Canadian True Crime - 76 The Death of Laura Letts - Part 1

Episode Date: November 15, 2020

BRITISH COLUMBIAAfter a painful breakup, Laura Letts decided to take leave from her job and travel abroad. While on tour in New Zealand, she would meet someone new, and her life would forever be changed.Canadian True Crime donates each month to a local justice-focused organization. This month’s donation has gone to: Alberta Council of Women's Shelters Thanks for supporting my sponsors!See the special offer codes here AD FREE Exclusive feed - Canadian True Crime supportersAccess ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and more on Patreon and Supercast Learn morePodcast recommendation:The Miami Chronicles - Booby TrapCredits:Research and writing: Kristi LeeAdditional research: Hagar BarakAudio editing and production: We Talk of Dreams  Disclaimer voiced by the host of TrueTheme Song: We Talk of DreamsAll credits and information sources can be found on the page for this episode at canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi friends, I hope you're doing well. Just a few things before I begin. This case is a two-parter. If you're a supporter on Patreon or Supercast, the ad-free version of Part 2 is waiting for you right now. For everyone else, Part 2 will be available in just two days. No matter how you show your support, I wanted to thank you for listening to the ads and supporting my sponsors for telling a friend or recommending the podcast online, for leaving a rating or a review or for any financial support that you might give, it all helps and I appreciate you guys so much. I also wanted to thank everyone who sent in great feedback on the last episode on the Saskatoon freezing deaths. I do have something that I have to correct about

that episode. It's to do with the phrase, you're not dead until you're warm and dead. In the episode, I said that this phrase referred to the paradoxical undressing in the end stages of hypothermia, when some people suddenly get incredibly hot and want to rip their clothes off. But I have found out some interesting information. This is not where the phrase originates. Its purpose is actually to remind medical professionals treating someone with hypothermia that the condition can slow down bodily functions like a pulse and breathing so much that it looks like the person has passed away, when in actual fact they might still be able to be revived. So no matter what, the body must be re-warmed and resuscitation continued and it's only when they've been

warmed up to a certain temperature that they can be pronounced dead. I wanted to thank all of the medical professionals who wrote in to educate me about this topic, you really do learn something every day. And with that, it's on with the show. Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production. The podcast contains course language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing nature. Listener discretion is advised. The year was 1995 and Laura Letts had just gone through a painful breakup. The 35-year-old was quiet and reflective, a deep thinker. She needed a break to heal and get herself back together. So she applied for a year's leave from her elementary school teaching job in rural Alberta and decided to spend it travelling.

Laura packed her bags and left for a new adventure, which would end with tours in Australia and New Zealand. Once she got to New Zealand's North Island, she purchased a ticket for a popular tourist attraction that offered guided four-wheel drive adventure tours from the city of Napier to a location called Cape Kidnappers on the east coast. The picturesque tour informed tourists about the area's history and offered breathtaking views of both the landscape and the wildlife that inhabits it. On the tour, Laura finished eating a banana and didn't know where to dispose of the peel. According to Cam Loops this week, she located the operator of the tour, a man named Peter Beckett, and asked him where the garbage was. At first, he didn't know what she meant because in New

Zealand and Australia it's called rubbish, not garbage. But they soon figured things out. The two got talking, it was easy conversation and they clicked immediately. Laura asked Peter what power tastes like. Power is the Maori word for what North Americans know as abalone. He told her that he actually had some at home to cook and suggested she come to his house for dinner. And she did. That night, Peter Beckett and Laura Letts enjoyed wine and conversation as he cooked power fritters on the barbecue. The two talked until the small hours of the evening, learning all about each other. Peter told Laura that he was married with four kids but he and his wife had recently separated and he was currently focusing on his business during the tourist

season. Peter was gregarious, extroverted and friendly, which provided the perfect balance point for Laura, who was quieter, thoughtful and introspective. They had an amazing night and didn't want to part ways just yet. Laura's plan was to continue traveling down to the South Island of New Zealand. Peter had an idea. He would take 10 days off from work and join her. Laura was thrilled. For almost two weeks, the pair were joined at the hip. Peter would later describe it to Cam Loops this week as an amazing love story. But it wasn't a love at first sight thing, it was more a meeting of the minds. Quote, I hate to use cliches but it was soulmate stuff. I'd been married before, I'd had breakups before, I'd fallen in love before, but this was different.

