Tina Watson was a 26-year-old woman from Helena, Alabama, who drowned while scuba diving in Queensland, Australia, on the 22nd of October, 2003.  Born Christina Mae Watson in West Germany before relocating to the US, she was legally adopted by Tommy and Cindy Thomas, who lived in Walker County, Alabama. The family moved from Louisiana, then to Birmingham, where she met her husband, David Gabriel “Gabe” Watson, while studying at the University of Alabama. They were engaged and married on October 11th, 2003.

The Incident

The couple planned a scuba trip to the Great Barrier Reef for their honeymoon and flew to Sydney for a week before heading to Townsville, the site of a popular but difficult dive spot: the wreck of the SS Yongala, a passenger ship that sank in 1911. Watson claimed that he was a qualified and certified rescue diver with over 55 completed dives and a great deal of experience at the lake located at Oak Mountain State Park. Tina was less experienced, with a little over 5 dives under her belt and a diagnosis of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia or abnormal heart palpitations or rhythms, which is not ideal, especially in high-stress situations. Nevertheless, the couple declined a guided dive with a dive master and opted for an unsupervised experience. 

On the 21st of October, at 10pm, the two boarded the catamaran, Spoilsport and set off with the diving company Mike Ball Dive Expeditions. The company briefed them and the rest of the divers on their dive and the route. Just a few minutes after they entered the water, the couple returned to the boat, as Gabe claimed that there was an issue with his dive computer. He changed the position of his batteries and returned to the water. Thirty minutes later, he resurfaced, but something was wrong. 

According to Gabe’s account, Tina suddenly lost consciousness and began sinking to the bottom, 30 meters (98 ft) below the water’s surface. Gabe claimed that the current was too strong, and he had tried to tow her to safety before she accidentally knocked off his mask and regulator loose. When Gabe had fixed his gear, Tina was sinking too rapidly to retrieve her, so he resurfaced for help. He also stated that an ear problem prevented him from diving deeper to help her and that he was never trained as a rescue diver “about how to get somebody in trouble” to the surface. It would later be revealed that Gabe had only received a small portion of training and was not as experienced or knowledgeable as he claimed to be, putting him as little more than an amateur diver. 

Other divers at the time, specifically Stanley Stutz, witnessed Gabe engage in an underwater “bear hug” with his “flailing” wife, after which he headed to the surface while his wife fell to the ocean floor. One, Gary Stempler, even photographed Tina while taking pictures of his own wife, and you can clearly see Tina in the background, lying face-up on the ocean floor. 

Gabe reached the Spoilsport and alerted the dive instructor Wade Singleton, who quickly dove into the water and brought Tina to the surface after 10 minutes. She was taken aboard an adjacent dive boat Jazz II, where a doctor attempted resuscitation for 40 minutes, but she was unresponsive. 

Investigation

 The day following Tina’s death, an autopsy was performed by Professor David Williams, a consultant forensic pathologist for the Queensland Coroner. Williams found evidence of air embolism, which is likely caused by the rapid decompression and resurfacing that was done when returning to the surface. He gave the cause of death as drowning.

Since then, Gabe has been interviewed by Queensland Police and given roughly 16 different accounts of the incident, increasing his suspicion. An inquiry was held, but Gabe had left Australia and declined to return, with evidence being handled by his lawyers. Prosecutors submitted evidence that Watson’s story was contradictory and did not align with the actions recorded on his dive computer. Police divers re-acted every possible scenario that they could think of, leading to their conclusion. 

They suggested the possibility that he turned off Tina’s regulator and held her until she was unconscious, then turned it back on and let her sink before resurfacing. Tina’s father also claimed that Gabe had asked Tina before their wedding to increase her life insurance tenfold and make him the sole beneficiary. 

