Finally a news report that gives more of the testimony. Dr. Stutz says he was "dying to go help her." And that he did not surface for another 38 minutes.
Diver testifies to doubts about Gabe Watson's story of wife's drowning, another backs parts of account | al.com
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama --
Gabe Watson stood on the back of a dive boat off the Australian coast, describing to another passenger how his
new bride sank to the sea floor after what Watson called a panic attack underwater, according to testimony today in Watson's Alabama capital murder trial.
"That's bull...," Ken Snyder, an experienced diver who had met the honeymooning couple the night before, recounted telling the defendant. "That didn't happen."
Prosecutors with the Alabama Attorney General's Office contend the defendant, 34, intentionally killed Tina Thomas Watson to profit from her insurance. They also are trying to prove the 26-year-old Hoover woman's death inside the Great Barrier Reef was not an accident or result from bad circumstances, as the defense claims.
Snyder was one of two divers who were in the water to testify about Oct. 22, 2003, when Tina died. The 60-year-old former Marine has 800 dives which helped qualify him as an expert witness.
The other witness, Dr. Stanley Stutz, gave testimony that refuted some aspects of the account of the fatal dive that Watson gave police.
But he also backed the defense when he said he saw the couple underwater and thought Watson tried to save his wife.
Stutz said he saw Tina flailing, then saw Gabe swim over to her, briefly grab under her arms, then separate and head to the surface, which is similar to Watson's account to police.
But the defendant did not ascend rapidly or try to enlist the help of other divers, as Watson told police, Stutz testified.
Both Stutz and Snyder testified the current was too strong to easily swim against, bolstering the defendant's claim to police that his wife wore out while swimming against the current trying to get back to a dive rope they had used to descend to about 45 feet.
"She didn't have a lot of energy," Stutz testified, describing Tina's descent. "She didn't have the strength to swim."
Later he saw another diver bring her up from the sea floor, about 100 feet down.
Stutz, an emergency-room physician, testified that he wanted to go back to the surface but was told by his dive master not to leave his dive buddy.
"I was dying to help," said Stutz. But after completing his 38-minute dive, Stutz assisted in efforts to resuscitate Tina on board another dive boat in the area, the Jazz II, he said.
During the 40-minute effort to save Tina, Gabe remained on the other boat, the Spoilsport, testimony showed.
Back on the Spoilsport, Snyder said he could see the efforts to revive Tina. The Jazz II was 100 feet away, an easy swim. But swimming was not necessary because boats were constantly going back and forth, he said.
Snyder testified that Tina was glowing with honeymoon happiness when Snyder and his wife met the Watsons before initially boarding the Spoilsport. All divers were attentive during a pre-dive briefing, when they were told they could just drift from the descent line straight to an ascent line down-current, Snyder said.
Snyder told jurors both he and a friend also along for the dive trip did not believe Watson's story of how his wife started to sink, knocked off his mask and regulator, then sank too fast for him to catch up.
Divers are taught from the beginning to not leave their dive buddy except in rare circumstances, and to use an apparatus on their own scuba equipment to provide air simultaneously to a dive buddy who can't get air on their own, he said.
"That person is your source to survive," Snyder told jurors.
Snyder said he was so put off by Watson's story, he called his friend, Doug Downing, over to hear it. Downing, more prone to see the best in people than Snyder, also told Watson his story was "bull....," Snyder testified.
"It wasn't a plausible story," Snyder said. "It didn't make sense."
Snyder said he was getting angry, and backed off while Watson told his story to Downing. When Downing started to get irritated, Snyder grabbed him and pulled him away, he said.
"I said 'Back off.' This is not the time," Snyder said.
The defense was to cross-examine Snyder starting at 1:30 p.m.