But reality awaited. At the end of the trip, Laura had to return to her life in Canada. So the two said their goodbyes and continued on with their lives. Laura went back to school teaching and Peter ended up reconciling with his wife before separating again for good a few years later. Five years after Peter and Laura first met, they got back in touch. Peter wanted to see her again. That Christmas, he flew to Edmonton, Alberta from New Zealand. His plan was to visit with her where she lived in the small rural Albertan town of Westlock, which is about 85 kilometres north of Edmonton. The pair had a great time, but the visit was again too short. This time, they didn't want to leave things the same way. They agreed to start a long distance relationship. A few more

years went by with a few long distance trips between Canada and New Zealand. Peter and Laura started talking about being together in person. But Peter was serving a term as a city counsellor in the city of Napier. He decided that when his term was up in 2002, he was going to start his new life in Canada. And he did. The year after Peter arrived, the pair got married. Over the next seven years, Laura and Peter acquired a large motorhome, or RV, which they loved to take on getaways to provincial parks on the weekends and on holidays. One place they regularly went to was Upper Arrow Lake in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia. They loved to stay in a place there called Shelter Bay. In fact, Peter and Laura were such regulars there that the manager knew them well and referred

to them as the unofficial hosts of the park. The campsites at Shelter Bay have sweeping views of the lake and surrounding mountains, and it's a popular destination for activities like fishing and boating. Laura was known to be terrified of water and couldn't swim, but they love to go boating around the bay. It was August 18th, 2010, a beautiful and hot summer evening. A man named John was staying at the Shelter Bay campsite with his wife, and they were fishing in the bay from their pontoon boat. All of a sudden, they felt a jolt. They'd been rammed lightly from behind by a small zodiac inflatable dinghy. In it was a man who looked to be in his mid-50s, frantically moving his arms in the air, yelling that his wife was in trouble. It was Peter Beckett. He pointed to a

small rocky shoreline close by, indicating that's where his wife was. John drove his pontoon boat over to see if he could help. When he got there, he saw a woman half submerged in the water. It was 50-year-old Laura, let's back it. When he got to her, he could see right away from the color of her face that she was, quote, very much dead at that point. John watched as Peter started to give Laura mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but John knew it would be futile, so he suggested that they take her back to the campsite to get real medical assistance. Once they arrived back, an off-duty paramedic named Darrell happened to be close by and saw Peter sitting at the back of John's pontoon boat looking at his wife's body, upset that he hadn't been able to resuscitate her.

Darrell ran over and quickly confirmed that Laura let's Beckett had passed away. Darrell followed BC Ambulance Service Protocol as a precaution and treated the area as a potential crime scene, making sure that nobody touched the body until the authorities arrived. But everyone wanted to know what had happened. How did Laura die? I'm Christy, an Australian who's called Canada home for more than a decade, and this is my passion project. Join me to hear about some of the most thought-provoking and often heart-breaking true crime cases in Canada. Using court documents and news archives, I take you through each story from beginning to end with a look at the way the media covered the crime and the impact it had on

the community. This is Canadian True Crime. Peter Beckett gave his statement to the RCMP. He said that he was at the stern of the inflatable zodiac where the motor is and had set up two fishing rods. Laura was at the bow, sitting on a cooler, holding an umbrella to shade her from the sun. Peter confirmed that she couldn't swim and added that while she did have a lifejacket on when they first went out in the boat, it was a very hot day and she complained, so he suggested that she take it off. They then moved the zodiac close to a secluded rocky shoreline to take advantage of the shade there. Peter said Laura remarked that her back was sore and then he said he heard a splash and when he turned around, Laura and the umbrella

