I don't know why some reports allude to a new eyewitness as being Dr Stutz. Dr Stutz was interviewed on the day of Tina's death, as is written in one of the articles linked to by Gabe's Dad. There was some talk a long time ago of a new witness coming forward apparently from Tina's work regarding Gabe's insurance inquiry and comments that he made.
Since we're discussing those articles, there is some new information and clarification as well as inconsistencies in those articles. As much as some articles were biased against Watson, these articles are very much biased toward Watson's innocence.
Widespread reporting of the case has almost universally adopted a slow ascent as fact, contrary to sworn evidence at the 2008 inquest in which a police expert said the dive computer data showed the ascent could have been as quick as one minute 10 seconds. This is a relatively fast ascent, on a par with the rapid ascent of Tina's rescuer.
No. Singleton's ascent was from 100 feet, carrying a lifeless body. Watson's ascent was from 40 - 45 feet.
The insurance angle is a beat-up. There was a life insurance policy, but it was insignificant and of no good whatsoever to Watson. It was worth a paltry $30,000. The beneficiary was her father, Thomas. Travel insurance? Yes, that was on the table, worth just $10,000.
They fail to mention that Watson may have asked for the insurance to be maxed, with him as the beneficiary, was told that the transaction was completed prior to the honeymoon and Gabe tried to collect on it, showing that he thought he was the beneficary. He also claimed on her travel insurance, but dropped it later - Wasn't there something about not incriminating himself?
And here's the clincher: the evidence of one of the detectives that an insurance broker, Mark Hughes, had provided a document (exhibit 33) in which it was revealed that in early September 2003, six weeks before the diving death, Watson did not want to proceed with a substantial life policy. He had planned to reconsider the opportunity after the honeymoon.
6 weeks before Tina's death, Gabe did not want to proceed with a substantial life policy. Did he refuse that policy on HIS life? We still don't know if he was insured; if so, who the beneficiary was; and if it was maxed the way Tina's may been expected to be.
Diphenhydramine, the medication she was taking for seasickness, has reported side effects of confusion, dizziness, drowsiness, fatigue, disturbed co-ordination, irritability and blurred vision.
We read about medications being ruled out in the coroner's report, but I don't think we knew which medications prior to this.
"[He] decided in a split-second not to dive after [Tina] but to surface and seek help. The cause of death was asphyxiation. For some reason wholly unexplained in the materials provided, [Tina] ceased to breathe."
A coroner stated that the cause of death was asphyxiation on one of the American investigative shows (Dateline, 20/20) years ago, but we never saw where exactly that info came from.
The photograph showing his wife either dead or near death, lying prostrate on the bottom in 27 metres of water, emerged later. It would be of little forensic value, but its impact on the public psyche was devastating.
I believe there is some value in that picture. It shows her position in the water, allows an undisputable comparison to the eyewitness accounts, shows whether she was in proximity to the wreck, and it shows visibility and possibly the conditions in the seconds before she was picked up. This is not a protected, static environment where evidence can be collected and that can be photographed and analyzed fully later.
Hearing Gabe's cries, Wade Singleton, the safety and rescue diver for the morning, plunged into the water.
Other reports stated that Dr Stutz informed Singleton, not that Singleton heard Gabe's call for help.
Five days later, with his mother, Glenda, now in Townsville, Gabe gave to a routine police investigation his account of what happened.''[After entering the water and descending] we both realised this current's a lot stronger than what we feel comfortable diving in
I turned to look at her at about the same time as she was turning to me.''
Except that in his initial interview, Gabe told the police that there wasn't much current. He went against the current back to the line. Gabe came back to the police station the next day after researching the current and informed the officer that it actually was a strong current, expaining how she must have drifted out of his sight. This was when the investigators started to look more closely at Gabe.
Gabe said he took Tina's hand and she gave him a ''thumbs up'', signalling a return to the comparative safety of the anchor line.
A thumb's up does not mean to swim back to the ascent line. That would be a turn-around signal. A thumb's up means Go up Now.
Tina's worker's compensation carried a death benefit. Thomas told The Age that his daughter's death benefit was $US33,000. With a double indemnity, a worker could buy additional benefits up to a maximum of $170,000. He claimed Gabe wanted the couple to buy the increase.
The difficulty with this as a theory is that Gabe was never the beneficiary. Her father received the money on Tina's death. Thomas explains the contradiction by saying Gabe thought he was the beneficiary. Thomas says he told his daughter to inform Watson that a change in beneficiaries had taken place.
This skirts around the issue of why Thomas believes that Gabe thought he was the beneficiary, as discussed above.
Gabe Watson refused to take out additional insurance offered by an insurance broker, saying he would review the position after their honeymoon.
Again, is this insurance on Gabe's life?
In summing up the many mistakes that stem from the Coroners Court, Justice Chesterman says: ''This cause of death was repeated at the appeal by the Solicitor-General but it is wrong. Before dealing with the error another mistake, consequential on the first, should be noted. The prosecutor described the cause of death as 'drowning
the deceased failed to receive sufficient oxygen whilst under
water'. The deceased did not drown. The cause of death was asphyxiation. For some reason wholly unexplained in the materials provided the deceased ceased to breathe.''
Not sure how significant this "mistake" is or what other mistakes were.
When she died, paracetamol, ibuprofen and diphenhydramine were in her body; the last is used as a seasickness tablet.
I believe this was new information prior to these articles.
Dick chose not to answer the question: ''Having been tried and acquitted in Queensland of murder, should Gabe Watson be retried in Alabama because that state believes Queensland got it wrong?'' Nor would he say why, if the Court of Appeal made a mistake, he chose not to take the matter to the High Court.
Gabe was never tried for murder in Queensland, and he was never acquitted. He signed a plea agreement.
There are multiple references to insurance payouts being the motive, but there was some information also about Gabe's anger regarding an alleged affair that Gabe thought Tina had. I suspect that true motives do not always come out at trials or to the media, so who knows...
