48 HOURS MYSTERY to feature the David Swain underwater murder on Saturday

[Hockeynut]

Thanks Ken. This will come in handy the next time I go diving with that blood-sucking harpy I made the mistake of marrying.

Mine don't dive.:depressed:

 

[biscuit]

Ken gave an excellent analysis on this case in another thread starting here:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/no...-convicted-wifes-drowning-47.html#post4925122

Some people think you need "hard evidence" in order to convict and their personal test is beyond a "shadow of a doubt." However, the law says you need "reasonable doubt" and Ken does a great job explaining the difference. A jury is burdened with the task of determining what is true and what is not true in view of the totality of the evidence. As they go through the process, they discover that reasonable doubt is establishing the probalility of truth. For instance, it is possible that Shelley may have purposefully dug her fin into the sand in a perfectly upright position and swam around with one fin (for what reason nobody knows), but in light of the metal pin that was bent and pulled out in order for the mask strap to be pulled away and the force it would have taken to pull the mouthpiece from the snorkel, it is highly unlikely that Shelley placed the fin in the sand.

In addition, I have kept a thread of reference materials in this case on the thread in my signature line. This includes newspaper articles that includes transcript excerpts, links to videos (including Swain's civil deposition), pictures captured from the NBC Dateline story, as well as links to some court documents.

Yes, I've followed the case too, including the SB threads. There's quite a lot that I could say about every aspect of the case but the bottom line is that he was found guilty by a jury who listened to the testimony and saw his demeanor.

It's SOP to appeal but unless there were glaring technical breaches, it's doubtful he'll be granted a new trial. He probably should have stayed off the witness stand... but sociopaths and narcissists are hard to silence even when it's in their own best interests to keep their mouths shut.

Like other murderers before him, Swain believed he could outsmart the prosecution. Yet when he had the opportunity through his own testimony, he didn't bother trying to convince the jury of any alternate explanations for the most damning of evidence. Instead, he answered with rhetorical questions or "I did not do those things". When the prosecutor said "You tore her mask", he could have said that she was prone to panic and he's seen her pull at her mask in the past. True or not, such a statement would have gone farther than "You're wrong, I did not do those things" in response the question about ONE thing. Challenging the jury to come up with their own answer to his rhetorical question re "why would I go to a popular dive site with friends if someone wanted to kill the wife" merely allowed a thinking person to come up with the logical answer: I'd do it in hopes of garnering support and an alibi. Point is, cooking one's own goose on the witness stand isn't a legit reason to be granted a new trial.

BTW, you've done a great job compiling information about this case! I appreciated being able to review it all in one place.

 

[vladimir]

It would have been much more reasonable to charge him with manslaughter for abandoning his buddy underwater and therefore putting her life at risk.

That sounds more reasonable to you? What kind of precedent would that set? Many, if not most of the scuba diving fatalities we read about involve separated buddy teams; do you really want to put all of those errant buddies in jail for manslaughter?

 

[biscuit]

Originally Posted by sufur
It would have been much more reasonable to charge him with manslaughter for abandoning his buddy underwater and therefore putting her life at risk.

But he wasn't a diver abandoning his buddy. He was a dive instructor and owner of a failing dive shop who murdered his wife in cold blood for a million bucks and another woman.

Remember, it was the other divers on the trip, including his close friend, who raised the red flag with investigators after having read his lies about the course of events.

 

[Ayisha]

Remember, it was the other divers on the trip, including his close friend, who raised the red flag with investigators after having read his lies about the course of events.

Was it his friends who tipped off investigators to foul play? There was only his friend Christian, Christian's wife and their child on their boat. Christian was a witness for the prosecution and his testimony was certainly not supportive of David's story, and he cooperated with the dive shop owner in confiscating equipment, but I don't recall him actually starting the suspicion. Do you know of a link to this?

In the similar Watson case in Australia, other divers on the boat raised the red flag to investigators.

In this Swain case, the dive shop owner was the one that I recall raising the red flag to Christian and the BVI police.

 

[SadiesMom]

But he wasn't a diver abandoning his buddy. He was a dive instructor and owner of a failing dive shop who murdered his wife in cold blood for a million bucks and another woman.

Remember, it was the other divers on the trip, including his close friend, who raised the red flag with investigators after having read his lies about the course of events.

You've got a heck of a lot of "facts" wrong in your posts. 1) The shop wasn't "failing." Shelley had invested in it, but that was because they had decided together to make MAJOR improvements to the property - like adding an onsite indoor pool and add two rental units for vacationers. 2) There wasn't "a million bucks" involved. 3) David had ended any involvement with Mary Basler and had renewed his marriage with Shelley as evidenced by a letter to Mary saying exactly that. If you're all so very willing to believe letters indicating that David had feelings for Mary, why are you all so unwilling to believe a letter sent to Mary prior to the trip (but after the prior letters) indicating that David intended to rekindle his marriage to Shelley? and 4) It was NOT Christian or his wife OR child that indicated in any way that they felt that there was foul play involved. While they were called by the prosecution as witnesses, they NEVER (to my knowledge - and I know a number of the principal people involved personally) indicated that they felt that Mary's death was anything but an accident.

