Kriti Mehrotra
It was August 18, 2010, when everything turned upside down for Peter Beckett as his second wife, Laura Letts-Beckett, suddenly passed away in a drowning incident. According to Prime Video’s ‘In Cold Water: The Shelter Bay Mystery,’ her death in remote Shelter Bay in the Upper Arrow Lake area of Vancouver, Canada, was an accident, but her husband was soon blamed for it. In fact, this former Napier, New Zealand councilman, as well as lifelong water enthusiast, was soon arrested, tried, and convicted for the matter, just for the appeal’s court to overturn the original decision.
Peter and Laura Beckett Fell in Love in His Homeland
Since Peter was born in 1954 in Hastings, New Zealand, to a rather middle-class household, he essentially grew up on the waters and developed an unwavering passion for it at an early age. In fact, per his accounts, while his father used to take him and his siblings fishing, he also used to engage in a myriad of other activities like diving, surfing, scuba diving, etc., enabling him to learn all that there is to know about the local beaches. Therefore, as he grew older, he established Unimog Adventure Tours, an organization that helped tourists visit the places they needed to.
However, little did Peter know that he would find the love of his life through this endeavor – he came across Laura Letts in November 1995 on one of his company’s tours. He still vividly remembers that while the tourists were roaming around, he went out fishing for Abalone, only for her to come to talk to him as he was washing the latter to ask if she could have one. This evolved into a conversation about Power Shells and how to eat them, just for the tour guide to invite her over for dinner without really thinking about it.
According to records, Peter and Laura were all over one another by the next morning – they felt comfort, ease, and sparks between them from the get-go, resulting in them getting into a long-distance relationship. After all, while the latter was a school teacher all the way in her hometown of Alberta, Canada, he had built a life for himself in his homeland – the fact she was of evangelical faith was also an issue. That’s because it was looked down upon to be with someone divorced, and Peter was separated from Wendy Sail, his then-wife and the mother of his four kids, when he initially met Laura.
Peter Beckett Relocated to Canada for Love
As per Peter’s own accounts, he and his first wife tried to make their marriage work for as long as possible, but he knew upon meeting Laura there would be no reconciliation. He had fallen head over heels for the school teacher, and they somehow managed to keep their romance alive through letters and calls until he came to Canada to meet her in 2002. It was Christmas time when he came to meet her as well as her family — not telling them he was a divorcee — which resulted in them liking his big personality, too.
Therefore, almost as soon as Peter’s stint as a Napier city councilor came to an end in the early 2000s, he relocated to Canada for good and happily tied the knot with Laura. They hence began building a life for themselves in Alberts, with her being the breadwinner of their household despite never asking for or having any interest in the wealth her parents had built. In fact, she was running their household with the money she was making as a teacher as well as some investments, with him contributing from time to time when he held jobs – as per reports, he did a few odd jobs like being a long-haul truck driver, but nothing was ever stable.
Peter and Laura’s 2010 Vacation Ended in Tragedy
Since Peter and Laura purchased a motor home in the late 2000s, they often spend quality time together on road trips and short weekend vacations. Therefore, mid-August of 2010 was no different for them as they made their way to Shelter Bay for a fishing trip for the third year in a row. However, as per the former’s claims, August 18 shattered his entire world apart as his wife fell off their boat just as they were returning to the coast, with him being unable to do anything. She couldn’t swim, and she wasn’t wearing a life jacket either despite it being on board, resulting in her unfortunate passing.
According to Peter’s statements to the police, he had heard a splash but could see nothing when he turned around to look, making him jump in the water himself to save his wife. Yet, he floated because of his big stature, so he swam to the shore and grabbed a big rock to help him stay down before trying again, just to find his wife deep in the eater. He claims his diving days helped him stay underwater long enough to grab her and drag her up to the beach, but it was already too late – she had passed away. As per her autopsy report, her death was an accident, and there were no signs of struggle or injury to her body.
The Murder Accusation Against Peter Was Supported by a Myriad of Circumstantial Evidence
While the case of Laura’s death was initially deemed open and shut, things changed within weeks as a few of her cousins came forward to reveal some disturbing incidents. As per the statements of one of her cousins, Virginia Lyons-Friesen, she had once allegedly heard Peter and her cousin fighting, during which he had said she would die in water and never even see it coming. Then, as investigators looked into this matter further, they heard claims of him allegedly being abusive not just physically but also mentally, doing things like leaving her in the middle of nowhere during their road trips if they had an argument.
As if that’s not enough, detectives even uncovered a possible motive for Peter wanting to kill Laura — money. She reportedly had a few life insurance policies against her, with the last one being applied by her husband mere months prior to her demise and specifically for an accidental death. The total of these policies was reportedly around $800,000, and he also got all her assets, like a home and luxury cars, with a possibility that he might be able to get her inheritance, too. The fact she had once already applied for divorce in 2007 and went to the hospital alleging domestic violence didn’t help him either.
Therefore, on August 12, 2011, Petter was arrested on the charge of first-degree murder and detained under a $50,000 bail, which he refused to pay, asserting innocence. He has since also alleged that his wife filed for divorce not because she wanted to but because her parents were pushing her to upon finding out he was previously married and a father of four. He thus remained behind bars, awaiting trial, only for his bail to be revoked shortly after as his cell inmate became an informant and told officials he was conspiring to have both of Laura’s parents, her brother, cousin Virginia, and the lead investigator of this case killed.
Following Years of Court Proceedings, Peter Beckett is Now a Free Man
Since the Canadian justice system prefers to take its time before each case reaches the court owing to investigations and primiparity hearings, it wasn’t until 2016 that Peter stood trial for the first time. During it, the prosecutors laid out all the evidence against him, asserted his statements about how he had pulled his wife out of the water often changed, and even pointed out the credibility of their informant. On the other hand, the defense asserted all the evidence was circumstantial and that there was no real reason Peter would have killed Laura as she was the love of his life.
This trial consequently resulted in a mistrial owing to a hung jury, with a re-trial scheduled for 2017 and it ending in Peter being found guilty of first-degree murder following days of deliberation. He was hence sentenced to 80 years in prison, but his subsequent appeal had the court overturning the decision, especially as the details of the informant’s testimony went far beyond what should have been allowed as per previous orders. The Crown did appeal this overturn, too, only for the Supreme Court to ultimately side with the appeal decision before ordering a stay on the matter in 2021, meaning he will most likely not be tried for a third time.
Since Peter’s release from prison in December 2021 and the stay order, he has actually relocated to Central America, where he is doing his best to rebuild his life and reconnect with his children. It’s actually unclear how much money he was able to collect from Laura’s life insurance policies or how he financed his move, but we do know he is still in love with the water. In fact, as per his statements, being in the water is true freedom for him, and imagining it is what got him by in prison. So today, the 70-year-old is living as the captain of his own 4-bedroom sailing catamaran, in which he also takes tourists out on adventures. It’s a business he is unwaveringly proud of. He may be wheelchair-bound from a leg fracture left unhealed from his time in prison, but he does seem to be happy in Belize these days.
Read More: Peter Beckett’s Ex-Wife and Kids: What Happened to Them?
