John Beckenridge, left, and Mike Zhao-Beckenridge. Photo: SUPPLIED
A coroner will hear further evidence about claims John Beckenridge and his stepson Mike died by murder-suicide, by plunging off a Southland cliff, or staged their deaths and fled overseas, in a hearing that resumes on Tuesday.
John Beckenridge, 64, and Mike Zhao-Beckenridge, 11, vanished in March 2015 after Beckenridge broke a court order and picked up Mike from school.
His car was later found at the bottom of a cliff in the Catlins. Their bodies have never been found.
Police argued the pair died by murder-suicide but Zhao-Beckenridge's family was convinced they faked their deaths and escaped overseas.
The hearing to establish whether the pair were dead or missing is resuming in Christchurch today, when family members and an expert on the cliff-top scene are due to give evidence.
Once coroner Marcus Elliott has heard all the evidence he will then consider whether it is necessary to hold a formal inquest.
The coroner earlier heard from a senior constable who examined the cliff in 2015. He said tyre marks left in the grass showed it was likely someone would have been behind the wheel of Beckenridge's car as it went off the cliff.
A police team at a remote cove in Southland used a helicopter to lift the vehicle out of the sea. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer
Police lawyer Deirdre Elsmore said it was difficult recovering bodies from that stretch of coastline.
"Beckenridge planned to ensure that [the car] landed in the sea, he planned to ensure that the bodies would not be found," she said.
"There's no mystery, and there is a question mark in relation to this matter, as to why they were not found, but that is not a mystery based on the evidence."
Mike Zhao-Beckenridge's mother Fiona Lu was convinced Beckenridge had brainwashed her son and convinced him to stage a murder-suicide.
The family's private investigator Mark Templeman said police evidence on the case was "insufficient".
"John Beckenridge planned an escape from New Zealand for himself and Mike and this plan included the staging of their suicide at the Catlins," he said.
"I submit that John knew before the Family Court hearing that he was likely to lose custody of Mike and that he and Mike agreed a plan to stage their deaths."
Templeman said it would be "dangerous" to conclude they were dead.
"I submit that this investigation should remain open as sightings are still being received that have not been investigated by the police inquiry team," he said.
"Fiona Lu believes that Mike is alive and expects that he will return to her once he is no longer under the influence of John Beckenridge."
A woman who claimed she spotted the pair while holidaying in Indonesia in 2015 provided evidence earlier in the hearing.
Elsmore argued the sighting was "an honest mistake" and that much of the woman's evidence was unreliable.
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