CAIRNS, Australia (20 Nov 2007) — THE husband of an American honeymooner who died at Yongala wreck four years ago is expected to give evidence to a coronial inquest into her death. The question of dive conditions on the day of American bride Tina Watson's death while diving, the relevance of her prior heart condition, and the validity of contradictory statements by her husband Gabe Watson, were the key issues of a jam-packed first day of the long-awaited coronial inquest. The two-week inquest, before coroner David Glasgow, will investigate Christina `Tina' Mae Watson's unexplained death on October 22, 2003, just 10 days into her honeymoon with her husband. They were on a reef dive with Mike Ball Dive Expeditions on the boat Spoil Sport to the wreck of the Yongala, 48 nautical miles south-east of Townsville. Mr Watson, a certified rescue diver, said his wife, an inexperienced diver, got into difficulty during the dive during strong currents and panicked. Mr Watson will not be travelling from his Hoover, Alabama home to attend the inquest, but it was confirmed in court yesterday that he had consented to giving evidence during the inquest either via video link or telephone. The first three of an expected 65 witnesses were called yesterday, beginning with chief investigating officer, Townsville Detective Gary Campbell, who gave a slide show presentation providing an overview of the four-year police investigation into the matter. Det Sgt Campbell covered witness statements, dive procedures, and a detailed break-down of the sequence of events involving the couple as they dived that day, along with autopsy findings. The key matter raised by Det Sgt Campbell were the `issues of concern' to the investigating police, which included the supposed malfunction of Mr Watson's dive computer. He said Mr Watson's statement of his attempt to rescue Tina following them getting separated was contradictory, as he had given several differing reasons why he could not rescue his wife, including ear problems, her sinking too fast, and not being able to help her once she reached the bottom, claims which were contradictory with his qualifications as a rescue diver. Other areas of concern to police included Mr Watson's `slow' rate of ascent when going for help, whereas it only took dive instructor Wade Singleton half the time to ascend twice the distance from the ocean floor while carrying Tina. Also of concern was Mr Watson's statement that he had attempted to communicate his distress to other divers underwater, including grabbing and shaking one diver – a claim not borne out by any of the many divers interviewed. | | Cindy and Tom Thomas at Townsville courthouse for the inquest into the death of their daughter Tina Watson who died on her honeymoon while scuba diving off Mike Ball's Spoil Sport. Also in question was why Mr Watson `talked down' his rescue diver qualifications, saying he was not qualified to bring a person to the surface, a statement heavily contradicted by his US dive instructor; and the outcome of the police dive re-enactment, which found that Tina's body should have been located much closer to the wreck. Other areas of police concern included Mr Watson's denial that he had asked Tina just days before their wedding to change her work insurance policy to make him the beneficiary; and contradictory medical statements about his ear problems. The second witness was specialist cardiologist Dr Andrew Epstein, who gave evidence via telephone from Alabama, confirming that he had conducted an operation on Tina in 2001 to cure her of arrhythmia, or a fast-beating heart, and that her earlier condition in no way affected her ability to dive or her resultant death. The third witness was Gavin Docking, the former captain of the Spoil Sport, via telephone from Fort Lauderdale in the US, giving evidence contradicting Mr Watson's claim that he and his wife were not told of the strong currents. The inquest is set to take a heavy toll on parents Tom and Cindy, with the pair both becoming emotional several times during yesterday's proceedings. Mr Thomas said he and his wife were `encouraged and impressed' at the degree of thoroughness of the investigation by Townsville police. SOURCE - Townsville BulletinSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
