TOWNSVILLE, Australia (17 June 2008) — An Australian coroner is scheduled to recommend Friday whether a trial should be held in the 2003 drowning death of a Helena woman. Following a four-week inquest and an eight-week postponement, Coroner David Glasgow will present findings to prosecutors in the death of Christina "Tina" Thomas Watson. Watson, 26, drowned Oct. 22, 2003, while scuba diving off the Queensland Coast. She and her husband, Gabe Watson of Hoover, had been married 11 days prior to her death. They were on their honeymoon. More than 65 witnesses from around the world testified in person or by phone during the inquest, held two weeks in November and two weeks in January. At the close of the inquest, Glasgow told the Townsville Bulletin of Australia, "I have reached the state of contemplating making an unfavorable finding on David Gabriel Watson, and have made such an indication to all parties." During the inquest, police said they don't understand why Gabe Watson, a certified diver trained in rescue, let his wife sink to the ocean floor and took so long to seek help. Glasgow was scheduled to make his recommendation in April, but granted a delay requested by Watson's Australian attorney for more time to review the volume of evidence. Watson's attorney, Steve Zillman, and the prosecutor for the state, John Tate, are scheduled to each give closing arguments before Glasgow renders his recommendation. Gabe Watson did not attend the inquest and one of his American attorneys, Bob Austin, said his client is waiting for the final oral presentations and the coroner's decision. "We'll deal with it from that point on if there's anything to deal with," Austin said. Austin said Gabe Watson had given at least three statements to police during the four-year investigation, including one in Austin's office when Queensland detectives were in Birmingham in April 2007. The Australian officers conducted more than 25 interviews here and were part of a search of Gabe Watson's Hoover home by FBI agents and Hoover and Helena police. | 
