Watson Murder Case - Discussion

[Dadvocate]

ItsBruce:

Exactly the reason one should not testify if the law permits one to remain silent.

Agreed… It was a sticky situation for him, I guess. Having a witness come forward to place him at the scene and acting suspiciously was something (I am assuming) he felt he needed to counter on some level. If the ship wasn’t already sunk, his choice to testify pretty much finished the job for him. He ended up making otherwise lackluster evidence the stuff that gets a defendant convicted.

Cheers!

 

[Dadvocate]

Boulderjohn:

I was interested in one thing Gabe said that was different from what had been previously reported. We were told that he talked the operator out of the required checkout dive because of his skill and experience supposedly putting him in a position to take care of Tina. He said in the interview that they were never offered a checkout dive.

It has been a long time since reading the first accounts of Watson’s answers to certain questions, so forgive my poor recollection. Was it Gabe who said he talked them out of the checkout dive or was this the dive op that said he had talked them out of this prior to the shop being fined for poor practices?

Cheers!

 

[DandyDon]

The dive operator under Queensland law should have forced both Tina and Gabe to have an "orientation" dive. This was because their code of practise, the Safe Scuba System (SSS), required divers to have more than 15 ocean dives to qualify as the step up from the lowest diver. Gabe had 15 ocean dives, Tina none. In fact, the form they were required to complete did not even ask this, so this was another fault of the operator. The SSS did not say "offer them an orientation dive", it said they must have it. Wade Singleton admitted in court that he broke numerous rules in letting them dive.

My interview never made it into the show at all. I am disappointed that the bits about overweightedness (she was 9 to 12 lb overweighted) and both their lack of experience was cut out. I am not sure that anyone previous thinking Gabe was guilty would change their mind.

I will be out of internet access now for about 36 to 48 hours, so will answer and questions once back in Oz.

I view a dive boat operator as a means to the site and backup safety net if needed, but for a brand new OW diver, first time in the ocean, it sounds like they really failed Tina - as guilty of negligence manslaughter as Gabe maybe. 9-12# overweight, confuse inflator with deflator and she would indeed sink fast, with panic taking over I'd think.

I finally got the last clip from King to play. No surprises.

 

[boulderjohn]

Boulderjohn:
It has been a long time since reading the first accounts of Watson’s answers to certain questions, so forgive my poor recollection. Was it Gabe who said he talked them out of the checkout dive or was this the dive op that said he had talked them out of this prior to the shop being fined for poor practices.

Beats me. It was always a given part of the conversation as I remember it.

 

[WSOPFAN]

So Gabe claimed he had no idea she never had any ocean dives......and they refused just about any help from the dive op.....how did she know to put on 20 lbs for ocean water? Who told her?

Also if this ended up in an accident and NOT a fatality 100% of the focus would be on the dive op for utter failure in looking out for those 2 inexperienced divers. Why is it that because it ended in a fatality is the immediate blame pointed towards the spouse? Why has the focus been so much on how nefarious he may or may not be instead of this being just a tragic dive accident mostly to blame on the dive op? Just a few thoughts......

 

[alohagal]

Odd that he says that he didn't know that she had never dived the ocean before. That does not fit my understanding? I thought he encouraged her to get certified before the honeymoon? I'm lost...??

See if this works for ya': 20/20 | Investigative Journalism, Medical Mysteries, News Magazine - ABC News

Dan...I got the impression that was very creative editing when he responds to that question. After he says he did not know she had never been in the ocean the interviewer says, "How could you not know...you were engaged" I have a feeling the question that he was answering more than likely was along the lines
"Did you know when you asked Tina to learn to scuba dive that she had never been in the ocean before?"

The editing made it seem like he was saying he never knew she had not been diving in the ocean before the trip to Australia.

Going back to review video now to hear his exact words again.

 

[alohagal]

He states..."I never knew she had not been in the ocean before." Then there is too much editing and back and forth to know if this was a fluid conversation between Gabe and Interviewer. Editing can be very deceiving and create whatever impression the producers would like to portray.

