Peter Beckett's peculiar actions around the time of his wife's death and his alleged abusiveness towards her summarized a week's worth of Crown evidence as Beckett's first-degree murder trial resumed in Kamloops Supreme Court on Feb. 1.
Peter Beckett's peculiar actions around the time of his wife's death and his alleged abusiveness towards her summarized a week's worth of Crown evidence as Beckett's first-degree murder trial resumed in Kamloops Supreme Court on Feb. 1.
Beckett stands accused of murder in the Aug. 18, 2010 drowning death of his wife, and former Dapp School teacher, Laura Letts-Beckett in Upper Arrow Lake near Revelstoke, B.C. while the couple was vacationing at Shelter Bay Provincial Park.
Her death was initially ruled accidental, but Beckett was arrested and charged a year later. Beckett maintains his innocence saying his wife accidentally fell overboard while fishing.
Court heard from four Crown witnesses including a park manager, Letts-Beckett's psychologist, friends of the pair, as well as audio recordings from Beckett's initial statement to police. Michelle Vandegriend, a counselling psychologist, who worked with Letts-Beckett between 2007 and 2010, was the first to take the stand.
'She was expressing some emotional, verbal and, at times, physical abusive circumstances in the relationship," Vandegriend said, noting Letts-Beckett was also experiencing anxiety and panic. 'She was questioning her feelings about the relationship."
Vandegriend became emotional when recalling her last session with Letts-Beckett on June 29, 2010.
'She had described her 50th birthday coming up and wanting to reconnect with her family," Vandegriend said through tears.
'It's just upsetting because it was the last time I'd seen Laura. It was my most vivid memory of her."
Shelter Bay Provincial Park manager Colin Titsworth took the stand next and told court he was familiar with the couple. Titsworth said his dealings with Beckett were positive until an encounter with a drunken Beckett three days before Letts-Beckett's death.
'He argued with me about the service level I was providing because I hadn't brought down the weather [report] that day, and also about the amount of firewood," Titsworth said.
'I had never experienced that with Mr. Beckett before. He was always a welcoming person. I found it odd. I had seen him drink before, but I hadn't seen him that drunk. I felt that he was belittling me and I felt intimidated."
Also taking the stand on Tuesday was John Saharchuk, who was on the lake at the time of the drowning and helped carry Letts-Beckett's body to shore in his pontoon boat. He told court that Beckett lightly rammed his boat and asked for his help to save his wife who was in trouble.
'I went right over to her," Saharchuk said. 'It looked to me like she was very much dead at that point - the colour of her face and everything.
'He jumped out of his boat about 12 feet away from the shore and ran to where we were and started trying to give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. I thought it was kind of futile, so I said to Mr. Beckett we should get her back to the campsite."
Once on shore, an off duty paramedic confirmed Letts-Beckett was dead.
Ron Hawkins, a Revelstoke resident who described the Becketts as friends, testified that Beckett asked him questions regarding Google Earth while Beckett staying with him. Hawkins recalled Beckett asking if the program recorded live video.
'I told him as far as I knew, it's not like a webcam on a highway where it's taking a picture every five minutes," Hawkins said.
'He said,
‘Oh, that's OK, then.'"
Beckett's audio statement to RCMP describing the events leading up to, and after, Letts-Beckett's death was played. He told Const. Jennifer Perrault that his wife, who couldn't swim, took off her life jacket because she felt hot, and that he was sitting with his back to her.
'The last I can remember, she said that her back was sore. And then, all of a sudden, there's a splash. I think she stood up to stretch her back," Beckett said to police.
'Then I spun the boat around to look for her and I could see her under the water," he said. 'I went over the side of the boat, but I couldn't get down far enough."
Defence lawyer Donna Turko has suggested, through questioning, that Letts-Beckett was depressed prior to her death.
