The mystery 'men' in the Watson case.

One of the clear fallacies in the Scott Watson case is the mystery man moniker. The Crown used the mystery man detail to exhaustion in the absence of other factual evidence. However looking behind those facts there is evidence of 4 mystery men none of who was Scott. It must be remembered that Scott was accused of being a sleazy mystery man in the bar but when the evidence is looked at there are at least 4 men, 2 of whom were clearly not involved, we call them A&B. There real names are known and were known to the police early in the inquiry. They conducted themselves in a moderately harmless and forward way on New Year's Eve, flirting with women, mostly very young teenagers.

Then there was the fellow at the bar we will call 'sleazy.' He was also seen loitering near the toilets and openly ogling young women and girls without any inhibition. Some people left the Lodge because of him, uncomfortable and concerned about their daughter in one case, and sister in another. This is the person that Roz McNeilly saw and described, her description was shared by other witnesses but no evidence on that topic was produced from them by the Crown at trial. Other people saw and described him as taller than Scott and with longer hair as the identikit picture of the time showed. The identikit picture has been recognized by people as a person on a ketch at Mapua days later.

We will call the 4th person 'talker' he was confident and forward, described as looking as though he could look after himself. Whereas A and B socialised together there seems little evidence of sleazy and talker being together unless upon the suspect ketch. But it was A and B who drew the police's first attention. After it became evident that they had nothing to do with the disappearance of the couple they were able to serve another purpose for police. One of them would 'become' Scott after police managed to somehow persuade a couple of witnesses they had seen Scott acting in a forward manner, like a 100 or more other males that night. Those that couldn't be persuaded were simply not called by police, whilst those that gave evidence changed their accounts to focus on Scott in a manner that allowed the prosecution to attribute all of A and B behaviour (and perhaps others) to Scott. The result of this was that the Judge was 'able' to say that Scott was driven to anger because he had failed to hook up with any female that morning. Even that idea does not bear scrutiny because there is a big difference in hooking up to becoming intent on murder.

At the very beginning of that idea, no one can seriously accept that a person uptight and contemplating possible murder would tie up to 2 other boats,  let alone get aboard a naiad without anyone on board remembering him or noting the difference between his sloop and a 2 masted ketch. However, that was the Crown's case. A jilted man prepared to kill a couple because young women rejected him. When A and B gave evidence the Crown were careful not to ask them any questions that would give a clue that it was them acting up with women in the bar and not Scott. It could well be to this day that they don't know that themselves. However that doesn't seem likely because they had pointed allegations put to them by police as to the way they had allegedly conducted themselves and what they'd said. Those allegations could well have resulted in them becoming more compliant with police and willing to stretch the truth. That happened time and time again in this case, smoking or possessing dope was overlooked for helpful witness who might just change their evidence 'to help' convict Scott who police said 'killed' the couple and also Nancy Frey. They were being good guys against a common, if innocent, enemy.

Meanwhile sleazy was a loner that night, keeping to himself, drunk, drinking bourbon and as his intoxication increased becoming less concerned about his conduct to young women to the point, as mentioned above, fathers and brothers left the bar with young women as the mood deteriorated. Some of those persons gave evidence, but like A and B, no evidence was adduced from them about sleaze pointing away from Scott. So A and B are a pair, while sleaze and talker are not. No one appears to have put the later together apart from out on the water when the suspect ketch arrived. It is not even clear that sleaze arrived on the ketch although there were at least 2 persons aboard. Talker may not have even gone ashore and certainly wasn't the person in the naiad with the couple. The confident man in the bar might have solely been either A or B, or B if we attributed the confident, almost arrogance. to B.

So what are we left with? Sleaze going aboard the ketch with the couple with talker already aboard and a early departure just after a scream was heard across the water. We do not know if that scream was Olivia's and should not speculate that it was, although it has never been explained by police. Within hours the ketch is seen in probable trouble with rope dangling in the water, suggestions by witnesses that it was 'talking' with another yacht hugging the coastline. Although Crown witnesses gave accounts of this situation, the Crown have never explained these sightings or indeed a ketch trailing rope in the water.

When that vessel is seen again after the Eyvonne and Ted Walsh group in rough weather noted it with the couple on board, it is traced to being berthed later with only the man whose identikit picture was released who is identified and the couple aboard. Later a second man (not Ben) is also seen according to witness accounts. But for followers of this case we are talking about Ben and Olivia alive when they were meant to be dead and weighed down in the Cook Strait. This is the point when it is absolutely clear Scott is innocent, so what did police do - hid the ketch again, changed statements and reports and said it was the Se Swalker.

An intricate web was weaved to show that the suspect ketch was actually another ketch - but that has been rejected by the witnesses or saw it, just as the Alliance was rejected by a majority of witnesses as being the suspect ketch seen at Furneaux Lodge, where the ocean going yacht, with brass portholes, canoe ends etc as the reports remains vivid in the minds of dozens of witnesses to this day.

So here is demonstrated several points, 4 mystery men - 2 are identified, the 3rd goes aboard the suspect ketch with the couple and sails early the next morning and is seen that same day and days after with the couple on board. The police say that boat was a the non sailing Alliance, when the couple are seen at Mapua on a ketch police will say no, that was the Se Swalker. Hopefully soon it will be appreciated by readers that Ben and Olivia were  alive on the 3rd of January (and probably afterwards), the police were rung with that information and the couple could have been saved as the ketch remained there for many more hours before sailing the next morning.