Throughout the case Beckett has fired four lawyers and last year challenged a judge's appointment of defence counsel by saying: "You don't think I have the intellect to represent myself?"
After the judge told him "it's not about intellect, it's about knowledge and expertise," Beckett was reported to have replied: "You think I'm lacking in those?"
"Well, yes," Supreme Court Justice Ian Meiklem retorted.
"It would be like me walking into Nasa headquarters and saying: I'm going to take over this rocket launch now."
"I'm not equipped to do it, no matter what my intellect might be," the judge said.
Beckett was raised in Hawke's Bay and elected to the Napier City Council in 1998.
He did not seek re-election at the end of his term in 2001.
He moved to Canada about 12 years ago, and later married Ms Letts-Beckett, who was a schoolteacher, the couple then settling in Alberta.
Beckett's New Zealand-based first wife and mother of his four children, Wendy Sail, was also interviewed by police as part of the murder investigation.
