Diver convicted in wife's drowning

[K_girl]

Swain Cross Examination Part 2.

Source: http://static.mgnetwork.com/jar/media_path/swain_cross_2.mp3

Prosecutor: You held her and struggled with her.

Swain: I did not.

Prosecutor: This whole fin came off and became impaled in the sand.

Swain: That is an impossibility.

Prosecutor: This whole mask strap broken.

Swain: I have no idea how her mask strap got broken.

Prosecutor: That’s how her snorkel mouthpiece became detached.

Swain: I had no idea where the mouthpiece is and how it became detached.

Prosecutor: Then, you held her down.

Swain: No. You are wrong.

Prosecutor: And you struggle, her slate is lost.

Swain: I have no idea what happened to her slate.

Prosecutor: You held her down!

Swain: I did not!

Prosecutor: While she was.. she became unconscious.

Swain: I did not.

Prosecutor: You brought her to this point between the wrecks.

Swain: I did not.

Prosecutor: And this was within 8 minutes of the dive.

Swain: It was not. I did not. You are making false accusations.

Prosecutor: Then you swam around the reef here.

Swain: No.

Prosecutor: To make sure there was enough time for her to have no chance of recovery.

Swain: No, no. More false accusations. You are wrong.

Prosecutor: Then, you went to the surface and you left her body there for Christian to discover.

Swain. No. No, no.

Prosecutor: And then Christian discovered it, you made sure that even if she had a little chance, she would have no chance anymore of recovery by doing no proper, continuous CPR.

Swain: All falsehoods. All falsehoods. All accusations. All wrong.

Prosecutor: And then, you tried to cover-up what you did. You’re asking Mr. Brown to get rid of the gear.

Swain: Wrong.

Prosecutor: Because you knew that the gear told a story. The gear told a story of struggle.

Swain: No.

Prosecutor: And you wanted to get rid of it.

Swain: I didn’t know any of these things.

Prosecutor: But thankfully, Mr. Brown is a man who followed protocol and kept the gear. And then, you returned to Rhode Island to court Mary and to collect the money.

Swain: No.

Prosecutor: Because you knew that if you divorced, you wouldn’t enjoy the life you were enjoying anymore.

Swain: All falsehoods.

Prosecutor: And Mary, you look at her with the desire of a woman, both in face and for your own pocketbook.

Swain: No. You’re wrong.

Prosecutor: It’s just you. You are the one responsible for the death of your wife.

Swain: And your suggestion is totally, absolutely wrong.

 

[K_girl]

Swain: Direct Testimony

Source: http://static.mgnetwork.com/jar/media_path/swain_direct_testimony.mp3

Defense: Mr. Swain. When you went on the dive with Shelley Tyre on that 12th of March, 1999, did you kill Shelley Tyre?

Swain: I did not, could not, would not dream of taking the rock of my life out of the world. That is just.. I just.. No I did not.

Defense: Did you put Shelley Tyre.. did you come from behind her and put her in the control position and turn her air off?

Swain: No.. I.. no.

Defense: Did you rip off or drag off or take off or remove the mask?

Swain: No. No, I didn’t do any of these things.

Defense: Did you remove her fin?

Swain: No.

Defense: Did you remove her snorkel?

Swain: No. No, I didn’t do any of these things.

Defense: Did you in any way, during the course of that dive on the 12th of March, 1999, did you in any way deprive Shelley Tyre of air?

Swain: The last thing in the world is I would deprive Shelley of anything. I certainly didn’t deprive her of air.

Defense: You were sued, Mr. Swain, in a civil court in Rhode Island in relation to your wife’s death?

Swain: Yes.

Defense: To what extent did you participate in those proceedings?

Swain: I didn’t.. (cut-off).

 

[K_girl]

Some new information regarding Mary Basler via this link:

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.

