Honeymoon horror as husband 'turned off newly-wedded wife's scuba air tank and watched her drown' during Australia dive



Was it murder? Gabe Watson says his wife died as the result of a terrible diving accident

The parents of a woman who died in 2003 after her husband allegedly turned off her air tank while the newlyweds were diving on Australia's Great Barrier Reef during their honeymoon are finally facing closure today as their former son-in-law goes on trial for murder in Alabama.

Gabe Watson has been free since serving 18 months in an Australian prison after he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter in Tina Thomas Watson's death.

He has since returned to Alabama and remarried, to a woman named Kim Lewis, who bears a strong resemblance to Tina.

Gabe Watson's capital murder trial begins Monday in Birmingham, where prosecutors will argue he plotted to kill his wife before the couple left Alabama -- all in the hopes of claiming an insurance payout.



Tina, an inexperienced diver, drowned during a scuba dive on the reef just days after her wedding in October 2003 -- despite Gave being a certified rescue diver.



Gabe Watson's case would normally is a death-penalty offense in Alabama, but he faces life in prison without parole if convicted because of a deal the state made years ago with Australian officials to guarantee his return to the US.

Jury selection and legal wrangling could take several days; officials said the trial could last a month.

Tina Watson's father said the family has endured eight years of delays and disappointments getting to the trial date.

'It's been a traumatic, excruciating ordeal,' said Tommy Thomas, of suburban Helena.

Watson, 34, and Tina met in college. They wed and went to Australia to dive — a trip prosecutors claim Watson meticulously planned so he could kill the 26-year-old woman and make it appear like an accident.

Horrific death: Tina Thomas Watson is seen lying on the bottom of the sea in this chilling photo as a rescuer rushes to save her in October 2003

Watson is accused of killing Tina Watson by turning off her air supply and bear-hugging her as she drowned while diving on a shipwreck in 2003. Don Valeska, an assistant state attorney general handling the case, argues Watson killed the woman believing he could collect on a modest life insurance policy.

Originally charged with murder in Australia, Watson avoided a jury trial there by pleading to a charge of manslaughter and serving 18 months for not doing enough to save his wife. He was an experienced diver; she was a novice.

The defense will argue during the trial that Tina Watson's death was an unintended, horrible mishap. One of Watson's lawyers said the man — who is free on bond and has remarried — was anxious to get the trial started.

'He's nervous. He's ready to get this trial behind him so he can be a free person,' defense lawyer Joseph Basgier said after a hearing last month.

Facing closure: Tommy and Cindy Thomas will finally see their former son-in-law tried for their daughter's murder when the case begins Monday in an Alabama courtroom

The state has subpoenaed people from as far away as Australia and California to testify about what happened that day on a dive boat called the Spoilsport, but it's unclear how many will take the stand.



The defense has subpoenaed potential witnesses including former Alabama Attorney General Troy King, who pushed for state charges against Watson.

The case has aroused deep passions both in Australia and the United States, with hundreds of people joining sites on Facebook to show support either for Watson or the Thomas family.

Tina Watson's sister, Alanda Thomas, counted down to the start of the trial by posting messages to a group called 'Call for Gabe Watson to do what is right!'

'Please everyone continue to pray for (j)ustice for Tina,' she wrote.

Tommy Thomas said he is glad his former son-in-law will finally face a jury.

Remarried: Gabe Watson remarried, to Kim Lewis, pictured, after being released from prison in Australia

High school sweetheart: Kim Lewis married Gabe Watson, whom she met in high school, in 2008

'This is our last chance to get justice, and we know it,' Thomas said in an interview.

'But we're confident, and if the bulk of the evidence is presented it doesn't matter whether it's a jury in Alabama or a jury in Australia, we're going to get a just outcome.'

Once Watson finished his sentence in Australia in November 2010, the country deported him to the United States with an agreement from Alabama and federal prosecutors that he wouldn't face the death penalty.



Such a deal is required under Australian extradition law.

Watson's attorneys asked an Alabama judge to throw out the state charge, arguing he was being tried twice for the same offense, but the judge refused. The state argued successfully that Watson could be tried in Alabama for something that happened in Australia by claiming he plotted the killing in the state.

The trial was delayed for 10 months because of concerns that layoffs linked to budget shortages would prevent court officials from providing adequate security.