had gone over the side of the boat. He said he heard his wife screaming and thrashing about, struggling to stay afloat while starting to move under the boat. When asked what he did in response, his answer surprised the RCMP. Instead of jumping in after his wife, he said he first grabbed one of his fishing rods and started winding it in. He gave the excuse that it was a stupid fisherman's instinct. Quote, she was moving out the back of the boat quick and you know, stupid, I was thinking if I could get the rod in, I could get around to her, so I was winding the rod in and she was getting behind me. According to Peter, as he was reeling the line in, the boat drifted away from Laura and she went under the water even more. He grabbed the second rod and said he either threw

it in the water or let it go and spun the boat around. Laura was now completely submerged. Peter said that he turned off the boat and went over to the side to rescue her and while he could see her under the water, he wasn't able to swim down to reach her despite trying about 10 times. Peter was a very large man standing at six foot eight and over 400 pounds or 180 kilos. He said that his body was too buoyant to go down that far into the water. So he went to shore, grabbed a rock to weigh him down some more and then swam back out with it. But he couldn't find her. He kept looking around in the water and then he saw some bubbles. So he said he used the rock to get far enough underwater to grab Laura by the hand and pull her to the surface. Quote,

as I was swimming to shore, I was blowing air into her lungs, into her mouth, trying to do CPR. He said he continued once he was on shore but her only response was gurgling. Peter said he didn't know whether to continue or go and get help. He didn't want to leave Laura by herself. He said the zodiac was drifting away so he swam back out to get it. He tried to lift his wife on board but he wasn't able to. It was then that he spied the pontoon boat in the distance and decided to drive the zodiac there to ask for help. From there Laura was taken back to the campsite and confirmed deceased by the paramedic. Peter's version of events was the only version of events. It was a secluded bay with no one around and the only potential witness

was now dead. An autopsy confirmed that Laura's cause of death was drowning and the death was ruled an accident. She was cremated in British Columbia and Peter brought her ashes back to Alberta with him. Laura's loved ones gathered for a memorial service and celebration of her life. Because she was a long time elementary school teacher, many students, former students and parents knew her and loved her. She was celebrated for being a master teacher. People flooded her online obituary with comments and memories. One friend said Laura was a great inspiration to everyone who knew her and cared deeply about her students. Quote, she had a positive effect on everyone she worked with and had contact with. We were better people for having known her and observed her words

and deeds. But even though Laura's death had been ruled an accident, it didn't take long for her family and friends to start asking questions. Just a week after the tragedy, Laura's cousin and close friend emailed the police saying that she had some information. As it turned out, there was another side to the story that the police needed to know. And to do that, we have to go back to when Laura and Peter first met in New Zealand. As you'll remember, it was 1995. He had recently separated from his wife and was focusing on his tourism business and Laura had purchased a ticket on his tour. They spent two weeks together touring the South Island of New Zealand before she returned to Canada. After that, it would be another five years

before they saw each other again. As you'll remember, during those years between visits, Peter reconciled with his wife Wendy, also the mother of his four children. You'll also remember that he was serving a three-year term as councilman for Napier City. According to New Zealand news media website Stuff.co.nz, a former counsellor recalled that Peter just appeared out of nowhere. He wasn't asked to run, and he didn't know anyone who worked on council. There were four positions available, so Peter was in with a good chance of winning, even though no one really knew him. But that said, Peter had a personality that was described as odd. For starters, he was super competitive. According to the New Zealand Herald, he went straight on the offensive,

running a negative campaign, distributing bizarre, insulting caricatures of his opponents, and threatening to expose corruption in local government. He was successful in securing one of the spots, but only just. He was the lowest polling of all four candidates who got a spot. During his one and only term as councilman, some knew him as personable, but he ruffled many feathers. He was known to be charismatic, but with a dominating personality. He would frequently unleash his explosive, sudden temper, alienating other councilmen and the staff. The then mayor of Napier, Alan Dick, would say that Peter called him repeatedly in the early morning hours and would often scream insults at him. While Peter promised to expose corruption in

local government, he wasn't able to follow through, so instead he made something up, levelling some very serious allegations against the CEO of council. These allegations were later revealed to be totally unfounded. As well as being described as erratic, self-serving, and obnoxious, he was also described as a dreadful counsellor. Barbara Arnett, who was a fellow counsellor at the time and went on to become the mayor of Napier, told staff.co.nz that Peter was a stirrer and saw conspiracies everywhere. He, quote, added nothing to council. His behaviour was inappropriate. He had an arrogance about him that flowed over into his social life and nobody ever knew what he was doing. Peter was known to show up late for important council events and when he left,

