Diver convicted in wife's drowning

[idocsteve]

"He was wearing a wetsuit and one fin and no mask," Lane said. "He was about 25 feet away from the sandbar."

The snorkel was intact and the mask pin wasnt bent so bad that it was pulled out and the fin wasn't stuck several inches in the sand.

 

[AfterDark]

The snorkel was intact and the mask pin wasnt bent so bad that it was pulled out and the fin wasn't stuck several inches in the sand.

Really? How do you know? I didn't see the word snorkel mentioned at all. Or the condition of the mask for that matter. Where was the fin found? Was the fin found? Open our eyes to where you got this information. Or is this like most of your other posts?

 

[Ayisha]

HUH? Missing a fin and mask? No foul play? Is that possible?

Scuba diver dies in mishap off Gloucester - Local News Updates - MetroDesk - The Boston Globe


Scuba diver dies in mishap off Gloucester
EmailE-mail|Link|Comments (11) May 27, 2010 01:16 PM

By Stefanie Geisler, Globe Correspondent

A 42-year-old scuba diver died Wednesday afternoon after he was found floating unconscious off Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester, officials said today.

John C. Denaro, 42, of Carlisle, was seen floating in the water in the beach's private section at about 1:30 p.m., Gloucester Police Chief Michael Lane said. He was transported to Addison Gilbert Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:05 p.m., Lane said.

"His mother said he had extensive diving experience, and that he had come to Gloucester with his niece and her boyfriend," Lane said. "They were both going to the beach, and he was going to go diving off to the side."

Denaro was found floating in about two feet of water, Lane said.

"He was wearing a wetsuit and one fin and no mask," Lane said. "He was about 25 feet away from the sandbar."

The incident was reported by witnesses who live in the area, Lane said.

Paramedics removed Denaro from the water and attempted to resuscitate him, Gloucester Deputy Fire Chief Miles Schlichte said. Denaro was diving by himself.

"He walked from the public side of the beach to the private side, donned his dive gear, and went into the water," Schlichte said.

No foul play is suspected at this time, Lane said. An autopsy is expected to be completed today.

Denaro's gear will be inspected by the State Police dive team, Lane said.

"It appeared that the tank was pretty full when they took possession of it," he said.

The tanks will be tested early next week, but the initial examination shows that Denaro's gear was in working order, said Steve O'Connell, a spokesman for the Essex district attorney's office.

"This was probably a medical issue, but we'll await the autopsy results before determining the cause of death," he said

I see little resemblance between the information in this article and the death of Shelley. We have little information in the above article.
Regarding Shelley's death, we have:
*a mouthpiece and the lower part of her snorkel missing
*the snorkel clip broken
*the mask pin broken
*bruises mainly on her left side
*abrasions on her left hand
*her left fin off and stuck several inches straight up into the sand
*her solo buddy who claimed to not see her body or her fin stuck in the sand although the path he mapped out led him past both
*a husband who insisted that Christian not radio for help but instead call for paramedics, who radioed the distress call
*a husband who told Christian to stop performing CPR
*a husband who also told a rescue boat operator not to perform CPR
*her solo buddy who initially said that a lone diver attacked her and took off, then recanted that story
*a husband who made reference to a missing mouthpiece in his interrogation on the day of Shelley's death before anyone else knew there was a missing mouthpiece and the snorkel had not even been recovered yet
*letters indicating marital discord and the pursuit of an affair with another woman and the letter right before his holiday stated that things would be changing soon
*a husband who initially said that he left her to dive by himself because she looked happy and comfortable and then later said that she must have panicked
*excerpts of the dive logs in evidence show that she had a few episodes of mild anxiety, the last being over 2 years earlier and over 150 dives before the fateful day and none listing physical signs of panic

Sorry, I fail to see the resemblance between the circumstances of the two deaths.

 

[AfterDark]

I see little resemblance between the information in this article and the death of Shelley. We have little information in the above article.
Regarding Shelley's death, we have:
*a mouthpiece and the lower part of her snorkel missing
*the snorkel clip broken
*the mask pin broken
*bruises mainly on her left side
*abrasions on her left hand
*her left fin off and stuck several inches straight up into the sand
*her solo buddy who claimed to not see her body or her fin stuck in the sand although the path he mapped out led him past both
*a husband who insisted that Christian not radio for help but instead call for paramedics, who radioed the distress call
*a husband who told Christian to stop performing CPR
*a husband who also told a rescue boat operator not to perform CPR
*her solo buddy who initially said that a lone diver attacked her and took off, then recanted that story
*a husband who made reference to a missing mouthpiece in his interrogation on the day of Shelley's death before anyone else knew there was a missing mouthpiece and the snorkel had not even been recovered yet
*letters indicating marital discord and the pursuit of an affair with another woman and the letter right before his holiday stated that things would be changing soon
*a husband who initially said that he left her to dive by himself because she looked happy and comfortable and then later said that she must have panicked
*excerpts of the dive logs in evidence show that she had a few episodes of mild anxiety, the last being over 2 years earlier and over 150 dives before the fateful day and none listing physical signs of panic

Sorry, I fail to see the resemblance between the circumstances of the two deaths.