Legal Proceedings

• On 28 November 2008, an indictment for murder against Gabe Watson was presented to Justice Kieran Cullinane at the Townsville Supreme Court. He adjourned the matter to 3 February 2009 for the accused’s mention and appearance.
• On 27 January 2009, a video conference was held between the Director of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Anthony Moynihan, SC, the Assistant Director (and prosecutor), Brendan Campbell, SC, Deputy Commissioner Ian Stewart of the Queensland Police, Detective Senior Sergeant Gary Campbell and Detective Senior Constable Kevin Gehringer. This meeting was held to discuss withdrawing the murder charge and accepting a manslaughter plea.
• In late January 2009 Gabe’s Australian lawyers traveled to Alabama to meet with him, presumably to discuss the plea bargain. Of course, Gabe Watson was not in the country when the matter returned to court, and on 3 February 2009, Justice Cullinane adjourned the matter to a date to be fixed.
• On the 13th May 2009 Gabe arrived at Brisbane Airport voluntarily and was met by Police. He was arrested and formally charged with murder. The same day Gabe appeared before the Supreme Court’s Senior Judge Administrator John Byrne. He remanded Gabe in custody until further notice.
• The day after this, Brendan Campbell from ODPP and Gary Campbell (togerther with an ODPP media officer) left Queensland and flew to the US. On 16 and 17 May 2009 they meet with Tommy Thomas and other members of Tina’s family. At these meetings, the potential plea bargain was discussed. Later, Tommy Thomas was advised that a plea deal had been reached (which he later denied knowing).
• On 3 June 2009, Brendan Campbell met with Tommy Thomas, Brad Flynn (Helena Police Department), Gary Campbell and Kevin Gehringer to discuss the sentencing procedure. This was held in Brisbane, showing that Tommy Thomas knew by now that the murder charge against Gabe had been dropped in favour of a manslaughter guilty plea.
• At his second appearance in court on 5 June 2009, Gabe pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter.
• This was accepted by the Judge, Justice Peter Lyons, and Gabe was sentenced to four and a half years gaol. 
• He served his time in Queensland gaol, the Borallon Correctional Center, west of Brisbane. 

RELEASE AND DEPORTATION

It was announced in August 2010 that Gabe would be released from gaol in November 2010. He was released on 10 November 2010. He was not immediately deported to the US as Australia will not deport anyone to a location where there is a likelihood that they may be executed if found guilty. 

When the US Attorney General provided assurances that Alabama would not seek the death penalty, Gabe was deported back to the USA on 25 November 2010. When he arrived in the US, he was arrested and held in custody to face his charges in Alabama.

ALABAMA CHARGES

The Alabama authorities decided that they would also prosecute Gabe. On the anniversary of Tina’s death, 22 October 2010, a grand jury indicted Gabe on two counts of capital murder. They decided that this would not be a “double jeopardy” situation as they believed Gabe planned the murder in Alabama, thus giving them jurisdiction.

He was released on bail on 14 December 2010.

ALABAMA TRIAL

On Feb 13, 2012, Circuit Judge Tommy Nail dismisses the murder charges and throws the case out, citing that there was a lack of evidence for a murder prosecution and Gabe Watson was acquitted.

What happened?

Over the years, many diving experts have provided their viewpoint on what transpired, and most commonly, the answer is that this was simply a horrific accident. All individuals involved are human and, thus, make mistakes. The most profound elements of this incident are:

1. Tina was not an inexperienced diver and was likely to overreact/panic, which is deadly in a dive environment. 
2. Subsequently, Gabe believed that recording dives in a log book in a local lake, makes him an experienced diver. 
3. The Agency and the instructor did not assess either of their abilities and disposition as a diver
4. The waiver form they sign does not ask about ocean dives and should provide a better screening process. 
5. Wade Singleton did not enforce proper MBDE rules and Queensland law and allowed the couple to dive together without supervision.

Public Perception/Media

The case attracted widespread media coverage in both Australia and the United States. It sparked debates about scuba diving safety, the responsibilities of dive buddies, and the complexities of international legal cases. The diving company came under intense scrutiny as it was noted that Tina Watson was incredibly uncomfortable in her dive suit and that, later, she was around 10 pounds heavier than she should have been. 

Numerous articles have been written over the years, portraying Gabe as a money-hungry opportunist and continually framing him as an “international diving expert” or “veteran rescue diver” when in fact, he was just an amateur. 

Fatal Honeymoon

A low-budget Lifetime movie about the incident was released. It painted the popular image of Gabe Watson as a guilty man and featured many inaccuracies, both about diving and the case itself. The film was so poor that it was released straight to DVD in Australia and upset both families of the victims.