Death of Tina Watson

Christina Mae "Tina" Thomas Watson (13 February 1977 – 22 October 2003), was a 26-year-old American from Helena, Alabama. She died on her honeymoon on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia in 2003. She had only been married to her husband, David Gabriel "Gabe" Watson, for 11 days when she died. The doctor who performed the autopsy said she drowned in a scuba diving accident.

Six years later, Gabe Watson was charged for murder and manslaughter. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sent to prison for a year by an Australian court. Six months were added to the prison sentence after an appeal that took place just six weeks later. The appeal was held as soon after the trial as possible because of concerns raised by Tina's father with the trial itself. However, the appeal judges had agreed with the trial judge on most of the issues except the six month increase in the prison sentence.

Tina was a Southern Baptist and a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She worked as a departmental manager at the small Southern department store chain, Parisian. She was buried at the Southern Heritage Cemetery, in Pelham, Alabama, USA.

Investigations

A shipping buoy marks the site of the SS Yongala shipwreck.

While scuba diving at the site of the SS Yongala, a passenger ship that sank in 1911 in the main southern shipping channel to the Australian port of Townsville, she either lost consciousness or died and then sank 24 meters (79 ft) to the sea floor below. Tina's death of accidental drowning was not a criminal investigation in itself in Australia. It was instead a coronial enquiry. Mr Watson gave evidence to the enquiry through his lawyers. He returned to Australia voluntarily and spoke to investigators on a number of occasions. Some of these interviews are available on the Internet. At the trial, prosecutors said that Mr Watson had made a mistake in not trying to rescue his wife. They said that mistake was the same as manslaughter. Tina's father said that immediately before their wedding Gabe had asked Tina to increase her life insurance policy to the maximum possible and make him the sole beneficiary.

The trial

Gabe Watson was tried for the murder of Tina, in the Queensland Supreme Court at Brisbane on 5 June 2009. He said he was "not guilty" of murdering his wife. To the charge of manslaughter, accidental killing, he said he was "guilty". The trial judge said the murder charges made against him were not true and sentenced him to one year in prison, with a further three and a half years suspended. Tina's father said the Australian justice system was a "sham". He also said one of Australia's most senior government lawyers, Mr Tony Moynihan, had been misleading the public.

The reason Gabe received the one year in prison, was explained by the judge. He said that Gabe had been accused of things of which he had not been guilty, had suffered considerably since Tina's death, and had co-operated with the Court. He said the media reporting had been unfair. The judge said Gabe had come back to Australia of his own free will in May of 2009 and given himself up. The judge said Gabe loved his wife, deeply regretted her death and felt guilty because he had been unable to save her. He said that Gabe had not caused the accident, but had failed to save Tina when she ran into difficulty with her breathing while underwater.

The appeal

Three judges heard an appeal started by the State of Queensland on 17 July, 2009. The state wanted Gabe to serve two and a half years in prison. Gabe's Australian lawyers said the extra time was unfair because of the history of the case. The judges published their decision on 18 September, 2009.

To understand the outcome of the appeal, it is necessary to understand a little of the legal process and thinking that lawyers put into an appeal. On one side there is the State of Queensland, Australia. In Australia, Iike in England and countries such as Canada, and New Zealand, the State is usually called "the Crown" in court proceedings. The appeal was heard before three judges of the Queensland Court of Appeal, which is the State's highest court.

The outcome of the appeal

The Crown had said that Gabe's sentence should be increased because it was wrong. Gabe's lawyers replied this was not the case. They said that Gabe had never done anything wrong in the past and he was a good person. The death of Tina resulted from an error or mistake, and the short prison sentence was fair in his lawyers' opinions.

The Court of Appeal judges also said that the murder claim was not true. The judges were in agreement about most of the trial. However they did not agree about the prison sentence. On one hand, Justice Muir said the appeal court should not change the decision of the trial judge. On the other, Chief Justice De Jersey said prison time should be increased to two and a half years. In the third opinion, Justice Chesterman said it ought to be increased from twelve months to eighteen months. To reach agreement, the Chief Justice went with Chesterman's opinion.

