Watson Murder Case - Issues, Statements & Sources

[K_girl]

ISSUE 10: Watson describes the current as strong enough to cause him to breathe really hard, yet, he states they were only 30 feet away, it only took him 5 to 10 seconds to get to the rope once he left Tina.
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WATSON: ..the best that I can remember you know we had the anchor rope in sight to me it seemed you know seems more accurate instead of 25 or 30 yards off it was more like 25 or 30 feet
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WATSON: and we could see some people there [on the rope] so I, in a way I was kind of thinking just may look unusual if somebody’s happened to look you know if you see somebody cause I know at that point I was breathing hard cause I could I could feel the heat on my face

LAWRENCE: mmm

WATSON: you know just from being so hot and so I know I was probably throwing out bubbles all over the place..

LAWRENCE: ok as, as you were doing that, I mean I I can imagine you you’re finning pretty hard to get back

WATSON: yeah
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WATSON: so I thought well I'll just turn, shoot back to the anchor rope where I saw the people and I remember just turning up I probably never swam so fast in my life cause it just seemed like from the time she went down to the time that I realised I couldn't you know get to her that I was at the anchor rope in you know five or ten seconds

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 11: Watson in lowering the visibility from his original estimate of 30 yards to 30 feet, he says he can’t see the bottom, and he gave that as the reason he must have been wrong about his original estimate of visibility. However, a photograph shows Tina on the bottom.
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WATSON: before I was saying about you know the the thirty yards I think I don't I can't imagine that was correct just because of the visual contact that we could have with the anchor rope

WATSON: ah just cause I was thinking you know if 30 yards is 90 feet, that means you know from the top we would’ve been able to see to the bottom, and I know that wasn’t accurate..

WATSON: ..the best that I can remember you know we had the anchor rope in sight to me it seemed you know seems more accurate instead of 25 or 30 yards off it was more like 25 or 30 feet
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PHOTOGRAPH: Shows Tina visible on the bottom. Bubbles from the diver in the foreground appear overexposed from sunlight. This indicates the diver is within 20 feet of the surface. If Tina was directly below the diver in the foreground, the visibility would be approx. 70 feet. However, the picture is taken at an angle, so the distance to Tina is even further. An expert on measuring distance, with the height of the individuals in the picture, could determine the actual distance here, but it is considerably more than 30 feet. Obviously, the dive instructor going after Tina is having no trouble seeing her.

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 12: Watson signaled Tina to inflate her BC, she tried, did not work. After that, he had a hold of her BC. Why didn’t he inflate her BC then, when he had a hold of her and was swimming with her?
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WATSON: I had, I had her left hand in my right hand and ah you know it would’ve been about, she was back behind me so she would’ve been back a little bit.. at some point I noticed as I was swimming she was dropping down and it got to the point where instead of both of us moving um horizontally through the water you know I was horizontal and she was almost vertical..

12.1 [He was on her left side, the side of her inflator hose]

WATSON: I let go of her hand turned back to her ah grabbed my inflator hose thinking you know she’s sunk down a little bit.. I grabbed mine, squeezed it once or twice you know motioning to her to do the same so she grabbed hers and you know she squeezed.. I went down ah and grabbed a hold of her BC vest.. pulled her toward me and then I turned and just started swimming um back towards the anchor rope.. I don’t remember which side but it was probably, probably her left side again and you know kind of pulled her toward me

12.2 [Again, he was on her left side, the side of her inflator hose]

WATSON: ..at that point I was just getting her back and I thought well her BC didn’t inflate so we obviously can’t ascend to the surface..
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WATSON: at that time, she was probably right, we were probably almost shoulder she was probably just a little bit behind me

LAWRENCE: ah you mentioned before that you, you had thought of just grabbing her and popping the BC and, why didn’t you do it then?

WATSON: then?

LAWRENCE: mmm

WATSON: because I didn’t know what the problem was.. um cause I, my thinking was ah you know like didn’t know if you know if it was her inflator hose that was the problem
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SKILLS:

PADI: Open Water, page 156: Assisting another Diver: There are four basic steps to assisting another diver: 1) establish ample buoyancy (for both of you).. Always begin with buoyancy – you reduce the immediate risk by assuring that neither of you will sink..

PADI: Open Water, page 161: Near Drowning and the Unresponsive Diver. Here are the four general procedures to follow if a diver appears to lose consciousness and becomes unresponsive in the water: 1) Quickly bring the diver to the surface and check for breathing. 2) Establish ample positive buoyancy for you and the victim [inflate the BC]. 3) Get assistance as needed in providing rescue breathing. 4) Help remove the diver from the water.

