The trial of a former Napier City Council member accused of murdering his Canadian wife has been delayed again.
Peter Beckett is accused of murdering Laura Letts-Beckett after she drowned in what was initially thought to have been a fishing accident on August 18, 2010. Beckett, 57, was charged a year later after being accused of pushing his wife off the boat at Shelter Bay, northwest of Vancouver in British Columbia.
He also faces two counts of counselling to commit murder and obstruction of justice after allegedly trying to arrange the murder of five witnesses while he was remanded in custody, including the parents of Ms Letts-Beckett, an Alberta lawyer and a Royal Canadian Mounted Police sergeant.
Throughout the case Beckett has fired four lawyers, costing Canadian taxpayers more than $110,000. He has also filed an abuse-of-process claim, and has represented himself at his most recent court appearances.
Beckett is alleged to have abused and insulted a Supreme Court justice, and been accused of smuggling evidence - computer documents and DVDs containing evidence against him - out of court by posting it from the courthouse, and refused to return it despite being told to.