question his cousin.
He did want to address him in person, which Coroner Elliot allowed.
“As a Christian, I totally forgive you for all this… and wish you a very, very good, happy life. That’s all I’ve got to say,” he said.
A teary Oliver responded:
“If I put you through stress, I’m so sorry… thank you, Paul.”
Paul — a retired farmer and pastor — was still called to give evidence.
He said Oliver’s claims were “completely untrue”.
“Helping John Beckenridge would make me complicit with this crime, and I would not do that.
“I have never met or seen John Beckenridge in person. I believe this allegation is motivated by Oliver’s belief that he had some form of entitlement to my farm property.”
Paul told the court Oliver had come up with a “scheme” to move onto the farm.
“The message became quite threatening and nasty along the lines of ‘if you don’t do what I’m saying, it won’t end well for you’,” Paul said.
He said the allegation came soon after his last contact with Oliver.
“I do not wish to have any further contact with him,” he said.
Rebekah Jordan, counsel assisting the Coroner, yesterday reminded the court why the hearing was being held.
It was not an inquest, she said.
Rather, it was to “assist the coroner in determining whether there is jurisdiction to open an inquiry”.
“The main issue is whether it is likely that Mike and John Beckenridge are dead,” she said.
Yesterday, an independent engineering expert spoke to the court about whether it would have been possible for Beckenridge’s vehicle to have been sent off the cliff with no driver.
The hearing continues.
To date, police have had 60 suspected sightings of the Beckenridges or their vehicle, some of which have been eliminated or deemed.
Information about possible sightings continues to be reported nationally and from Kiwis overseas.
Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz
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