Wow! That's a lot of words to not answer a simple question.

(Missing a fin and mask. No foul play.) Is that possible?

 

[Ayisha]

Yes, it is possible to have a missing fin and mask and not suspect foul play.

Not sure what bearing that accident has on this thread regarding a murder though.

 

[K_girl]

The fin and the mask did not go missing in the Swain case. They were both recovered and they both provided important evidence. One thing you can surmise from the lack of missing equipment in the Swain case is that there was no current to cause an experienced diver to panic as the mask was actually found in the area the next day. The fact that the mask and fin went missing in this other case could be an indicator of strong currents which could induce panic. If the cause is found to be drowning, in cases where there is a strong current, this is often caused by overexhaustion and over-breathing the reg induces a feeling that one cannot breathe and the diver may reject the reg at depth in this kind of situation and drown. In order for this to occur, you need a condition that induces the diver to feel that they cannot breathe in order to reject their reg. Overexertion with the build-up of CO2 which induces rapid breathing is the primary reason. However, it is clear that in the Swain case, no such conditions existed either from current or any other health condition that would invoke overexertion and rapid breathing. It is also crucial to note that Shelley's body was found pretty much where Swain said he last saw her, so it can be concluded that she was not overexerting herself swimming around. The defense tried to argue that a headache caused by TMJ could induce such a condition as to cause her to reject her regulator, her mask and to lose her fin. In more than 400 dives, we never saw an entry in Shelley's log that TMJ ever caused her any problems underwater. In addition, I provided a link to a long discussion on a diver forum about TMJ and there was no entry that said it created a dangerous situation for them or caused them to panic.

In addition, Shelley's fin was diliberately removed and dug into the sand with the heel strap completely down the back of the foot plate. It was not missing. This was also an important piece of evidence that the jury had to deliberate on. Either Shelley removed it herself and swam around without it or David removed her fin and "staged" the scene. The more believable explanation in light of all the other evidence in the case is that David staged the fin in hopes to show that she was in some kind of life or death struggle with herself. The prosecution argued that the fin came off in the struggle with David and then he moved her body away from the fin, but I think they got that part wrong, but the result was the same. David was ultimately responsible for the removal of the fin.

We have a lot more surrounding information on the Swain case than we do this other case. I agree that I see no similarities at this point between the two cases.

 

[idocsteve]

*her solo buddy who initially said that a lone diver attacked her and took off, then recanted that story

Her solo buddy said a lone diver attacked her and took off, and then recanted?

I never read that anywhere.

Also what's a solo buddy? Sounds like an oxymoron.

Sort of like "Innocent David Swain"

 

[Ayisha]

Her solo buddy for lack of a better word for the buddy she began the dive with who then went solo. Also sometimes known as "same ocean buddies". I suspect though, that you asked simply to post your oxymoron punchline.

Yes, there was a reference in one of the early links to David raising suspicion about a lone diver in the area who may have attacked her. The investigators looked into it and found that the area was very secluded and only accessible by boat, no other boats were seen in the area, and they did not believe this lone diver existed. David then changed his story to her being prone to panic, even though he said she was perfectly fine when he left and they separated often.

It is in one of the links that I followed early on. Each of the links that were posted contained more links to articles, so I don't have time to follow the trail now. However, I posted the links to some of those articles, so perhaps it is in one of K-girl's links if anyone cares to look.

 

[Ayisha]

I did a quick search and on November 22, 2009, K_girl also referenced the theory that David offered the police regarding a stranger attacking Shelley, so it should be in one of the links prior to November 23, 2009. Hope that helps a little.

...David also expressed concerns to the shop owner about the medical examiner and appeared to be worried enough about it that he approached the police with a theory of his own: that his wife had been attacked from behind (by someone else).

Perhaps K_girl can point us in the right direction? Sorry to burden you, K_girl.

 

[K_girl]

I do remember that at one point, Swain had mentioned another diver in the area. I can't remember if he said he saw another diver or if he theorized another diver may have killed Shelley. Tried a search, but couldn't find it. Would have to go through the reference materials.