**********
Well, that is interesting. I wonder if she stopped Swain and thought in her mind, not until he left his wife or said to him face-to-face, not until he left his wife. I wouldn't date a guy who I just told, "not until you leave your wife." And then his wife is suddenly dead within a week. She also testified that they did get together intimately about 2 months after Shelley's death. I'm really curious to know why Basler cut if off with him after just over a year of dating him. But apparently, not before he spent some serious money on her for vacations, etc.

 

[K_girl]

Swain Cross Examination Part 2.

Source: http://static.mgnetwork.com/jar/media_path/swain_cross_2.mp3

Prosecutor: And you struggle, her slate is lost.

Swain: I have no idea what happened to her slate.

So, according to the defense, Shelley takes off her fin, so she's hobbling around, then she gets TMJ and starts to panic, rips of her mask, breaking the strap and ripping the the mouthpiece from the snorkel and ripping her slate from her BC, all during the her "panic" attack. David is swimming around the same area, and for more than 20 minutes of his remaining dive, never even looks for her. Never sees the fin sticking up in the sand that Thwaites saw immediately upon descent not far from the anchor line. Sorry, but I can understand where a jury would have a hard time buying all of that.

 

[SadiesMom]

Some new information regarding Mary Basler via this link:

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.

**********
Well, that is interesting. I wonder if she stopped Swain and thought in her mind, not until he left his wife or said to him face-to-face, not until he left his wife. I wouldn't date a guy who I just told, "not until you leave your wife." And then his wife is suddenly dead within a week. She also testified that they did get together intimately about 2 months after Shelley's death. I'm really curious to know why Basler cut if off with him after just over a year of dating him. But apparently, not before he spent some serious money on her for vacations, etc.

Mary Basler stated that the reason she broke up with David was because "he was going through a difficult emotional time." It was part of her testimony. That was a direct quote from her according to one of our local news stations (WPRI Channel 12 news). She also characterized the relationship as a "fling" in her testimony.

 

[Ayisha]

In Thwaites' testimony, he said he found the fin sticking straight-up, dug into the sand with the strap below the foot plate. He saw the fin immediately upon descent and then saw Shelley over by the wrecks, indicating that there was some distance between the fin and Shelley.

In one of the links many pages back, I believe it was estimated that Thwaites found Shelley's body about 30 feet away from where he had found her fin.

I think that the point you make later is a very good one about Swain not only not seeing Shelley at any time after they split, or seeing her body at any time, but also not seeing her fin stuck in the sand fairly close to the mooring line when he returned to the boat seems difficult to miss. The prosecution only harped on the fact that it was not possible for Swain to have not seen her body when he completed his tour of the wreck, but you are right that the fin should have been very visible too. Both the fin and body were seen quickly by Thwaites.

 

[Ayisha]

Thank you very much again k_girl for all your research and transcripting on this thread. It is very much appreciated.

The charts that you posted from the Dateline screenshots of the autopsy info seem to show multiple bruises or contusions on both legs in various stages of healing. This is interesting...

It is also very interesting that the most prevalant damages are all on Shelley's left side. You can see in the pictures posted above that Shelley's left fin is off; her mask strap on the left side is broken; the pin on the left side is broken; the snorkel holder (on the left side) is broken; the snorkel mouth piece (on the left side) is broken off; there are multiple abrasions on her left hand; and a fresh bruise on her left thigh. The left side of her body and gear sustained considerable damage.

BTW, the only mention of bruising on her foot is an older bruise on her RIGHT foot, not her left foot. There is no mention of a bruise on her left foot that the defence maintains was bothering her and that she may have removed the fin to soothe. It would have to be the left foot because that is the fin that was removed and the explanation was given as to the bruised foot. However, the only bruise mentioned in the autopsy was on the right foot and that fin was still on when she was found.

 

[Ayisha]

...Swain cross examination, part 1.

Source: http://static.mgnetwork.com/jar/media_path/swain_cross_1.mp3

Prosecutor: .. is that you attacked Shelley under the water and struggled. You held onto her mask and she was struggling with you for the mask, having held her mouthpiece and the strap and mouthpiece detached and the strap got broken.

