Serial Napper will be taking a hiatus over the summer. Thank you for your support.

Before dawn break, on New Year's Day, 1998, 21-year-old Ben Smart and 17-year-old Olivia Hope were looking for a place to crash after spending the evening celebrating with other partygoers in the Marlborough Sounds, in New Zealand. They were last seen getting out of a water taxi and boarding a yacht after a strange man offered them a place to sleep off the champagne on board his boat. Not the greatest of decisions, but they needed a place to sleep because other partygoers had taken the place they had originally booked. They would never be seen again - and their bodies and belongings have never been found.

What followed was a five-month-long investigation into Scott Watson, who the police believed was the strange man who had offered up his yacht. However, the investigation was rife with accusations of prejudice and police incompetence, while Scott Watson maintained his innocence. This was a case based solely on circumstantial evidence and statements given by jailhouse informants - highly controversial particularly in a high-profile double-murder case like this one.

Yet it was enough to convict Scott and sentence him to life behind bars, which he has spent the last 26 years fighting.

So dim the lights, put your phone down and listen to the story of Scott Watson, who believes the case against him was a mistrial of justice and just finished his last bid for freedom, full of shocking accusations against the people who are supposed to protect us.

Sources:

https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/ben-and-olivia-search-for-truth-2002

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/519697/decision-on-scott-watson-appeal-could-take-months-judge

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/419995/ben-smart-olivia-hope-and-scott-watson-a-timeline

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/485010/hope-smart-murders-sounds-witness-guy-wallace-s-death-was-self-inflicted-coroner-rules

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/paul-henry-on-the-ben-smart-olivia-hope-murder-case-scott-watson-and-my-fears-for-justice-our-collective-shame/MNXARCQ6ZJCCRGXMD6EVCJYRUM/

https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/claim-mystery-ketch-identified

Follow me here:

► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/

► Twitter - https://twitter.com/serial_napper

► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/

► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/

► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik

Join the Serial Society true crime Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/serialnapperpatron

It was the early evening hours of Sunday, April 19, 2015. Vincent Viafore and his fiancee Angelika Graswald were trying to enjoy a kayaking adventure in the Hudson River, but the water was cold and choppy, and they were not adequately prepared for the conditions. For one - Vincent wasn’t wearing a life vest and his kayak was missing a drain plug. Disaster struck as they tried to cross the river, leaving from Bannermans Island and heading towards Plum Point Park. Vincent’s kayak started to take in water, eventually capsizing, leaving him to drown in the choppy water. Angelika called 911 on her cell phone from her kayak, but by the time emergency services arrived, it was far too late to save her fiancee. His body wouldn’t be recovered from the water until a month later.

When Angelika was questioned about how things had taken such a tragic turn, she made several statements that raised the alarm and had detectives wondering whether this was truly an accident or if she had planned his murder. Then there was the detail about the missing drain plug, which she admitted to removing from his kayak herself, and witnesses who claimed they saw her pull Vincent’s paddle away from him intentionally keeping him in the water. Her motive? A $550,000 life insurance policy, according to investigators.

So dim the lights, put your phone down and listen to the story of Angelika Graswald, dubbed the “kayak killer” by the media - who some believe was treated unfairly because she was a woman. In contrast, others think she got away with the perfect murder.

Sources:

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/york-kayak-murder-case-timeline-events-mysterious-death-34973210

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL5kTAnwFk8

https://www.elle.com/life-love/a26453558/angelika-graswald-kayak-killer-profile/

https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/2018/02/28/vincent-viafore-angelika-graswald/354728002/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kayak-murder-case-angelika-graswald-interrogation-video-raises-key-questions-in-boyfriends-death/

Follow me here:

► YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@SerialNapper/

► Twitter - https://twitter.com/serial_napper

► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/serialnappernik/

► Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SerialNapper/

► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@serialnappernik

Join the Serial Society true crime Facebook group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/serialnapperpatron