Spokane Instructor Homicide and Law suits

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That really depends on student's (diver's?) level of competence. None of this stuff should have been an issue for anybody qualified to for the deep end of the pool. They're all minor issues. Water in the mask should have been zero stress, and should not have caused any problems. Likewise, ditching a student's a weightbelt is not an excessivly risky move for anybody who remembers the part about "don't hold your breath".

I'm not sure why the divecon ditched the weights, but it should have not been a problem if the instructor had properly verified the student's comfort and skills-competence while in the pool and monitored the student in open water. It should never have reached the point where the student paniced.

flots.
From being from spokane and familiar with our classes when we are in the pool mask clearing isn't normally a problem (Warm water) but when the class moves to the open water, which this happened in seattle in the puget sound (Cold water) divers tend to react with the shockingly cold water.
 
From being from spokane and familiar with our classes when we are in the pool mask clearing isn't normally a problem (Warm water) but when the class moves to the open water, which this happened in seattle in the puget sound (Cold water) divers tend to react with the shockingly cold water.

Sorry, still a training issue. If you tell them it's going to feel cold, but isn't any different than the pool, and have them try it in the shallows first, there shouldn't be a problem.

flots.
 
...ditching a student's a weightbelt is not an excessivly risky move for anybody who remembers the part about "don't hold your breath".
bold added

Except the person ditching the weight belt is not the same person who has to remember not to hold their breath. The weight belt ditching may have come as a surprise to the student who could not deal with the mask issue and also could not keep the reg in her mouth at the time according to the article above. It sounds like panic may already have set in.

Agreed that students should not be in deep water until they have proven themselves to be comfortable and proficient in shallow water in similar conditions.
 
Scuba instructor arrested in woman's murder - Spokesman.com - Aug. 7, 2012
A Spokane diving instructor romantically linked to a woman who was found shot to death on New Year’s Day has been arrested as a suspect in her murder.
Daniel R. Arteaga, 40, was arrested at the Public Safety Building Tuesday after voluntarily reporting there for an interview. He is expected to appear in Spokane County Superior Court Wednesday afternoon via video from the jail, where he is booked on a first-degree murder charge.
Detectives searched his home at 19329 E. Valleyway Ave. in east Spokane Valley Tuesday “acquiring all the evidence that we possibly can,” said Deputy Craig Chamberlin, spokesman for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.
Arteaga is accused of killing Kimberly Rae Schmidt, 34, who was found dead of a gunshot wound to her head Jan. 1.
Schmidt, who has a 13-year-old daughter, was killed about two and a half weeks after she and Arteaga were notified of two pending civil lawsuits regarding scuba diving accidents: one that left a man dead and another that allegedly left a woman with brain damage.
Arteaga and Schmidt worked part time for the Scuba Center of Spokane.
Schmidt was expected to be a key witness in the lawsuits.
Arteaga’s arrest came less than two weeks after he sued Schmidt’s mother and her estate for property damages, alleging her family was withholding diving gear and other property from him.
Schmidt’s mother, Toni Schmidt, issued a statement Tuesday commending the arrest.
“It has been a very difficult eight months for the family and friends of Kim. Not a day goes by when I was not asked, ‘When is there going to be an arrest?’ That day has come, and we must have trust in the justice system to now bring justice for Kim. We thank the sheriff’s detectives for all their hard work and their desire to solve this case.”
Schmidt, a Spokane native and graduate of Shadle Park High School, worked at Pitney Bowes with Tracy Ader, who was killed with her two sons in February by 22-year-old Dustin Gilman, who killed himself.
Arteaga told police he last saw Schmidt about 4 a.m. on New Year’s Day when she was asleep in her bedroom at 37 E. Regina Ave., north of Whitworth University. Schmidt’s daughter saw the two together earlier that night when they dropped her off at a friend’s home for a party.
Toni Schmidt found her daughter dead when she went to the home Jan. 1 about 2:45 p.m. when she went there to check on her because she hadn’t been heard from. The home was secure and the doors locked. She called Arteaga and spoke with him as she entered the home. She told him to call 911 after she found her daughter lying on her bed “surrounded in blood,” according to court documents. She then hung up and called 911, too.
As is standard in murder investigations, detectives immediately focused on those closest to the victim.
Arteaga and the father of Schmidt’s daughter, Joseph Regalado, allowed detectives to review their cellphones, each which showed “numerous text correspondents” with Schmidt on Dec. 31, according to court documents. Regalado told police he knew Schmidt was with Arteaga, whom he described as her former lover, before she was killed.
Spokane County sheriff’s Detective Mike Drapeau filed search warrants with phone companies in March seeking cell tower information for the three phones that could help him determine where Schmidt, Arteaga and Regalado were about the time of the murder.
Chamberlin described the investigation as “lengthy” and said it’s ongoing.
“We don’t set a time frame for these major incidents. Obviously we can’t. There’s too much evidence,” Chamberlin said. “We have to take our time and make sure we’re extremely methodical to make sure we don’t miss anything.”
It’s unclear what led detectives to arrest Arteaga Tuesday, but Schmidt’s family and friends have long considered him a suspect.
Regaldo said they are relieved but now anticipating lengthy court proceedings.
“I think there’s a lot of happiness right now, along with a lot of anxiety because we know we’ve got a long road ahead of us now,” Regalado said.
 
Boy, it sounds like your best is to stay the hell out of Spokane!
 
From being from spokane and familiar with our classes when we are in the pool mask clearing isn't normally a problem (Warm water) but when the class moves to the open water, which this happened in seattle in the puget sound (Cold water) divers tend to react with the shockingly cold water.

I agree with you, I've dive mastered for a lot of classes here in the puget sound, students do well in the pool get to the OW where it's cold with vis about 10-15 ft and they struggle with mask flood and clear. I've never once even thought of dumping a students belt at 50 ft. Let's keep in mind we won't know facts about this case til court. The news is often way off in these cases.
 
Guilty: Scuba diver Arteaga found guilty in girlfriend?s murder - Spokesman.com - April 24, 2014

A few excerpts...
It took investigators eight months to charge Arteaga, 42, who had an affair with Schmidt for more than six years although he was married. Arteaga shot Schmidt once in the head through a sock, and autopsy results showed she may have survived for several hours before succumbing to her injuries.

Spokane County Prosecutor John Love told jurors Arteaga was jealous of Schmidt’s blossoming relationship with Joseph Regelado, who had earlier fathered a child with Schmidt.

There was no mention Wednesday of a pair of civil lawsuits initiated against Arteaga in the weeks before the shooting alleging negligence in scuba diving incidents that left one man dead and a woman with alleged brain damage. Both Arteaga and Schmidt were part-time instructors at Scuba Center of Spokane and dove together in the incidents. Schmidt was expected to testify in those cases before her death.
 
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