• Double murderer Scott Watson appeared before the Parole Board yesterday for the sixth time. 
• He wants to be released – with conditions. 
• Four psychologists spoke about his level of risk - most do not believe release is safe. 

Scott Watson has been described as a violent and risky offender with a propensity for “conning and manipulation” and personality traits of being “psychopathic”, shallow and superficial. 

And it has been revealed that in the last year, he has been in trouble in prison for fighting and “throwing faeces” at another inmate. 

Watson appeared before the Parole Board for the sixth time yesterday, alongside three psychologists, who spoke about whether they thought it would be safe to release him from prison. 

Watson was jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years for the 1998 murders of Olivia Hope, 17, and Ben Smart, 21. 

Scott Watson in the High Court at Christchurch in May 2015. Photo / Pool 

The two friends disappeared after boarding a stranger’s yacht early on January 1, 1998, after marking the New Year with friends at Furneaux Lodge, a century-old, boat access-only resort in Endeavour Inlet. 

Their bodies have never been found. 

Watson has always denied killing - or even ever meeting Hope and Smart after New Year celebrations in the Marlborough Sounds holiday hideaway. 

He has repeatedly been denied parole since he became eligible and continues to fight to clear his name. 

Yesterday his lawyer told the board Watson was seeking release from prison, subject to a number of conditions and exclusion zones. 

The hearing was meant to go ahead in 2024 but board chairman Sir Ron Young had concerns about differing reports around Watson’s risk of reoffending. 

He said the reports were a “confusing array of various assessments over quite a long period of time” and a decision about Watson’s release could not be made without further clarity. 

Yesterday the three Corrections psychologists who provided the reports appeared before the board to offer a better understanding of Watson’s true risk. 

The Herald was permitted to attend the hearing. 

Watson has ‘relevant features of psychopathy’ 

The first psychologist said Watson’s degree of risk was “particularly high”. 

The convicted killer had “relevant features of psychopathy”, including “interpersonal deficits, superficiality in his personality, lack of responsibility-taking and lack of remorse”. 

He also displayed a sense of expectation or entitlement. 

Parole Board chairman Sir Ron Young. Photo / Aaron Smale, IKON Media 

“He thinks he is a victim of the system, unfairly mistreated, innocent of things other people know to have occurred … Those are personality traits that are of concern,” he said. 

“His self-focus is predominant, he’s very focused on his innocence. He has, at no time, made any comment that two people have lost their lives, and whose families have been hugely impacted by that loss.” 

Watson also denied his “other deviant behaviour”, claiming it was “not as reported”. 

For example, he claimed a violent incident was “playfighting”. 

The psychologist said Watson was also callous and “vengeful”. 

He cited “outing people in his unit who are child sex offenders” and “throwing faeces on someone he had a disagreement with” as examples. 

“He has the ability to do very nasty things … there is a vengeful side to him … if he feels someone has slighted him or wronged him in some way … he will retaliate ... in quite a nasty way. That nasty behaviour seems to be driven by desire to get revenge on somebody. 

“When certain factors align he is willing to engage in violence.” 

Personality traits ‘survival mentality’? 

The second psychologist rated Watson as a “medium” risk and told the board he could be safely released and managed in the community. 

She said psychopathy was “not formally diagnosable” and his misconduct and attitudes – including “posturing” and “bravado” – could be part of “prison survival mentality”. 

She said his denial of the offending was “not a risk factor” for reoffending. 

Scott Watson at the time of his arrest. Photo / Supplied 

‘A propensity to use violence’ 

The third Corrections expert said Watson “expressed a lack of overt remorse” and “uses lying and manipulation in order to meet his needs”. 

“That may not always be his predominant strategy … it’s hard to know how much relates to prison context and how much does not." 

She said he had the propensity to use violence in “a certain set of circumstances”. 

“When he is under stress, belittled – his defensiveness escalates,” she said. 

She said “behavioural lapses” in prison over time were “expected and normal” and gaining insight and learning how to mitigate those was key. 

“Scott is just in the process of doing this,” she said. 

“He has learned how to use violence, has propensity and willingness … at the moment he remains untreated. 

Ben Smart and Olivia Hope. Photo / Supplied 

“When he is in danger, feeling under threat, it is very clear throughout [his] prison history … the use of violence. 

“He has moved a significant distance from using [violence] frequently, but there is still work to do.” 

She said with Watson still denying the murders, it was hard to identify his triggers. 

But she was confident that when he killed Ben and Olivia “there was disgruntlement in his mindset”. 

“There was alcohol … On a boat in an isolated space without anyone’s ability to get out of the situation or escape – that coming-together of significant things unlikely to occur again, and then something happened,” she said. 

‘Years’ of therapy needed before release 

The expert said Watson was at “the very beginning” of the process of being able to be released. 

She suggested he needed “two to three” years of individual therapy – at least 150 hours. 

“That does not all have to be psychological intervention – it can also be reintegrative activities,” she said. 

She said Watson needed to “unwind” the behaviour he’d learned in prison and then test his new skills and ability and learn what the community was like, before he could return to it. 

Scott Watson's boat Blade, the apparent scene of the murders. Photo / Mike Scott 

“What is the context he might get unsettled [in] or move towards aggressive space?” she said. 

“If the right situation arose I think he does still have a propensity to use violence.” 

She went on to describe Watson as superficial, glib and grandiose. 

He had a lack of remorse and he was dishonest – though closer to “conning and manipulation, the pathological lying”. 

He presented as having a “constant” lack of remorse and guilt. 

“He is unempathetic and has a shallow effect – the inability to feel or express things deeply,” she said. 

A fourth psychologist also gave evidence after being asked to assess the reports by Watson’s lawyer. 

She said she did not meet or interview him but had enough material provided to her to establish her own view of the risk the killer posed to the community. 

She said Watson had “robust” support from his family – “a broad range of people who expect him to succeed”. 

“They are all invested in him not going back to prison … if he stepped out of line they would not hesitate to call the authorities," she said. 

“The [suggested parole] conditions are really solid.” 

She said there was no way any offender could ever be deemed thoroughly risk-free and it was more important to establish how to best mitigate that risk. 

Sir Ron adjourned the hearing just after 4pm. 

Lawyers for and against Watson have until early next week to make their final submissions and the board will try to make time to speak to Watson directly. 

A decision is expected before the end of the month. 

Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz