Gabe Watson

David Gabriel "Gabe" Watson (born c. 1978) is a cardboard salesman living in Hoover.

He met Tina Thomas while they were students at the while they were students at the University of Alabama. Tina took beginning diving lessons before the two were married in October 2003. Gabe, a certified rescue diver, had planned a scuba trip in the Great Barrier Reef for their honeymoon. She earned her certification just before the wedding.

During an excursion to the site of the Yongala, a passenger ship that sank in 1911, Tina lost consciousness and sank to the bottom, 100 feet below the water's surface. Gabe claimed that the currents were stronger than they expected. He said that he responded to her signal to return to the dive rope where they had submerged and to have noted a look of worry on her face before she inadvertently knocked his mask loose. When he recovered his sight, she was sinking and he surfaced to get help. She was brought up by a trip director, already unconscious, and could not be resuscitated by a doctor on board the boat.

During a 4 1/2-week inquest a coroner determined in 2008 that there was sufficient evidence of foul play to bring murder charges against Gabe. Investigators for the Townsville police found inconsistencies in his story and widened their investigation with the help of Sergeant Brad Flinn of the Helena Police Department. They learned that Gabe had asked Tina to increase her life insurance coverage and to make him a sole beneficiary. She had not done so, however. During the inquest, prosecutors submitted evidence that Watson's story was implausible and contradicted the record of his actions stored in his dive computer. They suggested the possibility that Gabe turned off Tina's air regulator and held her until she was unconscious, then turned the air back on and let her sink before surfacing himself. As evidence they described painstaking re-enactments of various scenarios which had been carried out by police divers to determine plausibility.

Tina is buried in Pelham. Her remains were relocated in 2007 to a different lot purchased by Gabe. After being informed by the Thomas family that flowers were repeatedly disappearing from the grave site, even when chained down, Sergeant Flinn videotaped Watson removing them with bolt cutters.

Gabe Watson moved into the house in Hoover that he inherited from Tina after her death. He has since remarried. On May 13, 2009, he voluntarily returned to Australia to face charges, skipping the extradition process. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter on June 5, admitting to having failed in his duties as his wife's dive buddy. He was sentenced to four years in prison with three years suspended. The Queensland attorney general later appealed the sentence and the court agreed to add six months to Watson's minimum sentence for a total of 18 months.

In September, Alabama Attorney General Troy King announced he would seek a capital murder indictment against Watson, which carries the death penalty. However, under Australian law, a person cannot be deported to face a charge carrying the death penalty unless the country in question says it will not execute the defendent, so Watson's future after his sentence is complete is uncertain.

References

• Thomas-Ogle, Marienne (January 25, 2008) "Helena officer testifies he filmed husband taking flowers from wife's grave." Birmingham News
• Thomas-Ogle, Marienne (June 16, 2008) "Coroner's trial recommendation expected this week in Alabama woman's drowning in Australia." Birmingham News
• Murphy, Dennis (June 20, 2008) "Mystery in the Deep Blue Sea". Dateline NBC transcript
• Celizic, Mike (June 23, 2008) "Drowned bride’s family hail homicide charge in case." TodayShow.com, accessed July 8, 2008
• Thomas-Ogle, Marienne (October 23, 2008) "No warrant has been issued in Australian drowning death of Hoover man's wife." Birmingham News
• "US man faces scuba murder charge." (May 13, 2009.) BBC News. Accessed May 13, 2009
• Thomas-Ogle, Marienne (June 4, 2009) "Hoover man pleads guilty to manslaughter in bride's death on Australian dive." Birmingham News
• Calligeros, Marissa. (September 21, 2009). "Killer's return to US in doubt." Brisbane Times. Accessed September 25, 2009.