he'd often take a couple of bottles of liquor with him on the council's dime. At one of these get-togethers, someone publicly confronted Peter about this and he gave a tearful excuse about problems in his personal life. The problems were not specified, but alcoholism was implied. So people on council knew that Peter Beckett had issues with drinking and managing his anger, but he had run-ins in the community as well. Staff.co.nz reported that once he was drinking at a bar and had a disagreement with a local rugby team who was there. The situation devolved to where Peter verbally abused several players and then yelled at the team's captain, don't you know who I am? Before allegedly slapping him. The captain complained to council and suggested

that Peter resign. Peter refuted what he said, but also blamed the outburst on liquor. A witness would say that Peter would use his imposing stature to demand respect. Menacing was a word used to describe him. It was while he was serving this term as councilman that Peter and his wife decided they wanted different things from life and they separated again, this time for the last time. Peter turned his attention back to Laura Letts in Canada and they rekindled their relationship. He would tell everyone he was moving to Canada to be with Laura, but people who knew him in New Zealand wondered if he was really escaping his disastrous term as councilman which ended just as suddenly as it began and left his reputation in tatters.

The council wasn't the only thing Peter left behind when he moved to Canada. His ex-wife Wendy would tell staff.co.nz that after he stepped on that plane he did not keep in contact with the four children they shared, who ranged in age from around 11 to early 20s. Peter s only possessions when he arrived in Canada were whatever was in the two suitcases he brought with him, as well as $50,000 in cash. Everything else he sold. It appeared that he planned to never return to New Zealand. Laura was excited to introduce her long-distance partner to her friends. By all accounts they appeared to be a very nice couple that got on well. Friends heard them calling each other baby and other affectionate names and Peter was known to bring Laura s lunch to work

for her every day. A year after Peter arrived in Canada he and Laura got married. But there was a problem. Laura came from a conservative religious family. Her parents belonged to an evangelical movement known as Plymouth Brethren or Exclusive Brethren. The group generally frowns upon the concept of divorce and remarriage. Because Peter had been married before, Laura was worried about possible repercussions from her strict parents and maybe even the church. Even though she was a grown adult in her early 40s, they both decided to keep the fact that it was Peter s second marriage a secret for now. Laura had her job as a second grade teacher, but Peter had to find a way to make money in his new homeland. Although he continued to dabble in various business ventures,

there weren t many employment opportunities in rural Alberta for a former specialist adventure tour operator from New Zealand. He found work as a substitute school bus driver and sporadically as a truck driver on a local farm. Laura s friends noted some changes started to happen in her life after Peter arrived. She had been known as Sensible, a frugal second-hand store shopper who owned not much more than a serviceable SUV and a half-duplex home. But Peter was quite the opposite. He was talkative and flashy. After he came to Canada, Laura s friends noticed that the couple started buying up large in a way that Laura would never have done. Over the next few years, they bought three cars, a Ford Explorer, a Jaguar and a BMW,

all only a few years old when they were purchased. They also bought a 20-foot Yamaha powerboat, as well as that 42-foot motorhome. Laura s family and friends noted that the relationship was great at the start. But some, including her mother Beth, observed that over time Peter started to become overbearing and domineering. Peter did not get along well with Laura s conservative religious parents. He would refer to their religion as a brainwashing cult and constantly badmouth them to Laura. She was put in the middle and was starting to tire of it. Four years into their marriage, Laura began seeing a psychologist. Dr. Michelle van der Green would notice that Laura wrote in her patient intake form that she was, quote, very unhappy in her marriage. Laura was

anxious and depressed. In their sessions, Laura described incidents of verbal, emotional and physical abuse at the hands of her husband. She and the psychologist talked about ways of ensuring her safety. A few months into therapy, an incident happened. There s no information publicly available about it, but whatever happened led Laura to file a complaint against Peter for physical abuse. Her mother Beth accompanied her to lodge the complaint with the Westlock RCMP. Laura was extremely upset and crying. According to Beth, the officer kept saying to Laura that it wasn t her fault and suggested that she leave the marriage because they, quote, did not want to be dealing with the homicide later. Laura decided not to press charges, but she did initiate a separation and

