Man On Trial For Wife's Honeymoon Scuba Death
Gabe Watson, who has since remarried, is accused of drowning his wife during a dive on the Great Barrier Reef
1:21pm UK, Wednesday February 15, 2012
The trial of a man accused of drowning his new wife during a scuba diving trip on their Australian honeymoon has begun in the United States.
Prosecutors in Birmingham, Alabama, say Gabe Watson, 34, turned off Tina Watson's air supply in order to claim the money from her life insurance policy.
But defence attorneys said her death on the Great Barrier Reef in 2003 was a tragic accident caused by her inexperience.
Watson has already served 18 months in prison in Australia after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of his wife of 11 days.
He was extradited to the US on the condition he would not face the death penalty in Alabama.
Watson, who has since remarried, is charged with one count of capital murder after another charge was dropped.
Another diver took this photo with Tina Watson in the background
Assistant Alabama attorney General Andrew Arrington told the court the newlywed stood to gain around $200,000 (£127,000) upon his wife's death.
The coroner's report said she was an inexperienced diver who became distressed around seven minutes into the dive near the SS Yongala wreck.
An inquest into her death in 2008 heard that a fellow diver in the party saw Watson bear-hugging his 26-year-old wife before resurfacing without her.
The coroner found it was likely Watson killed his wife by holding her underwater and turning off her air supply.
Jurors were shown photos, unwittingly captured by another diver, of Tina lying on the sea bed.
She was found unconscious with a working regulator and an almost-full tank of air while Watson surfaced, allegedly seeking help.
But Watson's defence lawyer Brett Bloomston offered jurors a different account of how Tina had knocked her husband's mask off after panicking.
Watson claims that by the time he had returned from retrieving the mask his wife was sinking too fast for him to catch up with her.
Mr Bloomston also denied his client had a financial motive for killing his new wife, arguing that her life insurance policy was worth only $33,000 (£21,000).
Watson faces life in prison without parole if found guilty. The trial is due to last up to four weeks.