I found this statement very, very odd when I first saw it. I would like to know the true meaning of this statement.

 

[Divedoggie]

Another lesson learned:
When it comes to news, interviews, and information from the mainstream media...don't trust your eyes and don't trust your ears. Otherwise you will see what they want you to see and hear what they want you to hear!
:shocked2:

In other news:
During an Open Water class today, a gal attempted to replace the regulator in her mouth by biting down on the end of the Exhaust T. A number of students pressed the wrong buttons on their LPIs, and a few attempted to use the SPG to inflate the BCD.
:doh2:New divers get confused. It is part of the learning process. Repetition and skill development prior to Open Water training is very important. Further skill development and repetition before diving unsupervised in the big blue ocean is paramount.

The press is still trying to corner Gabe by assigning logic to a normal person under normal circumstances. The circumstances are unique to inexperienced divers in a panic situation. What if the situation would have been reversed? There is no way Tina could have rescued Gabe. What if the same situation called for the woman interviewing Gabe to have rescued him while he sank away and she couldn't immediately figure out how to deal with her positive buoyancy? How would she have reacted? Logically? We all assume that we know how we would react in those circumstances, but we don't know for sure until we are deep into it.
It takes a pretty special person to have the self control and the nerve and the proper training to take action and to do it well.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Another lesson learned:
When it comes to news, interviews, and information from the mainstream media...don't trust your eyes and don't trust your ears. Otherwise you will see what they want you to see and hear what they want you to hear!
:shocked2:

In other news:
During an Open Water class today, a gal attempted to replace the regulator in her mouth by biting down on the end of the Exhaust T. A number of students pressed the wrong buttons on their LPIs, and a few attempted to use the SPG to inflate the BCD.
:doh2:New divers get confused. It is part of the learning process. Repetition and skill development prior to Open Water training is very important. Further skill development and repetition before diving unsupervised in the big blue ocean is paramount.

The press is still trying to corner Gabe by assigning logic to a normal person under normal circumstances. The circumstances are unique to inexperienced divers in a panic situation. What if the situation would have been reversed? There is no way Tina could have rescued Gabe. What if the same situation called for the woman interviewing Gabe to have rescued him while he sank away and she couldn't immediately figure out how to deal with her positive buoyancy? How would she have reacted? Logically? We all assume that we know how we would react in those circumstances, but we don't know for sure until we are deep into it.
It takes a pretty special person to have the self control and the nerve and the proper training to take action and to do it well.

I think we had that figured out about the media for a while now oops that reminds me I better get busy on my assignment for the course I am taking next week on How to manage the Media. Dealing with the media IMHO is like a game of mental/verbal Chess.. you both have a goal and usually they are oposites!

Interesting insight. I took my course in the big blue ocean. Did one fresh water dive on dive 14 then no more fresh water till I had another 550 (560 bottom hr)or so dives. My instructor pushed us hard, made us dive some rough entry exits in varied conditions. He said "When you are finished with me I want you to have as much experience as possible to dive on your own." I know our area allows for year round diving in varying conditions so we are lucky and it is common for people right off course to do a fair bit of shore dives on their own. We dived 4 of the more popular dive sites during our course. Some dive shops only use the same fairly easy site for all the training. My instructor disagreed with that policy saying we may just as well take the course in a pool for the amount of preparation for REAL diving that gave. I heard a few people mutter about him being too tough but I sure am glad of his attitude and training.

It seems to me that some of us are luckier than other in our training. I certainly was lucky and appreciate that. I hope your students realalize how lucky they are to have you Divedoggie

I think the most dangerous thing is two inexperienced divers buddied together. Neither of them knows what they don't know .. a recipe for disaster like in this case!

 

[VeryRusty]

Gabe knew exactly that Tina had not made an ocean dive. Birmingham is about a 5 hour drive each way to the beach and they were days from their wedding waiting on her certification to arrive in the mail for the honeymoon. There was no way she could have gone to the beach and back to make a dive without him knowing, with or without her instructor. Its these lies that continue that cause Tina's friends and family to not believe anything Gabe says.