then filed for divorce. During this time, Laura came clean to her parents about the fact that Peter had been married before. They reacted badly as she feared they would. Peter was already on the outer with her parents, but now they were firm in the belief that he was completely unsuitable for their daughter. Laura also caught up with a friend and colleague named Kim, who would recall that they had an emotional conversation. After Kim shared some of her own struggles, Laura started crying and trembled as she shared that Peter was controlling and she felt like she was a shell of who she used to be because he always pushed her down. She felt like he was a powerful person up on a pedestal and she was just small. Laura told her friend that she would never get

back together with Peter. The separation only lasted three months. Peter convinced Laura to give it another go and work things out and they reconciled at the beginning of 2008. Laura s parents were not happy with this development and cut her out of their life. For the next three years, Laura and her parents were estranged, which devastated her. She had to accept that Peter would continue to badmouth them whenever he wanted, and even worse, he told a lot of people in town about the situation. Peter was an open book kind of guy, but Laura was the opposite. She liked her private life to be kept private, ended upset her when he talked to people about what was going on between her and her parents, but he continued to do it. During this time,

Laura continued to see her psychologist, Dr. van der Green, who observed that she remained anxious and depressed just as she had before the separation, but now the focus of her angst had shifted from her unhappy marriage with Peter Beckett to her strained relationship with her parents. Laura and the psychologist met for the last time on June 29, 2010, just seven weeks before she died. According to the doctor, Laura did not raise any alarm during this meeting. They discussed Laura s upcoming 50th birthday and her plans, and they also talked about her growing need to reunite with her. A week after Laura s death, the police received that email from her cousin and close friend, Virginia. The police heard that in 2007, in the lead up to Peter and Laura s separation,

Virginia was in Calgary with the couple when they became involved in an intense argument. After the argument was over, Laura came to Virginia, shaking and asked her for help. Quote, Don t leave me here. I m scared. Kamloops this week reported that Laura then told Virginia a chilling story. Laura said that on a previous boating trip she took with Peter, he told her, Quote, This is how you re going to die. You re going to drown. According to Laura, Peter added that she wouldn t know when or where it was going to happen, but now she knew how it was going to happen. Because this came from a third person,

Virginia, this was hearsay and likely not admissible evidence, but it was enough to give the RCMP a reason to doubt Peter s story that Laura s death was an accident. They opened an investigation. Do you have a passion project that you re ready to take to the next level? SquareSpace makes it easy for anyone to create an engaging web presence, grow a brand and sell anything from your products to the content you create and even your time. When I launched this passion project six years ago, I needed some kind of online hub to manage all the non-podcasting tasks that come with podcasting. I chose SquareSpace because it s an all-in-one platform that seamlessly helps me achieve multiple goals. It s important to have a website that looks good, and I was

inspired by SquareSpace s wide selection of clean and modern templates. They can be easily customized with pre-built layouts and flexible design tools to fit your needs, and you can even browse the category of your business to see examples of what others have done. I used the built-in blogging tools to create a new page for each episode, and there are so many intuitive options from embedding an audio player so listeners can stream episodes to scheduling posts to be published on a certain date, an easily moderated comment section and automatically displaying recent episodes on the homepage. Every SquareSpace website and online store includes SEO tools to help you maximize your visibility in search engines, and I love the powerful insights I can get from

the analytics tools, helping me better understand who s visiting the site, where they came from and how they re interacting with it. Do you have a passion project or business idea or something to sell? Go to squarespace.com slash ctc for a free trial, and when you re ready to launch, use offer code CTC to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. That s squarespace.com slash ctc with offer code CTC and get your passion project off the ground today. The RCMP asked Peter to show them exactly what happened when Laura died, a re-enactment. So he went out in a boat with three investigators, located the spot where he said Laura had drowned and described what happened. The entire session

