Peter Beckett, the man who stood trial twice for the murder of his wife who drowned in the Upper Arrow Lake near Revelstoke, has died in Guatemala.
The New Zealand Herald, a daily newspaper of record for the country, reported Wednesday morning that it had learned of Beckett's death via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and one of his friends in Central America. It described Beckett's death as "initially believed to be accidental."
The newspaper also reported Beckett to have died in Rio Dulce, Guatemala, after relocating there from Belize while living a "nomadic lifestyle."
The former New Zealand city councillor was arrested and charged with murder a year after the Aug. 18, 2010, drowning of his wife Laura Letts-Beckett in Upper Arrow Lake.
Beckett stood trial twice, the first held in Kamloops, which ended with a hung jury after jurors remained deadlocked following more than a week of deliberation. The second trial, taking place in Kelowna, resulted in a first-degree murder conviction.
He would be incarcerated from his arrest in August 2011 until Dec. 2020, where he appealed his conviction successfully on the grounds that the Kelowna trial judge erred in instructing jurors and that prosecutors made improper submissions to the jury.
The legal proceedings against the husband accused of killing his wife finally came to an end after the first-degree murder charge was stayed in a B.C. Supreme Court in 2021.
