PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (23 Mar 2006) -- -- A Superior Court judge this afternoon denied the appeal of David Swain, the Jamestown scuba shop owner recently found to have drowned his wife Shelley Tyre during a 1999 Caribbean vacation. At a hearing earlier today, Judge Patricia A. Hurst said there was overwhelming evidence to support the jury's verdict following last month's civil trial. As he had in the previous court proceedings, Swain represented himself today in arguing for an appeal. He accused Hurst of several missteps, including denying his motion for a continuance after one of his lawyers fell ill with cancer, and blocking another lawyer from entering the case late on his behalf. Swain and Tyre were scuba diving with friends for a week on a chartered sailboat off Tortola. On March 12, 1999, the last vacation day for diving, Swain and Tyre entered the water together while their friends and their friends' young son waited on the boat. Swain surfaced alone about 35 minutes later. Their friend, Christian Thwaites, found Tyre's body minutes later after he entered the water. Swain was never charged criminally with his wife's death, though Tortola police said they may consider charges in light of findings in the civil trial. | | VERDICT: PADI 5-Star IDC Ocean State Scuba owner David Swain murdered wife while scuba diving in the British Virgin Islands. The jury in the recent civil trial deliberated less than three hours before finding the former Jamestown Town Council member liable for Tyre's death. It awarded her parents more than $3.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages, which with interest since the time of Tyre's death raises the total award to more than $6 million. SOURCE - Providence Journal |
