Sounds Murders Photo Mystery: Is This Olivia?

A confidential report into the murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope has emerged with the startling claim the infamous "mystery ketch" has been identified and the crime had nothing to do with Scott Watson, now serving 19 years inside for the double-killing.

The report includes a distant and grainy snap of a woman the authors say is Hope, 17, taken at Marys Bay five days after she and Smart, 21, were said to have been killed following a 1997 New Year's Eve party.

The emergence of the report by the self-styled Maritime Research Group comes ahead of the publication tomorrow of a new book by author and investigative journalist Ian Wishart, which also claims to have identified the ketch, initially the focus of police inquiries.

In pre-publication publicity, Wishart echoes claims to have solved the case 17 years after police secured a conviction against Watson that a string of challenges has yet to shake.

For more on this story visit the NZ Herald.