MIDDLEFIELD -- A security camera video captured the last hour and 40 minutes of James M. Mason's life as the frail 73-year-old battled with his much younger, transgender wife in the pool of their apartment complex.

Mason had a heart attack on June 2 in the pool of the Middlefield Village Apartments and died a day later. Middlefield Police Chief Joseph A. Stehlik said the department had had run-ins with the couple before, and was immediately suspicious when officers responded to a call of an "unresponsive subject'' in the water.

Mason's wife, Chris, 40, intensified the investigation by raising the idea of filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the apartment complex, said a private investigator hired by the complex's insurance company. Investigator Pete Demopoulos, who runs Demopoulos & Associates with his wife, Bonnie, said their firm urged police to check the security tape, but Stehlik said authorities were looking at it within hours of the emergency call.

What the tape showed helped prosecutors convince a Geauga County grand jury to indict Chris Mason today on a reckless homicide charge. A warrant was issued for her arrest.

The tape, portions of which were viewed by The Plain Dealer, shows Chris Mason pushing her mother, Maryanne Vallandingham, in a wheelchair into the indoor pool area. James Mason trailed them, wearing baggy, dark trunks or shorts. He appeared agitated, walking in almost timid steps, clutching his arms to his chest.

Stehlik said investigators learned that Mason had a fear of water so great that he rarely bathed. Chris Mason told police that she felt her husband needed more exercise. Stehlik said the fatal visit to the pool was the family's second in a week and investigators believe she used the first visit as a trial run.

Seconds after the trio entered the pool room, Chris Mason pointed out the security camera to her husband, and both spent a few moments looking into the lens.

Chris Mason was born a boy and named John Leslie Vallandingham. Maryanne Vallandingham and James Mason were friends when she had her son in 1967 in Kentucky.

John Vallandingham underwent gender reassignment surgery in the mid-1990s, and changed his name to Chris Newton-John, in honor of his favorite singer, Olivia Newton-John, Stehlik said.

Chris Newton-John wed Mason in August 2006, a marriage that was only possible because unlike Ohio, Kentucky allows transgender people to adjust their birth certificates. Had she been born in Ohio, the marriage would not have been legally possible, Stehlik said.

In the tape, James Mason gingerly walked down the steps into the pool, which is 4 feet at its deepest. His wife, a woman more than twice his size, followed him in seconds later. Several times, Mason appeared to panic and attempt to leave the water. On one occasion, his wife grabbed his arm and tugged him around the water, repeatedly putting his entire face and body beneath the surface, according to the tape and officials.

Stehlik said she later told officers that her husband was only in the pool for a little while, swam around by himself for a bit, and never had his head submerged.

The video, which Stehlik called "horrific," shows Mason's wife several times blocking the stairs as he tried to climb out of the pool. Stehlik said police counted 43 separate times in which she prevented her husband from leaving the water. She is also seen dragging him around by his arms and legs. On several occasions, Mason can be seen laying his head on the poolside, apparently sputtering and gasping for breath.

Stehlik said Mason was clearly in distress, and noted that his wife's experience as a former health care worker for the elderly should have tipped her off that her husband was in trouble.

Mason managed to get out of the pool, but he suffered a heart attack and collapsed moments later. Paramedics were able to revive him but he never regained consciousness and died a day later. The Geauga County coroner ruled his death a homicide.