PADI Rescue, page 132. Rescuing the Responsive Diver Underwater. You can often stop an uncontrolled descent by signaling the diver to add air to his BCD and level off. If this doesn’t work, make contact with the diver to arrest the descent.. When you reach the diver, grasp the BCD or tank valve and ad air to his BCD. If the victim’s BCD doesn’t work, then use your BCD.

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 13: Watson stated there may have been a problem with her BC or she may not have known how to operate the BC. He never attempted to inflate her BC himself. The reason he gave was he didn’t know what was wrong with it. This should have been the answer to indicate why he would try to inflate her BC, rather than he would not try to inflate her BC. Tina’s BC was found to be in perfect working order.

WATSON: ..motioning to her to do the same so she grabbed hers and you know she squeezed, I know she squeezed it, whether she squeezed it hard enough or didn’t squeeze the right thing or it wasn’t working I don’t, I don’t know... I thought well her BC didn’t inflate so we obviously can’t ascend to the surface..
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WATSON: at that time, she was probably right, we were probably almost shoulder she was probably just a little bit behind me

LAWRENCE: ah you mentioned before that you, you had thought of just grabbing her and popping the BC and, why didn’t you do it then?

WATSON: then?

LAWRENCE: mmm

WATSON: because I didn’t know what the problem was.. um cause I, my thinking was ah you know like didn’t know if you know if it was her inflator hose that was the problem..
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GEHRINGER: you didn’t notice um bubbles coming from as if she’d deflated her ah inflator? You didn’t notice bubbles?

WATSON: no ah she grabbed it and she kind of pulled it out and I remember you know she she did that ah, I don’t you know like with ours on the hose you know you pull like that and I don’t remember her doing that it you know like she pulled it and you know kind of squeezed it a couple of times ah but..

13.1 [pulling on the inflator hose releases air out of the BC]

GEHRINGER: it, not being a diver but if air hadn’t gone into her inflator to inflate it, would it be a case that you would see bubbles coming from wherever the air has come out?

WATSON: no if, like like I was saying if for some reason she didn’t hit the button or whatever it probably wouldn’t have seen anything... now if you do dump it yeah it’s you know there’s a big free flow that comes out um but I and I don’t remember seeing anything like that
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EQUIPMENT. PADI Rescue, Page 108. Compared with your regulator, the BCD and low pressure inflator enjoy mechanical simplicity and few problems.. The inflator valves have a much simpler design than regulator valves. Most aren’t particularly temperamental and function reliably for years with normal maintenance.

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 14: When did he lose his grip on Tina and she started to sink? Witnesses say Watson said one thing and Watson says another in his interview.
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DOUG MILSAP: [Watson] said, "Well, I had a hold of her and I was kicking and I was trying to pull her toward the surface. And at that point, she was too heavy. And I lost my grip on her and she started to sink."

WATSON: ..her hand hit my mask um it knocked my mask sideways so ah I had to, had to let go ah let go and kind of turn back so that I would have some you know that I would have some space cause at that point I didn’t have a mask

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 15: Watson says Tina sinks quickly due to heaviness and he tried to kick down for her. His dive computer shows no sharp descent for Tina. It took Watson only 5 to ten seconds to go 30 feet against the current to the rope, but unable to kick down 10 feet to Tina. So her weight and sinking presented far more difficulty for him than the current.
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WATSON: ..cause if we were at forty something feet and I think my computer said fifty-four you know that was just a matter of ten foot or less going down..
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WATSON: I couldn't grab her hand because she was, you know, maybe five feet below me or something like that. I don't really know. I went down, started kicking down, and I was kicking down. But as fast as I was kicking down to go get her, she was going down just as fast..
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MSNBC: But the dive computer said that never happened. It showed no attempt to sharply descend after Tina.

KEN SYNDER: He said “She was below me 10 feet or so with her arms outstretched, sinking feet first. And I had to make a split-second decision whether to assist her or go to the surface and get help.”

MSNBC: The dive instructor accompanying that photographer realized immediately someone was in serious trouble. He kicked down to 100-feet. [and returned Tina to the surface]

KEN SNYDER: Dead people sink.