Swain: No.

Prosecutor: And when you were speaking to the police, you had a slip of the tongue. And it is why you mentioned to the police that you were not sure if her face mask and mouthpiece was still on because you knew that in a struggle, the snorkel mouthpiece was detached.

Swain: No. I don’t know any of this. That didn’t happen.

Prosecutor: But where.. you have not answered me. But at that time, the snorkel without the mouthpiece was at the bottom of the sea. Later retrieved by Mr. Brown. Don’t you agree? ..Pause.. Christian didn’t bring it up.

Swain: I presume Mr. Brown brought it up, yes.

Prosecutor: Christian didn’t bring it up.

Swain: He did not report bringing it up.

Prosecutor: So the only way you knew that the mouthpiece wasn’t on the snorkel was because you were involved in it being detached from the snorkel.
Swain: No.

Prosecutor: That’s why you mentioned it there.

Swain: No.

bold added

That is really damaging evidence. So Swain had mentioned to the police that he wasn't sure if the mouthpiece was still on possibly the day BEFORE the mask/snorkel was even found. He claims that he did not see her after the first five minutes or so of the dive, the mask/snorkel was not retrieved the day that Shelley was found, and yet he had knowledge that no one else had (yet) about the state of her damaged equipment. I think the prosecutor is right and he made a slip of the tongue claiming information that he would not have known had he not seen it.

Remember, as the prosecuter said, the snorkle/mouthpiece was still unseen and unfound at the bottom of the sea at the time Swain mis-spoke. Brown retrieved the mask and snorkle with the missing mouthpiece the NEXT DAY after Shelley died.

 

[SadiesMom]

David said that he was referring to whether or not the reg mouthpiece was in Shelley's mouth when Christian brought Shelley up. The police are not familiar with dive equipment and did not know the difference between a regulator mouthpiece and a snorkel mouthpiece. I believe this was covered in the defense's case, but as per usual, that's not reported here. You may note that none of the defense testimony was presented.....

Remember...this case was investigated by the Tortolan police and determined to be an ACCIDENTAL DROWNING. The inclusion of "unless it was found to be something else" was legalese to cover their butts. But at the time, BVI had no reason to believe that Shelley's death was anything but a scuba accident.

 

[K_girl]

Thank you very much again k_girl for all your research and transcripting on this thread. It is very much appreciated.

The charts that you posted from the Dateline screenshots of the autopsy info seem to show multiple bruises or contusions on both legs in various stages of healing. This is interesting...

It is also very interesting that the most prevalant damages are all on Shelley's left side. You can see in the pictures posted above that Shelley's left fin is off; her mask strap on the left side is broken; the pin on the left side is broken; the snorkel holder (on the left side) is broken; the snorkel mouth piece (on the left side) is broken off; there are multiple abrasions on her left hand; and a fresh bruise on her left thigh. The left side of her body and gear sustained considerable damage.

BTW, the only mention of bruising on her foot is an older bruise on her RIGHT foot, not her left foot. There is no mention of a bruise on her left foot that the defence maintains was bothering her and that she may have removed the fin to soothe. It would have to be the left foot because that is the fin that was removed and the explanation was given as to the bruised foot. However, the only bruise mentioned in the autopsy was on the right foot and that fin was still on when she was found.

I would say that I was only able to capture a few images of the autopsy report and that it is not a complete report. It would be curious to find out for sure whether or not there was a bruise on the foot in the autopsy report where the fin was missing as the defense claimed. I can't imagine that the defense would make such a bad mistake.

I have to also admit that I usually come back from a dive vacation with multiple bruises - and at least half of the time, the smaller ones, I don't know how I got them. The bigger ones usually have a story. A 4-inch bruise would have a story. If there was a way to distinguish fresh bruises, that would be important, but I'm not a pathologist who understands the color-ranking of bruises in autopsy reports. Ken may be able to provide some answers in that area.