Watson Murder Case - Discussion

[Ayisha]

...I've been on a few liveaboards. None of them included an "orientation dive" or a "private" dive breifing (as noted in the article) . All included a dive breifing but it was given as a group to everyone and was mandatory...

At the time, the Queensland rules were not that strict. Mike Ball's Expeditions got charged and fined in Tina's death because they were held to their own policies and procedures on essentially briefings and orientation dives. They had written policies that were above the required standard for dive operations in Queensland and they did not follow their own higher standard policies, and they were held to them.

This is why it is so important to write policies for a company that are realistic and can be followed all the time. I write all the policies for all our schools and I ensure they can and will be met.

 

[VeryRusty]

Just when I think there is nothing else Gabe Watson can do or say that will surprise me:

"A man charged with murdering his wife by drowning her during a 2003 honeymoon diving trip in Australia said he was done grieving her death by the time her funeral was being planned back home in Alabama, the woman's sister testified Tuesday. Thomas said Watson told her following her sister's death that he wanted to claim the personal belongings of Tina Thomas Watson before the viewing of her body at a funeral home.

"He told me that I needed to realize that he had his time in Australia to grieve and he was over the grieving process," Thomas testified. Watson said he knew the Thomas family needed more time to grieve, she testified.
The funeral was two weeks after Tina Watson's death."

 

[alohagal]

I was on a live-aboard in the Galapagos and they made us do an orientation dive, to check our weights and buoyancy. It gave us a chance to get in the water and see what the current was like. We were being oriented and the crew was being oriented to us as well.

Galapagos is the only place I have ever used a reef hook. It was recommended for us to bring one. We would connect to large rock outcroppings in heavy currents and let the huge pelagic fish come to us on some of our diving.

Also, our credentials were meticulously checked and noted. Everything by the book.

 

[alohagal]

My thinking is...if Gabe had been one iota more experienced with his own diving...he would certainly be culpable of at least manslaughter, which he was already convicted of. He would have known this was, without a doubt, an advanced dive for his new, precious bride and would have taken every precaution to protect her by not being there in the first place.

 

[Ayisha]

..."Thomas said Watson told her following her sister's death that he wanted to claim the personal belongings of Tina Thomas Watson before the viewing of her body at a funeral home"...

That's interesting considering that we read in one of the articles in the last few days that Gabe took Tina's engagement ring off her finger at some point. There was no mention of her wedding band.

 

[DandyDon]

Some places require check-out dives, some take you to easy dives first at least, and some expect you to be ready. Many a trip to the Florida Keys and NC, the first dive I did was 100+ feet on a wreck. It's so difficult for me to wet test gear here, but I try to prepare well - and have screwed up a few times. Battery checks and replacements are so important. A guy just spent 13 hours drifting into the night because his scooter and lifeline both failed him in Hawaii.

Just when I think there is nothing else Gabe Watson can do or say that will surprise me:

"A man charged with murdering his wife by drowning her during a 2003 honeymoon diving trip in Australia said he was done grieving her death by the time her funeral was being planned back home in Alabama, the woman's sister testified Tuesday. Thomas said Watson told her following her sister's death that he wanted to claim the personal belongings of Tina Thomas Watson before the viewing of her body at a funeral home.

"He told me that I needed to realize that he had his time in Australia to grieve and he was over the grieving process," Thomas testified. Watson said he knew the Thomas family needed more time to grieve, she testified.
The funeral was two weeks after Tina Watson's death."

We are all different and sometimes I feel like I don't fit society, but he is off the mark huh...?

 

[barbaroonie]

You guys are amazing in your ability to use facts to support your position, and I mean that in the kindest way. So tapping into some of that wisdom, can somebody suggest a plausible explanation for why, in the photo of Gabe during his ascent, he is grasping his octo in his right hand? Unless he claimed that he tried to give her his air (which I don't think he did, but check me on that please), why in the world would someone ascend holding their octo? He had plenty of air, as did she. No mention of a malfunctioning primary, and you can clearly see his bubbles from his primary as he exhales in the photo.