DOUG MILSAP: Ten feet is a pittance underwater. It's two fin kicks and you're on top of her. There's absolutely no reason why he couldn't have followed her down.
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WATSON: ..you know the two different times and fighting against the current trying to go back to the anchor rope..I just can’t help but think that, that the fight against the current is what allowed whatever thing took place that caused her to either black out or whatever..
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WATSON: it just seemed like from the time she went down to the time that I realised I couldn't you know get to her that I was at the anchor rope and you know five or ten seconds..
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WATSON: er I think on that dive I think I had close to thirty pounds and I bet she had two eight, she may’ve had between eighteen an twenty, something like that
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Source: Scuba dive panic

The inquest also heard testimony from Tina's friend Amanda Phillips, a civil engineer from Louisiana, who said she and Tina had been `best friends' and confidantes since childhood..

Mrs Phillips said Mr Watson told her he had put extra weights on Tina when they were in the water, which he later denied; that Tina had sunk to 30ft (10m) below him when he lost hold of her, although he had told police it was 5ft

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 16: A small petite woman is too heavy for Watson, a much larger, healthier male. Is it reasonable to believe that a small petite woman wearing 20 pounds is heavier and sinking faster than a much larger male wearing 30 pounds?
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DOUG MILSAP: [Gabe said] "I had a hold of her BC. And she was too heavy. And I couldn't hold on to her and I lost my grip on her and she started to sink."

Msnbc: You challenged him at that moment, didn't you? What did you say?

DOUG MILSAP: I told him it was B.S. because underwater as long -- if your feet are not braced on the bottom there's no sensation of weight. Doug remembers Gabe then tweaking his story. And [Gabe] said, "Well, I had a hold of her and I was kicking and I was trying to pull her toward the surface. And at that point, she was too heavy. And I lost my grip on her and she started to sink."
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WATSON: I couldn't grab her hand because she was, you know, maybe five feet below me or something like that. I don't really know. I went down, started kicking down, and I was kicking down. But as fast as I was kicking down to go get her, she was going down just as fast..
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WATSON: er I think on that dive I think I had close to thirty pounds and I bet she had two eight, she may’ve had between eighteen an twenty, something like that

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 17: Watson’s description of Tina’s panic does not fit the description of a panicked diver and does not fit Tina’s previous panic reaction. His description of her fitness does not fit the explanation of a heart attack, which he also tried to bring-up as a possibility.
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WATSON: She was looking up had both her arms out (sigh) you know reached, stretched up, you know almost looking at me reaching her arms up (his hands are above his head in a reaching gesture) to grab... [he continued on to say that she sank]
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Source: Fatal dive evidence disputed

SNYDER: "He said she was looking at him, and that he really hoped she didn't think he was leaving her there to die."
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(MSNBC) DOUG MILSAP: Panicked divers don't relax and raise their hands up in the air and look at you placidly saying, "Goodbye." She's going to be either clawing for his air supply or going for the surface.
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WATSON: my mask cleared turned back around and at this point she was going down um, I don’t know if ah if she was still kicking or not ah but she was looking up had both her arms out you know reached, stretched up almost like looking at me reaching her arms up to grab..

17.1 [If a panic-stricken diver is kicking, they will also dog-paddle wildly with their hands]

WATSON: yeah, as she went down, it you know, almost like that whatever that statue is over in Europe you know the both hands up, heads looking up that’s why you know you know that’s why you know it worried me that she was wondering why I was leaving because we, I made eye contact with her you know I don’t know if you know if she was even still with us at that point but I you know I saw her eye balls you know I saw her eyes as she was going down and that

GEHRINGER: did you think she was alive or …

WATSON: yeah

WATSON: yeah, it had not even occurred it did not even cross my mind until you know later that she could’ve been unconscious then cause I just didn’t know what happened and that’s why you know she was going down, she had her arms up so to me it was like she was like she was, you know I’m sinking I don’t know what, I don’t know what’s happening you know grab me..
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WATSON: I was thinking we swum so hard that her body just shut down, or she had a heart attack or something from just the physical exertion..
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CRAIG CLECKLER [Tina’s certifying dive instructor]: Once I had determined that she was showing some signs of nervousness, I stayed on Tina's shoulder during the whole training that day. Tina panicked, and she shot off of her knees to go to the surface. As I was on her shoulder, I caught her approximately 10-foot up. And just made sure she had a slow, safe ascent to the surface. Even when she was safely at the surface, she continued to freak out.
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WATSON: I just said I was like ‘well don’t be nervous about it cause you know you’ll be able to see Nemo and the turtles and all that kind of stuff’ and that was pretty much it ah you know the you know you know the pep talk stuff was kind of when she was doing her classes..

GEHRINGER: [re 1st aborted dive]: ..did Tina display any um behaviour of panic..?