was videoed and cam loops this week later obtained the video from the RCMP. The following clips have been edited slightly for clarity and to remove long gaps in silence. Peter was asked about the use of life jackets. As you remember, in his initial police statement, he said that Laura had been wearing it in the boat, but she got hot and took it off. They asked him if he normally wore a life jacket. No. Were you on that day? No. What about Laura? Laura had one on initially when she came from the motor home to the boat. She never normally wore a life jacket on, but we always had one in the boat for both of us. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. But we never wore them. When she walked down from the motor home to the boat wrap, she just put the life jacket around

here like I've got this one around me now for ease of carrying it. And the citizen got out on the water. She'd taken it off and put it on top of her cooler and then she had another mattress, not mattress, a cushion that she bought. And she's sitting on that because she had a sore butt. So no, she never had a life jacket on. And you know, everyone that knows Laura well used to say to her, you should be wearing a life jacket. You should be wearing a life jacket. He told the story about what happened as he instructed the investigators where to position the boat. I heard Laura say first, I've got a sore back. She was holding the beach umbrella. When she said she'd got a sore back, she'd stood up on the boat, which was a no, no,

if you were brought up with my father, right? And then the next thing we were about right here, is I hear the splash. My lure was like 10 feet from the boat. So I wound that in and just put the rod down and immediately grabbed my other rod thinking I'd hooked up, which is a fisherman's instinct, right? And the beach umbrella came down between us in the boat. And I start winding and after a couple of seconds, I say, Laura, Laura, where are you? What's happening? I hear nothing. I don't hear Peter. I don't hear screaming. I hear nothing. And I just then hit the panic button and threw out the flip and the umbrella, which should be about somewhere around here. The other rod that I've started to wind in, I threw that out that side as I turned the boat around. So there should be

the rod there with a, the second one was only probably a quarter wound in. The first rod was wound right in. All I wanted to do was clear the boat. I threw the beach umbrella, kicked that overboard. And I'm looking for Laura. And it's like she's flipping, like hiding go see, like she's gone. And it was about at this point here, maybe a little bit over here. I turned the boat around and I saw her in the water flailing. She was, she was, she was head up and you know what I mean with flailing. And I just flicked off my glasses and went over the side to get it. Stupid in hindsight, I should have just dived. It's like I float to here in the water. And if I just dived, I probably would have had enough inertia to actually pluck it the first time. And then I'm diving and diving

and diving and she's getting further and further away from me and I'm getting more and more tired. So I, I'm not sure whether I pushed the boat into shore as I swam in surf life saving stroke. And I picked a rock from the shore here and I came out and that gave me enough negative buoyancy to get down to her. And then as soon as I got Laura to the, to the surface, I tried to get Erin to her, right? And that wasn't working. So I swam in with her, the boat was out here and I worked on the beach with her. And that's, that's the first thing that gives me my post-traumatic stress disorder, seeing her flailing in the water. The second one is, and I've been trained in first aid, is just absolutely giving her lungs the biggest blow that you can imagine.

Once I got into shore, you know, you should roll them on their side and you should do this and make sure the passages are clear and all this and textbook stuff. But you're holding the one you love, your soulmate, your best friend, right? And the water that just came out of her nose at me was just, that's, that's that second thing that I see. You know, when you wake up in bed in the morning and we ain't got that touch anymore. And that's the second vision that I'm, I have to move on from. So it was about directly in there, about behind that log that I worked on here. Don't ask me time. I know I held her and I was a mess and I was balling and I'm running out and my, my bad shoulder's not much good for the old chest pumping and, and then, and then I look up and the flippin

zodiacs are here. Because I know I went through the dilemma of, do I keep on working on lawyer, which I was getting absolutely no response from? Or do I go and get the boat so that I can load lawyer onto the boat and get some help with it? And that was a hard dilemma, hard decision to make, right? So I get the boat, it might have been about here, right? Where I had to swim to, to get the boat because the time I'd spent working on lawyer, the boat had drifted offshore because it was a wisterly breeze. Once he'd retrieved the boat, Peter talked about how he tried to lift Laura into it, but couldn't. So that's when he decided to go to the pontoon boat and ask for help. And the rest is history. The RCMP asked Peter to go over some details again. And he explained more

