Diver Indicted in 2003 GBR mishap

[almitywife]

geez... for all the times people have posted about how meaningless c-cards are and how appalling the training agencies can be

but wait - someone died, lets make the rescue certified diver held up to a greater expectation

anyone can take a course, anyone can get the cert provided they perform the minimum requirements - doesnt mean they can react and perform accordingly in an emergency

but then again - maybe he did do it... i have no idea

 

[Doc Intrepid]

You have an eyewitness with no rational motivation for lying telling the inquest that he witnessed the two in a bearhug for an extended period, then the male let go of the female who begin descending without movement.

Add this to the computer, the request regarding the insurance, and the deal with removing the flowers from the grave, and you've got a control freak manipulating events because doing so is something he does well and enjoys getting away with. Not an unheard of situation, in any number of crime scenarios.

IMO this was no accident, and no physiological reaction or diving-related explanation exhibited by the husband has suggested otherwise. The guy is getting away with murder because up until how he is correct - there is insufficient evidence to convict him. He has, in fact, succeeded in controlling the situation ultimately. What a rush it must be for him. The thing about cutting flowers off the grave with boltcutters may be the ultimate act of vindictive one-upmanship to her family. "I'll show you"; "you are not going to have the last word here, I am." He's a control freak. The thing with sending the Christmas card photo of himself to the bride's best friend is another example of gloating, of taunting. "Run, run, run as fast as you can: can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man". Control can be a pretty heady phenomenon...particularly if you've convinced yourself that you're smarter than the average person, and able to get away with things that less-intelligent people can't figure out.

He'll reap what he's sown one day one place, but probably not until he's ruined a few more lives in the process... I doubt that any of the inqueries will be able to produce 'evidence beyond a doubt' of his guilt. He's an actor, and a con man, and a manipulator par excellance. And he will continue to behave in such a manner that he controls what happens, and that he has the last word.

Its a pretty sad situation, all around.

Doc

 

[scuba zach]

okay! i realy dont think that he is telling the hole truth? or he realy might be telling the truth. and at that time he just might of been scared and didnt know what to do at that time? maybe because he has never been in that kind of spot before or of the training he has had IDK!? but as long as i have been diving i've been in some bad stops as well as good ones. idk maybe she had narcosis?? and thats why she was sinking and was not moving? because she has never felt that before IDK?
but one thing he is lieing about is how he said i could not go down because he would have no air to go up ? thats total BS i've made deep dive {200}with a single tank before an still had air to deco for 15 mins or more even if he did deco for 5 to 10 would of been good to SAVE his wife!!! i no if it was my wife we would of had better COMMUNICATION!!!

 

[shakeybrainsurgeon]

NBC Dateline did a 90 minute story on this last night with some interesting details:

1) the husband claimed his computer initially malfunctioned because the battery was in "backwards"... a lie, because the device actually recorded his brief initial dive and return to the boat to "fix it" ...police believe he faked this to distance he and his wife from the other divers

2) her body was found 45 ft from the wreck, although if she had gone down where her husband said, it would have drifted onto the wreck itself

3) in his statement, he said he abandoned his wife after frantically kicking down to get her and then "rocketed" to the surface for help...his computer shows he never went below 45 ft and took over 2 minutes to surface from that depth! An instructor had her dead body on another boat by the time he appeared on the original boat

4) as they did CPR on her on the second boat, he never asked or attempted to go to her, even though he told her parents he "held her while she died"

5) before they were even married, he demanded her life insurance be targeted to him, not her parents

6) he was a notorious control freak, not well liked

7) her scuba instructor said she hated diving but was forced into it by her fiance

8) surveillance video of her gravesite showed him removing flowers from it and throwing them away (nice)

9) he told police he physicallly grabbed other divers uw to get their attention, but all other divers deny this in fact, all other divers interviewed thought he was full of crap the instant he opened his mouth

10) he refused to cooperate with the inquest, whose decision is due next month regarding criminal charges

 

[altaskier]

I didn't see NBC's Dateline; indeed, I think I've never ever seen the program. But I would be shocked - SHOCKED! - to hear that a TV report both sensationalized a story, and also revealed an incomplete understanding of the subject at hand.

But then again I'm slow to pick up on good ideas. I didn't get certified until I was in my 40s, and I didn't talk my wife into getting certified until our 25th anniversary. By then I guess I had decided to keep her after all.

 

[shakeybrainsurgeon]

Oh, and one other point:
her equipment was fine, her tank had air, the reg was in her mouth when she died AND the coroner found no water in her lungs yet she died from hypoxia....

police believe he held her while he turned her tank off and then turned her tank back on after she died and let her drift to the bottom

 

[Saltwater Junky]

FOXNews.com - Alabama Man Questioned Over Wife's 2003 Australian Diving Death - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News

An odd story of interest to the dive community, someone suspected of murdering his wife during a honeymoon dive trip several years ago to Australia. He is suing the resort for mental anguish over seeing his wife die, but authorities suspect he had something to do with it.

(We are all innocent until proven guilty, of course. For all I know, the diver involved may be part of this board).

I'm resurrecting this thread because of the show I saw last night on NBC. The show casts him in a bad light. They kept mentioning his computer but never gave any relevant data other than his dive profile didn't match to any of his 16 versions of what happened. Was he exceptionally low on air? If so, why did it take him 2 min 45 secs to surface from 40 ft....too many unanswered questions. To date the husband has not been charged. Here is the link to some clips that was aired.

Perhaps some of our friends down under have some new information.

Comparing husband's story to police reenactment - Inside Dateline - msnbc.com

 

[Saltwater Junky]

I guess I didn't rez this thread. Didn't see the prev two post earlier today. Shakeybrainsurgeon you're on top of things!!

 

[Saltwater Junky]

For more reading see the thread ....Accident, or not?

 

[parrottheaddiver]

the wife and I also caught this last night and although we are only OW we too saw several inconsistancies with the story the husband was telling. i'm all for giving someone the benefit of the doubt, but how much can you give when the story changes, and facts are blatantly inconsistant. it just didn't sound right from the beginning with the husbands computer beeping on their first dive and realizing the batteries were in backwards. here's to hoping that the truth eventually comes out...