Court hears claim clifftop landowner helped Beckenridges escape alive

A relative of the owner of the land where John Beckenridge's car plunged off a Southland clifftop, claimed to police that his cousin admitted helping the missing man and his stepson escape alive, a court has heard.

The claim was among testimony heard in a Christchurch court this morning. A coroner is trying to determine whether the case is a murder or a staged disappearance.

Police have long argued that John Beckenridge killed himself and his stepson, Mike Zhao-Beckenridge, in March 2015, after picking the 11-year-old up from school in Invercargill in breach of a court order. Beckenridge’s car went over a clifftop located in Southland's Catlins region, plummeting 70 metres into the water below.

Investigators claimed he drove the pair over the edge intentionally in a murder-suicide, likely out of spite for the boy’s mother, Fiona Lu.

But that version of events has never been accepted by Lu, who believes her son is still alive. No bodies were found when the car was recovered.

Beckenridge is a helicopter pilot with four known aliases.

Today, a coroner’s court heard of police inquiries that began in 2023 following a call from Oliver Watson, who has family connections to the man who owned the clifftop land.

A police report, read in court by Senior Constable David Loader, said Oliver had told officers his cousin, Paul Watson, had admitted he and others had helped provide shelter to the Beckenridges and that "they are alive".

The conversation had, Oliver told police, taken place shortly after the vehicle was found in the water and Paul was interviewed on the news.

Oliver claimed that Paul Watson had confirmed that he and others had assisted the Beckenridges, and they were alive.

"He explained the reason for not reporting sooner was that he believed the Beckenridges would be found prior to the coronial hearing," the police report read.

Oliver Watson had stopped talking to Paul Watson around this time.

But, police later spoke to Paul Watson, who denied the allegations.

"Paul said he never met John Beckenridge, nor had he ever seen him in person," the police report reads.

Paul could not recall speaking to Oliver Watson, but acknowledged that he could have. Both men were due to give evidence later today.

The lead is a new one that emerged after a previous coronial hearing in 2023. The claims have been investigated by police, who filed an updated report in November.

At the previous hearing, police said they believed Beckenridge hated his ex-partner, Mike's mother, and this may have led him to kill himself and Mike.

He sent a final text to the mother shortly before the car was found in the water, reading: "You have destroyed my life and Mike’s. Me and Mike are leaving now on the Midnight Express 3 mins to departure. Bye my love and thanks for everything JB and MB (sic)."

But the schoolboy had been rallying against a court order to live with his mother, and the court was shown several emails he had sent his stepfather in the lead up to the disappearance, saying he hated her.

"I hate my mum, in fact she is not my mum she f****d up my life so bad. I hate her I hope she die painfully (sic)," one read.

This, along with Beckenridge’s skills as a helicopter pilot, has led Mike's family to believe that Beckenridge staged the disappearance.