about this fisherman's instinct that caused him to focus on winding in his rod rather than helping his wife. And that's just a fisherman's instinct. I know it sounds stupid, but when you hear a splash in your fisherman and you're tuned into fishing, you think you might have got the, a big one's hit. You know what I mean? So what did you think when you heard the splash then? I don't, I really don't know. Maybe she jumped over. Maybe we were closer to the shore than, than I had imagined because I'm, I'm preoccupied with, with, I'm looking backwards and, and I'm winding in rods at the same time. And I never thought that she'd fallen over. That wasn't what had initially come, come into my head. Okay. Right? Okay. And then when I, when the gravity of the situation that law

is gone hits you, it was like, where is she? And we have to fight her. We have to get her. He was asked to explain more about that splash that he heard when she went overboard. Everything about the splash, how do you mean? Sounded like somebody jumping into the water. That's, I mean, that's what it sounded like. It sounded like if, if you jumped over now, it sounded like that. The conversation turned to the rock that Peter picked up to weigh himself down. He described how he found it. And then tell me about what you did after that.

I, I, I found a rock. I, I knew it's just things come to you at the time, right? It's like just before a car accident, I knew that I only had one chance to get the rock right. And this rock just appeared to me like it was being given to me. Right? From a, like a spiritual thing. This rock just appeared to me and I picked it up and I didn't even think about the flippin' weight of it. I don't, I don't mean any offense. No, of course it is. But, but it wasn't the weight. It was the size and, and it was like given to me like that's the rock you need. You know what I'm saying? That's the rock you need.

Tucked it under my arm and back out. He was asked more about that rock so he described the size and shape of it and drew a picture of it before going on to talk about how much it would weigh in relation to his own buoyancy. How much do you think that would weigh? 10 pound? Okay. I don't know. I was asked that. I would say about 10 pound.

Okay. I know that when I scuba-dived years and years ago in New Zealand, with my stupor on, I had to wear 34 pounds of lead because my buoyancy is incredible. So is that just to counteract? Is that just to put you to the limit? I'm a very positively buoyant person. What would it take to get you to neutral then? Well obviously about 10 or 15 pounds. But it used to take me 34 pounds of lead around my stomach to get me to

neutrally buoyant with a wetsuit on, which are particularly buoyant. Okay. Do you understand what I'm saying? But if I dived just in togs, swim shorts, probably 10 to 15. But I'll float even in fresh water at about breast height. Right? So I can sit in the water. I then even have to be flat. I can stand in the water off the bottom and I float to about this line here. I'm incredibly, incredibly buoyant.

Once he used the rock to weigh himself down so he could swim down to get Laura and bring her to shore, he became emotional as he described giving her CPR and elaborated more about why he felt he didn't do a very good job. I put ear into her like you wouldn't believe. Like her chest was raising, seemed like three, four inches. But as I was doing that, I hadn't blocked off her nose and the amount of the water that came out of her nose, it was unbelievable. That's the thing that really gets me is when you, I mean, she wasn't just a person.

She wasn't just a person that I'd come across that I would have done the same thing for anyway. There was my wife right there. You know what I'm saying? So I guess there's a natural reluctance for you to be hard because in hindsight, you're supposed to do chest pumps to break cartilage and ribs. Are you married? You would find that, I tell you from personal experience, you would find that incredibly difficult to do to your own wife. You'd be able to do that to a stranger perhaps.

And with my arm limitation, I couldn't have done it anyway. The video showed Peter's odd quirks, like repeatedly calling the detective driving the boat skipper. He was extremely verbose, telling the investigators about trout and their feeding habits and the differences between various types of rocks. All things the investigators didn't need to know. As well as interviewing Peter and Laura's close friends and family members, the RCMP also issued a statement to the media asking anyone else who had information about the couple to come forward. And they did. Laura lived next to a retired police officer named John, both before and after Peter's arrival to Canada. Over time, John had become good friends with

the couple and socialized with them frequently. He told investigators the story that Peter told him about what happened to Laura, but it was a slightly different story from the one he told the RCMP. As you'll remember, Peter told police he heard a splash and then Laura screamed while flailing in the water. But when he told the story to his neighbour, John, Peter said he didn't even notice that Laura had fallen off the boat. He said he happened to look back and saw that she just wasn't there. No splash and no scream. Now the RCMP thought this was fishy. Peter was a portly man standing at six foot eight. If he was down one end of a small inflatable boat, one would think that the sudden lack of weight on the other end would be immediately noticeable.

The RCMP also spoke with a couple named Mary and Ron, who were friends with Laura and Peter, and were actually at Shelter Bay the night that Laura died. The two couples had planned to meet up after the ill-fated boat ride. That night, as Ron and Mary were walking over to Laura and Peter's motorhome to meet them, they heard Peter shouting for Ron from the beach. Their first thought was that he must have caught a big fish. Instead, Mary and Ron saw Peter standing in the pontoon boat, with Laura lying on the floor of the boat. Peter told them that Laura had drowned in the water. Mary told the RCMP that she knew that Laura couldn't swim. In fact, Laura had told her that she was terrified of the water and always wore her life jacket. But she wasn't wearing one then.

As you'll remember, in Peter's initial statement to police, he said that Laura had a life jacket on and took it off when she got hot. But in another statement, he said that she never wore a life jacket and only had it draped over her shoulders for ease of carrying. Mary told the investigators that Peter gave her the first story, that Laura had been feeling hot and took the life jacket off. Peter spent the next few days in British Columbia staying at Mary and Ron's place, recuperating after the accident and receiving care and sympathy. Ron, who described himself as curious, asked Peter a bunch of questions about the circumstances of Laura's death. He eventually noticed that Peter was becoming annoyed, so they changed the subject. Later in the conversation,

they somehow got to talking about Google Earth, a topic which caught Peter's full attention. He asked what you're able to see on it. Ron said, I'll show you, and took Peter to his computer. After looking at one example location, Peter asked if they could pull up Shelter Bay, and they zoomed in on the area near the rocky shoreline where Laura died. Peter said, oh, you can't see that much. Ron told the RCMP that Peter then asked him if Google Earth showed live video or old images. Ron told him that as far as he knew, it wasn't like a webcam that was continuously recording. Peter said, oh, that's okay then.

And that's where we'll leave it for part one of this story. The ad-free version of part two is available now for supporters on Patreon and Supercast, and it'll be available to everyone in just two days, so be sure to check back. To learn more about becoming a supporter, visit canadiantruecrime.ca. Canadian True Crime donates regularly to Canadian charitable organizations that help victims and survivors of injustice. This month, we have donated to Alberta Council of Women's Shelters, a network organization of women's shelters in Alberta that aim to end violence against women by providing safety, supporting families, and improving communities. For more

information, see acws.ca. Today's podcast recommendation is The Miami Chronicles, a captivating new investigative true crime podcast from my friends at the Apostrophe podcast network. Season one, Booby Trap, is about the 1979 murder of a 14-year-old boy in the suburbs of North Miami Beach, and the story is told by one of the victim's friends. Take a listen. This is a story about a model boy scout. He won all the medals and a cool scout master. Being cool is code for getting high. And then there was a gunshot. And everything changed. A solid friendship. They were pals. Chuck said numerous times that Richie was like a son to him. Until betrayal led to violence. I pray to God that that's not Richie.

A bizarre mechanism causes a tragic death. So this was a booby trap and it was lethal. Please join us for season one of The Miami Chronicles Booby Trap. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcast. Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production funded through advertising and the generosity of supporters. Thank you to everyone who listens, who rates and reviews the podcast, and who supports us on Patreon and Supercast. To learn more about these episodes and for full credits and resources, see the page for this episode at canadiantruecrime.ca slash episodes. While you're there, you can submit case suggestions, follow the show on Twitter,

Facebook and Instagram, and learn more about how to get early ad-free episodes and bonus content via the exclusive feed for supporters. Thanks to the host of True for voicing the disclaimer, and also to We Talk of Dreams who compose the theme song. I'll be back soon with another Canadian True Crime story. See you then. you