With the agreement of two of the three judges, the sentence was increased to eighteen months. Each judge carefully explained their view. Finally, Chesterman said of Gabe Watson, "That the respondent himself promptly provided the information which proved the case against him and that for years he has borne the unjust charge, made very public, of murder are factors requiring substantial amelioration in sentence." (Gabe Watson gave the information which showed he had killed his wife accidentally. Because he was for many years unfairly blamed and unfairly accused for her murder, he should have his prison sentence shortened.)

Media attention

Diver with similar diving gear as Tina Watson wore when she died.

For four years, no one took much notice of the death, as there is a drowning in Queensland about once a week. Tina's parents however, set out to get the attention of the media and by 2007 had succeeded. Other people had been diving near Gabe and Tina when Tina died. One diver had photographed Tina, lying on the ocean floor, while taking a picture of another diver on holiday. This picture was not known until a couple of weeks later when the pictures were developed. Investigators were uncertain if Tina was already dead in the picture or if she was unconscious. The picture gives no clues as to what made Tina sink to the bottom.

After hearing that flowers and gifts left for Tina at her grave were being destroyed or were disappearing, even when held down by a chain, Sergeant Flynn investigated it. On a hidden videotape, he saw Gabe Watson taking them away with bolt cutters and then throwing them in the trash angrily.

Gabe married Kim Lewis on August 15, 2008.

Tina Watson's father told the media in November 2009, two months after the appeal decision, that he thought Gabe was a copycat killer. He might have got the idea for the murder by a copying the way another, almost successful, murder was done in the British Virgin Islands.

The death of Tina Watson was shown in a 90-minute account on Dateline NBC on Monday, May 19, 2008. Watson's death got media attention in both Australian and American media and from media around the world. Media from Queensland described Tina's death as "murder" while Queensland Courts had found it to be manslaughter by way of a failure to rescue. This issue finally came to a head with the Townsville Bulletin on 10 February 2010. They again described Tina's death as "murder". Seven days later they published an apology and correction which said:

"On February 10, 2010 an article was published concerning ‘murdered US bride Tina Watson’. The Townsville Bulletin accepts that Gabe Watson has not been convicted of murdering Tina Watson. Tina died while scuba diving at the Yongala wreck on October 23, 2003. Gabe Watson pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of his failure to take Tina Watson to the surface when it was apparent she was in distress, and by this inaction this constituted criminal neglect."

On July 17, 2010 a leading Australian daily newspaper, The Age, published a complete review of the Watson case "Death on Reef Mystery". The author was award-winning investigative journalist Peter Patrick. This was the first media account to contain first-hand interviews from both Gabe Watson's family and Tina's family. Relying on technical experts, the story reported that Gabe was exonerated by the Queensland Court of Appeal of murder but convicted of failing to comply with a previously unused and little-known part of the Queensland Penal Code. This was a violation of section 290. He says the court decided to call this manslaughter. The story says the charge amounts to a crime by Gabe of failing to rescue his wife, once she got into trouble. It also explains Tina's extensive history of heart irregularity and the medication she was taking, on the morning of her death, including anti-sea-sickness pills. Patrick says that Tina gave a 'no' answer to the medical question at her diving induction, which asked about prior heart disease. He also states that because Mr. Watson had been absent from diving for some years, his level of rescue skill would have been that of beginner.

The story would eventually have worldwide ramifications, for in a footnote, Patrick revealed he had written to Australia's Attorney General, Robert McClelland MP, requesting Watson not be deported to Alabama, because of the risk he faced of the death penalty in that state and because he had already been tried in the Australian State of Queensland, with a comprehensive review by the Queensland Court of Appeal. This brought an instant response from an Alabama police web site, questioning the link between the journalist and Mr. Watson.