You indicated in a previous post that you have done "forensic pre-trial psych evaluations." Are you a professional in the mental health field? Is it typically your practice to make psychiatric diagnoses without meeting, even once, with a patient? I was under the impression that bonafide members of the mental health community typically feel unqualified to make medical conclusions and sling around DSM IV diagnoses such as "psychopath" and "sociopath" without having examined someone in person....perhaps I was misinformed.

Please, Biscuit - I'd love to know of your background to make these diagnoses - and your information for making these fascinating claims of "fact"...?

 

[Ayisha]

3) David had ended any involvement with Mary Basler and had renewed his marriage with Shelley as evidenced by a letter to Mary saying exactly that. If you're all so very willing to believe letters indicating that David had feelings for Mary, why are you all so unwilling to believe a letter sent to Mary prior to the trip (but after the prior letters) indicating that David intended to rekindle his marriage to Shelley?

SadiesMom, do you have a link to this letter stating David's intention to rekindle his marriage? I don't recall seeing this letter.

There were 3 letters in evidence between David and Mary prior to Shelley's death and they're copied here (as well as in articles): David Swain's Letters - 48 Hours - CBS News

 

[K_girl]

It was shown that Swain was a financial disaster, especially since he blew through all of Shelley's money and wound-up in debt.

"An accountant who had reviewed Swain's finances said the former Jamestown Town Council member received more than $570,000 in cash after his wife's death and said Swain spent it all in about 18 months on trips around the world. The accountant said Swain was now in debt for about $189,000..

What about the accountant's finding that he blew through more than $570,000 in less than 18 months, most of it on trips around the world, and is now broke and in debt for $189,000?

Swain says the "lion's share" of the money went into renovations and expansions of the dive shop.

"I didn't get a loan to build this facility," he says.

When told the accountant said he received at least a $60,000 loan after Tyre died, Swain corrects himself, explaining: "Yeah, but that was just for the wood."

"Did I spend some for my personal enjoyment? Sure. Was I banned by any law not to spend it for my personal enjoyment? No."

And the $189,000 debt? Was most of it charged on some two dozen credit cards?

After a long pause, Swain says he resorted to putting the cost of even more shop renovations on the credit cards after a second mortgage fell through.."

Source: The Providence Journal (Rhode Island), March 5, 2006 Sunday
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/4977179-post18.html

From the same story, here is the sequence of events regarding Swain's contact with Basler after Shelley's death. Within 24 days of Shelley's death, Swain arranged to meet his "soulmate" as he called her, Mary Basler:

Shelley Tyre died on March 12, 1999.

Swain returned to Rhode Island with her body on March 19th.

Olenn says the same day Swain returned, he also gave away Shelley's beloved dog, who accompanied her to work every day.

On March 21 he called Thayer Academy in Braintree, Mass., where Shelley Tyre was a head master, and asked if he could keep her computer, to give to one of his children.

On March 26 he called Mary Basler, the woman he had a relationship with, and arranged to meet her at an East Greenwich restaurant.

************

More about Mary Basler (Swain's love interest):

Video | turnto10.com

Transcript:

Reporter 1: Dr. Mary Grace Basler, a board chiropractor testified via video link from Providence regarding her relationship with Swain and before Swain left for Tortola, he met with Basler at his house.

Reporter 2 (attended trial) : She went on to tell the court that he kissed her that night, but that she stopped him from any further advances until he had left his wife.

*****

From MSNBC story:

Then there were the letters Swain wrote to Mary Basler, some of them before his wife's death. In one, he asks a "particular playmate" to join him in Vermont. He calls her "Soulmate Mary!" Another he signs, "With all my love ... David."

Most ominously, this one, dated five months before Shelley's death, which reads: "Life has definitely gotten more complicated ... I'm wanting to be with you but I can't change this mess I've got anytime soon." ..

"..Douglas showed the jury another letter Swain wrote to the "other woman," Mary Basler - telling her, "Our getting together actually saved my marriage." ..

"David Swain did write to Mary Basler and confirm that I did take steps. I did, as a result of your rebuffing my approaches, I did take steps to work on my marriage. To come to terms with my wife, and we were on the way."..

*****

However, in terms of the date(s) of the letters - we don't know how many there were and which letters were written when. If it is true that Basler rebuffed Swain's kiss because he was married just before he left for Tortola as is the claim of the reporter who attended the trial, then it doesn't matter what he wrote in a previous letter. In addition, Swain's continuing interest in Basler is apparent after Shelley's death. You would have to believe that Swain completely discarded his "soulmate" for a time only to re-kindle it again later. In addition, Swain was questioned in a deposition about his contacting Basler just after Shelley took the job for less pay. This is also on the MSNBC story.

The Trouble At Twin Wrecks - Crime reports- msnbc.com

 

[englishpeter]

A pretty nasty way to commit murder. I prefer to relax while I dive rather than kill people...

 

[AfterDark]

Nobody ever mentions that when the evidence was new and the event fresh in everyone's mind Swain was found to have no innvolvement in a "murder" and was allowed to leave. It was only after a PI funded by the wife's wealthy family made up a theroy of murder to fit the facts he had on hand that things turned to murder. Before that it was what it was a diving a accident. Now that an objective look at the case has been completed Swain is once again a free man.