Watson Murder Case - Discussion

[DandyDon]

From the comments at Prosecution insurance-profit motive put in doubt, witnesses refute Gabe Watson's story of how wife died in Australian honeymoon | al.com

Go to google-images type in 9781405040129 and you will see the honeymoon dive photo. Copy and paste it to your desk top. open it in the windows photo viewer. Zoom in on Tina. You can see her face, Eyes, mouth, Mask on forehead and Regulator purging in her right hand.

I used that number at Google images and got a larger number of related pics, none of them a high def version of the infamous shot. Anyone figure that out. A link would be nice.

 

[alohagal]

From the comments at Prosecution insurance-profit motive put in doubt, witnesses refute Gabe Watson's story of how wife died in Australian honeymoon | al.com

I used that number at Google images and got a larger number of related pics, none of them a high def version of the infamous shot. Anyone figure that out. A link would be nice.

I tried it too...seems like hogwash!

 

[DandyDon]

I'm sure that infamous pic was shot with a camera that could produce a large pic but I've never seen a high def version of it. I'd like to see it, maybe clean it up a little...


9781405040129 is the ISBN for a book written on the incedent. see http://www.austcrimefiction.org/category/isbn/9781405040129

 

[Divedoggie]

Please don't speak for the rest of us, who are probably not a minority, btw. Can we have the reporter's email so we can correct the misinformation he's been given?

The fact that the same few people are screaming the same things over and over regardless of what the facts are or aren't does not make them a majority. There are those few that give their opinion constantly regarding the conclusion of the case and those who simply want access to as many facts and as much information as possible.

There has been so much misinformation bandied about in the last couple of weeks that I can't even be bothered to respond to it. Talk about an inaccurate recall of past events or articles even in this thread alone. I appreciate K-Girl's tenacity and patience in attempting to deal with some of the misinformation.

I apologize for screaming things over and over. With the court case hot right now, some things deserve to be repeated. The media and the majority of casual observers have already convicted Watson. Some of us here on SB are the only people speaking up for the possibility of Watson being not guilty, which forces us to speak loudly!

A study of what we know about the case and how it actually applies to real life scuba diving is something that the media misses. So we get to talk about it here.
I do have an alterior motive, though. I'm in the market for a large quantity of wholesale bubble wrap.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

I have to say DiveDoggie.. I like your style! I particularly appreciate your knowledge/experience as an instructor. Your information/example of "passive panic" has the potential to save lives! Thank you :worship:

I personally don't believe those arguing pro or con are more loud or repetitious! THAT depends on your perspective! I think what position the "majority" holds is also a matter of personal interpretation. IMHO everyone here is trying to put forth their opinions in as reasonable a way as they can. I also think people are participating here for what they feel are appropriate reasons. I don't question anybody's right to express their opinion in any way that doesn't breach TOS here. People can read or not read/ respond to or not respond to posts in whatever manner they choose within TOS. I must admit I have personally chosen not to respond to some because I found certain things irritated me.. but that is my issue and I can't/wont try to dictate what someone else should say because of my personal bias (about how they express themselves).

It seems to me that some people have come to conclusions on this case and are so locked into them that they can not and will not accept anything that does not support their chosen reality! That is unfortunate in a discussion in a thread like this but unforgivable in an official investigation or Judicial process!

I greatly respect Alohagal's honesty and openmindedness. I appreciate knowing that Kgirl and Alohogal are friends who have agreed to disagree on this topic. I have come to respect most of the posters in this thread and have learned a lot of things of value by my participation here.

 

[ItsBruce]

Anyone who has followed this thread knows that I have a hard time believing that the prosecution has admissible evidence that would support a murder conviction. However, my gut tells me that something is amiss. I realize that everything that gives me that feeling can easily be explained away. But my gut tells me something is amiss. The fact that Tina died on her honeymoon while diving, after taking up diving to make Watson happy, offends my sensibilities. It just isn't right that such a thing could happen. And there lies the problem. Because what happened offends my sensibilities, I have this gut feeling.

If I have this gut feeling, others must have it, too. Look how quickly the media dubbed Watson "The Honeymoon Killer" -- and the media did not have a fraction of the evidence that we now have. The difference between me and most others is that I am pretty good at controlling my gut feelings. But it is human nature that once you get a gut feeling the only evidence that registers in your mind is evidence that reinforces your gut feeling. People tend to twist facts to support theories rather than theories to explain facts.

What I see time and again is people who seem to have the same gut feeling as I do lashing out at Watson for doing whatever it is that gave them that gut feeling. That's my theory and I reserve the right to change it as more evidence develops.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Interesting thoughts Bruce lol I am sure some will interpret that to mean you think he is guilty and some will interpret it that you think he is innocent

On the drive to the dive site this morning we were chatting a bit about this case. In the process of the conversation I cam to an interesting realization well interesting to me anyway but I will bore you with it!

