Watson Murder Case - Issues, Statements & Sources

[K_girl]

Regarding the prosecution of Mr. Gabe Watson for the murder of his wife, Tina Watson on a scuba diving trip on the Great Barrier Reef in October, 2003.

I am starting this thread and submitting a series of posts, each post will be the focus of a single issue. Please DO NOT POST COMMENTS OR DISCUSSION OF THESE ISSUES HERE, but continue to post your opinions to the original thread of this case at http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/234548-diver-indicted-2003-gbr-mishap.html

If you wish to post to this thread, please keep to the spirit and format of this thread which is to state the issue succinctly, statements, information that has been reported with the source in order to KEEP A CLEAN AND FAST READ ON THIS CASE. Also included in this thread will be information from PADI scuba diving courses, since Gabe Watson was a Rescue-certified diver, he would have taken at least three courses: 1) Open Water (beginner); 2) Advanced and 3) Rescue. And finally, the potential prosecution and defense theories without speculation or discussion on their potential success.

The focus of this thread will NOT: 1) interject personal experience in order to bring a belief that Watson or others should have acted in a certain way; 2) condemn training methods of any dive-certifying body.

The primary source for most of these posts are:
MSNBC at Mystery in the deep blue sea - Crime reports - MSNBC.com which includes a video link to portions of police video of interview with Gabe Watson.
Coroner’s Report at http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/Watson20080620.pdf
Transcript of Watson’s 10/27/07 interview, 5 days after Tina’s death, at: Gabe Watson's police interview

Please don’t use your own recollection, find and quote the source or don’t post to this thread.

THE PHOTOGRAPH, mentioned in several issues:

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 1: Tina believed that her husband’s Rescue Certification gave him the skills to assist her in an emergency and she trusted him to do so. She reassured her worried parents that he was a Rescue-Certified diver. It is reasonable to conclude that Watson led her to believe in his rescue skills. At one time, Watson quit school with the idea of becoming a commercial diver. In his interview, he apparently forgot most of his rescue certification training because much of it does involve rescue of another diver. He stated that the rescue course focused on self-rescue.
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WATSON: ..could do um you know some of those things, there wasn’t there was nothing in our thing about how to get somebody, how to do any type of revival or anything from the bottom there was nothing about, other than controlled ascent you know sharing air ah there was nothing..

1.1 [Revival at the bottom is not possible because it involves rescue breathing and CPR, neither of which can be done underwater. The victim must be taken to the surface. This is common sense and this skill is heavily practiced in the rescue course.]

WATSON: ..the only thing that we've that we ever did was ah done at like around twenty feet where basically we dumped our own gear and did you know the purging, hook up, let your air go and all that you know for yourself and that's what I was thinking of, that most of the training I've had is basically taking care of yourself, not you know had we there was nothing as far as taking care of somebody else..
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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 didn’t know if she was still flailing ah didn’t know what she was doing so I let go and I remember I kind of, I don’t know if I, I think I may of kicked with my fins back you know to give myself a little bit of space

1.2 [He does remember what he was taught about getting away from a panicked diver who is struggling.]
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WATSON: ..yeah when I, well when I was in school I was working inside and then actually for a time as I first got into diving I actually I quit school cause I wanted to be a commercial diver and then realised how dangerous that was and ah decided no..
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SOURCE: Caught on film

Lengthy testimony was also given by videolink from Gabe and Tina's diving instructor, Thomas Jackson, from Birmingham, Alabama.

Mr Jackson confirmed he had trained and certified Tina with her beginner's open water diving qualification, and Gabe with all three of his diving qualifications including open water, advanced open water and rescue diver.

Mr Jackson explained in great detail exactly what Mr Watson's rescue diver training had involved, including how to rescue a panicked diver, a diver with no air, one with no regulator and an unconscious diver, and that Mr Watson had qualified in all areas.

The experienced instructor was visibly stunned when shown Mr Watson's police statements claiming that he did not know how to rescue a diver in trouble. Crown lawyer John Tate read aloud Mr Watson's statement made to Townsville police five days after Tina's death stating there had been nothing in his training `about how to get somebody' and asked Mr Jackson if that was accurate.

Mr Jackson emphatically replied `Absolutely not'.

