Crown argues husband of woman who drowned wanted her dead

Peter Beckett pushed his wife into lake during 2010 camping trip, trial told

The man accused of drowning his wife in a Revelstoke-area lake claimed his first instinct when she fell in the water was to reel in his fishing rod, proving he wanted her dead, a Crown lawyer said during his closing argument to the jury Tuesday in Kelowna.

Peter Beckett is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife Laura, whom he is accused of drowning in Upper Arrow Lake in August 2010.

The two Westlock, Alta., residents were out on their small inflatable boat during a camping trip at the time of the incident.

Laura has been described as a non-swimmer who expressed fears about the water; she was not wearing a life-jacket at the time.

Beckett told police he was fishing at the back of the boat while his wife was sitting at the front of the boat when she fell in.

He said it was his “fisherman’s instinct” to reel in his fishing rod when his wife fell overboard.

“Could that be anything but a lie,” Crown prosecutor Iain Currie said to the jury. “Have you ever had a loved one stumble or fall in your presence? For every one of you, the instinct is to go towards the person. It’s a human instinct. It can’t be restrained. Mr. Beckett tells you that when his wife goes into the water, his instinct is to turn away from her.”

After reeling in his fishing rod, Beckett then told police he threw his other fishing rod into the water before turning the boat around to get to Laura, but by that point she had sunk almost a metre below the surface.

“The thing about instinct is you have to try not to follow your instinct,” said Currie. “And Mr. Beckett did an excellent job, according to his own statement, of resisting the impulse to rescue his wife.”

Besides reaching over to rescue her, Beckett had many options at hand, including throwing her a life-jacket or reaching out to her with a fishing net or the rod he was holding, said Currie.

“He didn’t rescue her because he wanted her to die,” said Currie. “His wife didn’t fall in; he pushed her in.”

Beckett told police he attempted to dive down to Laura 10 times before deciding he was too buoyant, so he swam to shore, retrieved a rock, then swam back to her, dove down, grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

He then swam to shore with her and attempted to resuscitate her, he said.

“Mr. Beckett watched his wife drown. There’s no doubt about that,” said Currie. “The only really significant thing he lied about is the most significant thing in this case: how his wife got in the water.”

Currie reminded the jury Beckett is not on trial for not saving his wife; he is on trial for murdering her.

“We’re saying the fact he didn’t save her when that would have been easy . . . or at least easy to try, instinctive to try, unavoidable to try, unless you didn’t want to . . . is evidence he pushed her out,” said Currie. “When he told you he had a fisherman’s instinct and when he implicitly says I had no instinct to save my wife . . . he’s lying because he pushed her in. It’s evidence he wanted her dead.”

Justice Alison Beames gave her instructions to the jury Tuesday afternoon, and the jury is expected to begin deliberating today.