I have interacted with a lot of people here on SB and gained some awesome friends. I have been lucky enough to meet and dive with a few of them as well. There are quite a number more I would dearly love to add to that list!

I have to say I have also interacted with some people I am not so impressed with. There are a very few that if they were somewhere near me and asked to meet up at a coffee shop after a dive for a chat.. I would politely decline. I am shocked that Gabe Watson does not fall into that category! I have not been impressed with what I have read of his behavior but I would certainly be interested in talking to the man to come to my own "real world" conclusions about him. As somebody here has posted.. if you put anybody under a microscope you will be able to make them look bad or vilify them.

Like you I am offended that this terrible thing happened but I have tried to keep an open mind and look at the thing from all angles. I have tried to use my own experience with wrongful death to understand how Tina's loved ones feel. I have tried to think how I would have reacted to this event as a diver with 50+ dives or even now. I have tried to interpret information from both sides.. looking for guilty or innocent explanations. I have tried to think how Gabe's family must feel.. how would I feel if this was MY son!

I am also trying to look at it from the selfish perspective.. how does this effect the hobby I am passionate about. What can I learn here to be safer? I have learned some things I didn't know before about passive panic for instance. I have reinforced my conviction that when it comes to dive knowledge and skill.. Certificates mean nothing.. numbers of dives mean nothing! There are too many people making downright dangerous claims and justifying their conclusions by those two criteria. I want to see someone in the water before I accept their evaluation of their skill and trust my life to them! Then I will do everything I can to avoid that situation arising!

 

[alohagal]

Anyone who has followed this thread knows that I have a hard time believing that the prosecution has admissible evidence that would support a murder conviction. However, my gut tells me that something is amiss. I realize that everything that gives me that feeling can easily be explained away. But my gut tells me something is amiss. The fact that Tina died on her honeymoon while diving, after taking up diving to make Watson happy, offends my sensibilities. It just isn't right that such a thing could happen. And there lies the problem. Because what happened offends my sensibilities, I have this gut feeling.

If I have this gut feeling, others must have it, too. Look how quickly the media dubbed Watson "The Honeymoon Killer" -- and the media did not have a fraction of the evidence that we now have. The difference between me and most others is that I am pretty good at controlling my gut feelings. But it is human nature that once you get a gut feeling the only evidence that registers in your mind is evidence that reinforces your gut feeling. People tend to twist facts to support theories rather than theories to explain facts.

What I see time and again is people who seem to have the same gut feeling as I do lashing out at Watson for doing whatever it is that gave them that gut feeling. That's my theory and I reserve the right to change it as more evidence develops.

Boy, this post really resonates with me. My mind is a ping pong ball over this thing. Honestly. Depends on what I read when, where etc. But, yes, I think many would agree that our gut feeling does not feel right about Gabe Watson.

BTW: K-GIRL is more than a friend, she is my sister. We have hashed this out for years. Believe you me. I have had to play devils advocate many a time.

 

[alohagal]

Watson trial details dive experience | Shelby County Reporter

I found this recent article with different information from the trial today. Interesting testimony from friend that took the rescue course. He says that for Gabe it was like deciding to rescue someone from a burning car.

 

[spoolin01]

If Gabe wanted to engineer a murder so that it looked like his greenhorn diver wife panicked, and he as a braggart & quarry trained but out of practice Rescue diver failed - he succeeded, but it would have been so stupid with the number of boats and experienced divers around, plus at least one physician he knew of.

There's a middle ground between pure bungling and precisely planned clockwork murder protocol - homicidal ideation, scenario contemplation, perhaps followed by opportunistic and impulsive acting out. Whether any of that applies is anyone's guess, but hey, everyone is just guessing whether it was murder, something like it, or just bad decisions and incompetence, even the witnesses.


Stutz obviously wants to distance himself from this, perhaps for any number of reasons. It would take a great deal of conviction to step forward and knowingly point the finger of guilt, whether he once felt that way or not. The time to have witnessed this in front of a jury was long ago. Unless they have some heretofore underappreciated serious smoking gun from Gabe' statements it's hard to see how they will convince anyone of murder. I would have thought Stutz was key to inferring intent, and he declined to point in that direction.

I do find the description of what Stutz witnessed odd - why would someone trying to bring another to the surface use both arms in the manner described? It provides little control, ties up both arms, and compromises your ability to use one hand for other purposes. It seems what you'd really want is simply a firm grip on some piece of the person's gear and to maintain as much stand-off as possible if needing to work a reg, or alternate, or inflator hose, or ditch-pull. Much better done with a 5 finger grasp than some chop stick maneuver.