So what gives? Can someone who teaches or trains help me understand if this is common to observe in novice divers? (although 55 dives would put him well past that.) Anyone? Thanks in advance.

 

[Ayisha]

I was on a live-aboard in the Galapagos and they made us do an orientation dive, to check our weights and buoyancy. It gave us a chance to get in the water and see what the current was like. We were being oriented and the crew was being oriented to us as well.

Galapagos is the only place I have ever used a reef hook. It was recommended for us to bring one. We would connect to large rock outcroppings in heavy currents and let the huge pelagic fish come to us on some of our diving.

Also, our credentials were meticulously checked and noted. Everything by the book.

An interesting thing with this case is that Gabe never mentioned anything about the current when Tina died or the day Tina died. In the early articles, the police stated that when Gabe came into the police station of his own accord on a subsequent day after Tina died, he had researched currents and came with printed information about the current that day, and changed his story yet again. He was now saying that there was a strong current and it blew her off the wreck and away, they couldn't swim against it, etc. The police officer that was interviewed had said that was the red herring that got them suspicious and turned it into a murder investigation.

The police did their own research of the strength and direction of the current that day and put divers in the water on a similar day at where Gabe said he left Tina and dropped the smaller diver at that location several times. Each time, that "victim" stayed pretty close to where they were dropped - nowhere near totally off the wreck where Tina's body was found. This again was one of the reasons the police believed that Gabe tried to distance himself and Tina from other divers. Since they were off the wreck for no apparent reason, others would likely not be there. Jazz II just arrived at that formerly empty mooring line and were about to drop divers. Dateline gave the data from the police re-enactments showing the very mild current that day and where the freefalling diver kept landing.

The funny thing about the no current/newly researched sudden current issue that was covered in the early articles and Dateline episode is that there is no mention of this significant turning point in this accident-to-murder investigation by McFadyen. Even the rest of the 16 different versions of events that Watson gave are glossed over in McFadyen's account.

 

[Ayisha]

You guys are amazing in your ability to use facts to support your position, and I mean that in the kindest way. So tapping into some of that wisdom, can somebody suggest a plausible explanation for why, in the photo of Gabe during his ascent, he is grasping his octo in his right hand? Unless he claimed that he tried to give her his air (which I don't think he did, but check me on that please), why in the world would someone ascend holding their octo? He had plenty of air, as did she. No mention of a malfunctioning primary, and you can clearly see his bubbles from his primary as he exhales in the photo.

So what gives? Can someone who teaches or trains help me understand if this is common to observe in novice divers? (although 55 dives would put him well past that.) Anyone? Thanks in advance.

Now, now, you get facts by reading as much info as you can. The picture that you're referring to does not have Gabe in it. A female tourist is in the foreground of the pic, Wade Singleton is diving down toward the bottom, and Tina is on the ocean floor. Gabe is safely on the boat.

 

[DandyDon]

You guys are amazing in your ability to use facts to support your position, and I mean that in the kindest way. So tapping into some of that wisdom, can somebody suggest a plausible explanation for why, in the photo of Gabe during his ascent, he is grasping his octo in his right hand? Unless he claimed that he tried to give her his air (which I don't think he did, but check me on that please), why in the world would someone ascend holding their octo? He had plenty of air, as did she. No mention of a malfunctioning primary, and you can clearly see his bubbles from his primary as he exhales in the photo.

So what gives? Can someone who teaches or trains help me understand if this is common to observe in novice divers? (although 55 dives would put him well past that.) Anyone? Thanks in advance.

Just a guess: First dive of trip, inexperienced diver, uncomfortable mouthpiece, and didn't he say he'd lost control of it in the incident?

My home dive bud had problems with using a standard mouthpiece that caused him to use more air, or so he said. He got better when he got a Seacure. I use a Manta mouthpiece.