WATSON: ah no.. we met up in the back and um but there was I mean you know I said something to her I said you know ‘you ready to go’ and she said ‘yeah’..
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MSNBC: And yet by her husband's account of that fatal dive in Australia, it seemed Tina showed no instinct for self-preservation, merely lifting her arms up and plummeting to her death.
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STORY source: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23888039-3102,00.html
In a videotaped police statement, Mr Watson, a trained rescue diver, said he let go of his dead or dying wife and watched as she "went down almost like that statue in Europe, eyes up, both hands up". He said he was still haunted by the image.
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STORY: “Sinister Twist to Death on the Reef” Source: Sinister twist to death on the reef | The Australian

TINA’S MOTHER: We were saying: 'Are you OK?"' she recalls. "He told us in that conversation that she was looking at him and she winked at him, and he had to make a split second decision to either go to the top for help or look after her. He was with her at 40 feet (12m) but he said he left her to go for help because she was descending. I said to him then, 'That's OK, she knew you were going for help'."

17.2 [Is it reasonable that a panicked diver will “wink” as they are sinking?]
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SKILL/KNOWLEDGE:

PADI Open Water, page 156. Divers who have a problem and panic lose self control, and sudden, unreasoned fear and instinctive inappropriate actions replace controlled, appropriate action. Panicked divers, fearing drowning, typically struggle to hold their heads high above the water, expending tremendous energy.. fail to establish positive buoyancy.. make quick, jerky movements.. eyes are wide and unseeing and usually don’t respond to directions..

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 18: Watson hopes there is evidence to show that Tina was grabbing at him in panic, hit him with enough force to separate the mouthpiece from the regulator. The police had tested his dive computer for the battery problem and looked at his dive profiles. Surely, they would have noticed a missing regulator, but we don’t have that information.
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WATSON: I know I didn’t say this at the time but when I went back my mouth piece was not connected to my regulator and I had a fitted mouth piece, you know they zip tie on there but I had to UI bowl of water and put it in your mouth and it moulds to your mouth

LAWRENCE: mmm

WATSON: um cause when I was getting back um you know a day or two later I think it was after you got here wasn’t it

Mrs WATSON: yeah it was UI

WATSON: and I pulled my stuff out of my bag yet, cause my stuff was in my bag wet so I pulled out rinse them out and I noticed my mouth piece was not actually on my regulator..

LAWRENCE: ok

WATSON: which again it’s me speculating, it leads me to believe that she hit you know when she hit it with some force it wasn’t her hitting my mask and me going ‘aaah’

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 19: Watson gave several reasons for turning around and not going after Tina: 1) assumed something must be wrong with her BC and would not be able to surface; 2) she was too heavy and sinking too quickly; 3) fear of going too deep and getting the bends; 4) not knowing what to do to help Tina once on the bottom; and 5) ear drum problems. Would a jury believe that he is trying to give too many explanations for this one moment in time?
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WATSON: ..motioning to her to do the same so she grabbed hers and you know she squeezed, I know she squeezed it, whether she squeezed it hard enough or didn't squeeze the right thing or it wasn't working I don't, I don't know... I thought well her BC didn't inflate so we obviously can't ascend to the surface..
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DOUG MILSAP: [Gabe said] "I had a hold of her BC. And she was too heavy. And I couldn't hold on to her and I lost my grip on her and she started to sink."
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WATSON: I couldn't grab her hand because she was, you know, maybe five feet below me or something like that. I don't really know. I went down, started kicking down, and I was kicking down. But as fast as I was kicking down to go get her, she was going down just as fast..
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WATSON: And I thought well.. If I go to the bottom and she's unconscious or something, I don't, other than dumping her equipment, I don't know of anything else to do. Uh, so I thought well, you know I'm halfway down, if I go all the way down, I can't come back up quick just because of how deep it is. So, I thought well, I'll just turn, shoot back to the anchor rope..
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WATSON: it takes me as kind of you know when the, the last time I shot down for her I ended up messing up my ear because I, I have to equalise more than the average person.. er especially until, until I get down to you know about underneath thirty feet you know after that it’s not that bad..

[they were at 40-45 feet when her problem started]
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NANCY GRACE 6/24/08: Gabe stated he was forced to abort rescue because his ear drums had ruptured.
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FACT: Watson is correct about the first 30 feet and equalization. Most divers learn that once you are past the first 30 feet, equalization generally becomes less of an issue. Source: Instructor Richard: Instructions for Equalizing Ears and Sinuses