HOOVER, Alabama (16 May 2007) -- THE husband of an American tourist who died while diving on the Great Barrier Reef is locked in a courtroom insurance battle over her death. Gabe Watson is fighting for a travel insurance payout, potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, as well as compensation for "mental anguish" suffered after witnessing his wife's death at the Yongala wreck off Townsville in 2003, Queensland's The Sunday Mail reported today. Christina "Tina" Mae Watson, 26, died 10 days into her honeymoon with her husband while on a reef dive with Mike Ball Dive Expeditions. Australian police last month took papers and a computer from Mr Watson's Alabama home but filed no charges against Mr Watson, whom they described him as a witness, not a suspect. But in 2,000 pages of court documents obtained by The Sunday Mail, Mr Watson is for the first time officially referred to as being a murder suspect in 2004. "Mr Watson is suspected in the death of his wife while on a diving trip to Australia last year," the Helena police department wrote in a December 2004 email to insurers. Mr Watson, a US-accredited rescue diver, denies killing his wife or acting recklessly in leaving her to die. He said she got into difficulty during the dive and panicked, knocking his face mask off and the regulator out of his mouth. He then let go of her while trying to put the mask back on but by the time he had recovered, his new wife had been swept away in strong currents. The newspaper said Mr Watson had launched court action against the travel agency that arranged the trip, Getaway of Birmingham, Alabama, and travel insurers Old Republic Insurance Co and Travelex Insurance Services. The insurers had sought to delay the case, being fought out in Alabama's Jefferson County Courthouse while police investigations continued. The newspaper said documents showed the insurers argued they were not required to pay policy holders who are suspected of committing a crime to gain a payout. But Mr Watson's lawyers said in court documents: "There is absolutely no evidence that the plaintiff is in any way implicated in this ongoing criminal investigation". Police onboard the Mike Ball Dive Expeditions 'Spoil Sport' liveaboard early in the investigation of the death of Tina Watson. | 
