PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (17 Feb 2006) -- David Swain received some $570,000 dollars in the two years after his wife died in a Caribbean scuba diving accident, says a forensic accountant called to testify today in the civil trial accusing him of killing his wife, Shelley A. Tyre, in 1999. But, Anthony D. Lee, of Wayland, Mass., said, the money that Swain received was "all gone" by February 2003. "He was taking extensive trips to the Caribbean and other cities in the U.S. - just rolling up the debt," said Lee. Lee, who said he examined the financial papers of Swain, his late wife, and Swain business, Ocean State Scuba, in Jamestown, said Swain's spending spree didn't stop there. He also has nearly $190,000 dollars in debt from some 2 dozen credit cards. Lee's accusations went unchallenged once again because neither Swain, or an attorney for him, appeared in the courtroom today. Swain did, however, make a brief appearance in the courthouse where he spoke in a chambers conference with Superior Court Judge Patricia A. Hurst and the attorney representing Tyre's parents, J. Renn Olenn. During the conference, a decision on Swain's motion for dismissal was postponed until later in the trial when the judge said she would consider it. | | Almost seven years after Shelley A. Tyre died while scuba diving in the Caribbean, PADI 5-Star IDC Ocean State Scuba owner David Swain is on trial for allegedly murdering his wife. Later, outside the courthouse, Swain told a reporter he was not defending himself because the trial was really about money and nothing else. "If there truly was a case, we would be in criminal court. There is no case," he said. Swain denied any involvement in his wife's death. "I didn't do it. To this day, it's painful that it happened ... often in life people die with no reason. This isn't the first diving accident where someone has drowned ... it's sad, it happens. This isn't going to solve anything." SOURCE - The Providence Journal |
