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Mike and John Beckenridge: Psychologist says stepfather wanted to punish ex by taking son
A man who was “controlling, coercive and running out of options”. This is how John Beckenridge has been described by a psychologist who believes the stepfather committed a murder-suicide.
“It was like he possessed Mike as a son rather than loved Mike as a son,” the psychologist told the Coroner’s hearing on Wednesday.
Swedish-born helicopter pilot Beckenridge broke a court order by collecting his 11-year-old stepson Mike Zhao-Beckenridge from his Invercargill school on 13 March 2015.
A week later, Beckenridge’s 4WD Volkswagen Touareg went off the cliff near Curio Bay, in Southland. But when police recovered the vehicle there were no signs of any bodies and the two have been missing since.
However, Mike’s mother Fiona Lu is convinced her son is alive and that her former partner, Beckenridge, staged the pair’s death after she moved Mike from Beckenridge’s Queenstown home to Invercargill with her new partner, Peter Russell.
Now, Coroner Marcus Elliot is looking into the case at the Christchurch District Court to consider whether it is likely the pair are dead.
A ‘bleak future’
On Wednesday, the court heard from a registered psychologist who took a deep dive into the Beckenridge case to provide his expert opinion to police.
The psychologist, who cannot be named, said Beckenridge struck him as an orderly person who was very “controlling and coercive” particularly towards intimate partners.
“He was used to winning. If you didn’t give him something, things would turn drastic,” the professional said.
Leading up to the disappearance, Beckenridge was nearing rock bottom. Mike was permanently in the care of Lu and Beckenridge had turned to “last resort thinking”, the psychologist said, adding the care arrangement was a “tipping point” and he was “running out of options”.
“He is looking at a bleak, meaningless future without Mike in it.”
The psychologist opined Beckenridge believed he was rescuing Mike from an “unhappy situation”.
Beckenridge blamed Lu for the separation and wanted revenge after she entered a new relationship with Russell, the psychologist said.
Taking her son was a form of punishment, he said.
“He wanted care and control of Mike and wanted to deprive Fiona of that.”
While the psychologist accepted there was “a possibility” Beckenridge and Mike were still alive, he believed the probability of this was lower than the probability of murder-suicide.
“His [Beckenridge] state of mind is consistent with committing murder-suicide, I believe,” the psychologist said.
A mother’s hope
In a statement read to the court, Lu said she firmly believed Beckenridge had the skill and ability to survive and even without Mike, he would not be suicidal.
She said Mike did not want to die and that he was “brainwashed” by his stepfather.
“I miss my son and I think about him every day. I believe Mike will come back to me one day.”
She said Beckenridge had taken her son “out of hatred” towards her.
The Minecraft message
Earlier in the day, the court heard evidence that Mike’s best friend believed Mike had reached out to him eight months after he disappeared.
A missing persons poster was distributed around Gili Island in hotels and resorts after a woman who was holidaying there claims to have spotted the pair three months after their mysterious disappearance. Photo: Supplied / Coroner’s Court
The claimed communication was through the online game Minecraft which the pair previously played together, Detective Jeremy Dix, who carried out an extensive investigation into the Beckenridges’ whereabouts and had spoken with the boy, told the court.
The friend said he was messaged by an unknown user on the platform in November 2015 referencing a username only the two knew about. He believed it was Mike.
The boy tried to contact the user but they had logged off. He said Mike had come up with the username in 2014 when he was helping set up his account, warning his friend to not use his real name to avoid bullying online.
“Mike was pretty good at sticking up for himself online and could be brutal at putting people down,” Dix said, quoting the boy.
The boy’s mother had since purchased a new game for him, the same game Mike had started playing before he disappeared.
It was hoped that Mike would contact his friend through the platform but this has not happened.
However, Dix believed the boy was “mistaken” and said there was a possibility Mike could have mentioned the username to another person without the friend knowing.
Dix also said the boy, who was around 14 at the time he spoke to police, had changed some details of his evidence.
The detective had made multiple inquiries with various gaming platforms and software, requesting information on any usernames that could be associated with Mike, but those inquiries were unable to be progressed.
John Beckenridge’s car was found at the bottom of an 88m cliff near Curio Bay. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer
Last week, at the outset of the inquest, Lisa Preston KC outlined the case. She said Beckenridge met Mike’s mother, who is from China, in 2006. Lu’s parents were raising Mike at the time.
The pair later moved with Mike to Queenstown. Their relationship broke down in 2014. Shortly after that, Lu moved to Invercargill.
In February 2015, the Queenstown Family Court made an order that Lu should have care of Mike.
Mike was unhappy to be taken away from his stepfather and was secretly communicating with him by email, pleading for Beckenridge to come to take him away from his mother and her partner.
Mike told Beckenridge he was misbehaving so he could be sent back to live with his stepfather. He also called the police on one occasion, saying his mother had assaulted him in the hope he would be sent back to Queenstown.
On 20 March, Beckenridge’s friends began receiving “concerning” texts from him, stating the “Gestapo” was after him and Mike, and they would soon get on the “Midnight Express” for departure.
On 22 March, items belonging to the Beckenridges such as clothes and car parts washed ashore in the Curio Bay area. Soon after, Beckenridge’s vehicle was found at the bottom of the cliff.
The police national dive squad was able to investigate the wreckage on 29 March but it wasn’t until 6 May that the vehicle could be recovered. No bodies were found.
To date, police have had 60 suspected sightings of the Beckenridges or their vehicle, some of which have been deemed unlikely or eliminated.
Information about possible sightings continues to be reported from within New Zealand and from Kiwis overseas.
The hearing continues.
* This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.
SOURCE RNZ
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
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