Ben & Olivia: What really happened?

by Ian Wishart

It is a mystery that transfixed a the disappearance of Blenheim couple Ben Smart and Olivia Hope in the dark hours of New Year’s Day, 1998. Witnesses reported dropping the pair off at a two-masted ketch, but detectives eventually arrested a man with a single-masted yacht. Scott Watson was found guilty of their murder in September 1999, but for many people a burning question did an innocent man go to jail or is there far more to this case than meets the eye? For the first time, we bring you a comprehensive review of the evidence, both for and against. You be the judge.

197 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1999

About the author

Ian Wishart is a multi-award winning investigative journalist and bestselling author of more than 20 books, who's now in his fourth decade in the news business. His writing style has often been compared to John Grisham by reviewers.

He's been a radio News Director, a Chief of Staff for TV3 News and a magazine editor. His work has featured in the Times of London, Daily Mail, New Zealand Herald and America's massive Coast to Coast radio programme - to name a few. His books Totalitaria, Air Con and Vitamin D became Amazon bestsellers worldwide.

While writing his first book, The Paradise Conspiracy, Wishart's TVNZ office was discovered to have been bugged, his home was broken into, the manuscript for the book stolen, and an attempt was made on his life. Needless to say, he survived to write the story.

The first four chapters of The Paradise Conspiracy inspired movie director Geoff Murphy ("Young Guns II", "Under Siege 2") to produce the movie "Spooked" starring Cliff Curtis ("Runaway Jury", "Live Free or Die Hard") in a loose portrayal of Wishart's role as an investigative journalist.

He's been shot at, tear-gassed and stalked, but Wishart says his motivation remains telling the stories that "need to be told", whether its new leads on cold case murders, or government espionage.

As well as writing books, Wishart also divides his time between operating the http://www.investigatedaily.com and http://www.ianwishartpublishing.com websites - the latter catering to his writing and publishing clients.