Bail application

On December 15, 2010, Watson appeared before Judge Tommy Nail in the 10th Judicial Circuit, Jefferson County, Alabama and requested bail. The courtroom was packed with his friends and relatives, both Australian and U.S. media with a smaller showing from Tina's family.

Don Valeska Alabama's assistant attorney general, told the judge the basis of the Grand Jury indictment of Gabe Watson was evidence from Tommy Thomas that Gabe Watson had murdered Tina Watson for insurance money. In often heated argument, Judge Nail said that motive could not be substituted for evidence. He asked what hard evidence the State had against Watson. Mr Valeska replied that the question of motive was a question for the jury. After an hour-long hearing, Watson was granted bail with a bond of $100,000. He had to wear a monitoring radio bracelet, surrender his passport, not leave Alabama, and remain indoors at his home from sundown to sunup/sunrise during the bail.

On hearing that bail was to be granted, those in the courtroom rose and cheered, causing Judge Nail to respond with the words, "Sit-down, sit-down; this is not a spectator sport."

Arraignment

On January 31, 2011, Gabe Watson appeared in Judge Nail's court to formally answer two charges: firstly, that he had kidnapped Tina and taken her to Australia with the intention of murdering her, and secondly, that he had then murdered her while scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef. He pleaded "Not Guilty" to both charges.

The trial date was set for 23 May 2011 (later changed to 13 February 2012 due to security concerns). Mr Valeska told Judge Nail that important witnesses were to be flown in from Australia. He then added that a previous witness Mr David Glasgow, the Queensland Magistrate who was the Australian official responsible for Gabe's indictment of murder in Australia, would not now be called. No reason was given as to the reason why the State had changed its mind on calling Mr Glasgow. The arraignment lasted just fourteen minutes.

Gabe Watson acquitted

On February 23, 2012, the case against David Gabriel "Gabe" Watson was dismissed by Judge Tommy Nail in a Birmingham, Alabama County Court. The judge found the State's case lacked credibility and said, "It just doesn't make any sense quite frankly." In concluding his findings, he said "There is no evidence to suggest that he [Gabe] intended to kill her and he hatched it here and carried it out there. I'm going to grant this defendant's motion. Case dismissed."

Watson was never at risk of facing the death penalty as both the U.S. Government and the State of Alabama had given undertakings to the Australian Government, he would not be executed. He faced a mandatory life sentence, if found guilty.

Fatal Honeymoon - Lifetime Movie Network

On 25 August 2012, The Lifetime Movie Network ran a cable TV movie titled, "Fatal Honeymoon".

It was billed by the Network as a movie, based on the true-story murder allegations that Gabe Watson had kidnapped then murdered his new wife, Tina Watson, during their scuba-diving trip to Australia in 2003. It stars Billy Miller as Gabe Watson and Aussie Amber Clayton as Tina, with Harvey Keitel in a supporting role as the father of the dead bride. Well-known Aussie actor, Gary Sweet plays tough Queensland cop Detective Campbell, as the lead Australian investigator. The screenplay follows much of the work of Lindsay Simpson and Jennifer Cooke, published in their book, Honeymoon Dive. While this is the most comprehensive attempt to review the death of Tina Watson, events since publication have largely overtaken the Simpson/Cooke account.

"Fatal Honeymoon" was directed by Nadia Tass. The screenwriters were Mac Gudgeon and Teena Booth. Geoff Berkshire, writing for Variety TV Reviews says "There's no sense that these stick figures trapped in a by-the-numbers melodrama could be real people swept up in tragic circumstances... Tech credits are in line with low-budget telepic standards." Jill O'Rourke in a review on the website "Crushable", describes "Fatal Honeymoon" as a show, underscoring Lifetime's skill at "making men look irredeemably evil and women look like clueless victims".

Other websites

• Divers dying moment captured?
• Tina's story Archived 2009-06-08 at the Wayback Machine
• Christina Mae Watson - Coroners Findings Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine
• R v Watson Case 279 of 2009
• News of dismissal on CNN website