"He took the course. I don't know why he's saying he didn't know how to do it," Mr Jackson said. "When he said he swam down and couldn't get her, that defies everything (that was taught) in training. "In my opinion, there was no reason why he could not have brought her up from the bottom _ he was definitely trained to do that.

"The whole way he says he went about trying to help her - none of it makes sense."
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Source: Strange behaviour

The inquest also heard evidence from Mr Watson's childhood friend and dive buddy Michael Moore, who trained alongside Mr Watson in achieving all three levels of diving certification including rescue diver.

Mr Moore confirmed their rescue training had involved rescuing distressed and unconscious divers, but said that training did not make him feel overly confident that he was fully qualified to do so.

1.3 [Feeling qualified or being nervous to do what was taught is NOT the issue. Watson stating that he never received the proper training, but reassuring Tina that he was qualified IS the issue.]
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SKILLS

PADI: Open Water, page 153: if a problem does arise, you’ll want to be able to care for yourself and lend assistance to another diver. This section introduces you to some of the basic concepts of dive problem management. In this section you’ll learn how to prevent and respond to problems such as how to recognize when a diver needs assistance, how to assist another diver..

PADI Rescue, page 125. Swimming assists and rescues. If you’re already in the water, you and your buddy’s dive equipment generally provides the resources you’ll need for an assist or rescue.. As you approach the victim, you need to assess the victim’s mental and physical condition.. give the rescue statement “I can help you. Are you okay?”.. note the location and type of BCD inflator and direct the victim to establish buoyancy.. a panicked diver won’t usually follow instructions.. A tired (not panicked) diver usually requires an assist. First, you want to provide immediate buoyancy if for some reason the victim couldn’t follow your directions.. Buoyancy diminishes the immediate hazard of sinking and drowning, giving you and the victim ample time to sort through the situation.. Once you’ve established buoyancy, you can help the victim as appropriate.. Reassure the diver and maintain eye contact..

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.

PADI Rescue, page 129. Surface contact has the advantage of speed, but may pose more risk for you because the victim may try to cling to you or climb on you. Underwater contact takes longer, but it keeps you out of the victim’s grasp.. one method, swim around behind he victim.. knee cradle position, which prevents a struggling victim from being able to reach you. Inflate the victim’s BCD.. Another method.. underarm lift.. with one hand, grab the victim’s wrist.. then inflate the BCD.. If a struggling victim gets you in his grasp during the rescue, you can escape underwater or on the surface.. Once you’ve established buoyancy, the victim will usually calm down..

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 2: It was the Watson’s first dive of the trip and Tina’s first ocean dive with her husband. An orientation dive was being conducted and the Watson’s were not a part of that group. Watson is clearly uncomfortable with the idea of calling it an “orientation” dive or that he had any knowledge that it was available. There was a dive briefing that talked about the dive being a drift dive in current.
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LAWRENCE: so there was, was there an orientation dive offered to anyone on board or to yourself or?

WATSON: I don’t know if it was the you know the other people, there wasn’t anything directly to us.. and that, I mean that you know what you’re saying about an orientation, that’s what I want to be clear about the current.. I think somebody actually told me late later that Wade was actually taking those people on a not guided on, was orientation or.. but they said the reason he was with those people is because you know they wanted to evaluate their diving ability..

2.1 [A dive to evaluate skills before allowing divers to dive is commonly referred to as an orientation dive. Sometimes it is a requirement for all divers to protect the operator, other times offered as a way to refresh skills for divers who are new or have not dove within the last year or so.]

LAWRENCE: ok, so after the dive instructor questioned you about your experience, level number of dives and Tina’s, did um anyone then any of the dive instructors offer to go with you like, come down with you on your first one?

WATSON: no, no

LAWRENCE: ok alright

WATSON: um

LAWRENCE: ah, ok

WATSON: no sorry, I mean you know they had, we would’ve just because we’d talked before I said you know if there’s any dive that we don’t I don’t think you should do, I don’t want you to do it an if there’s any dive they don’t think you should do, you shouldn’t do it
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WATSON: ..basic what they basically said was that you know there’s some current going through there and that you can just go down and just float along with the current um you know nothing that you know to me that wasn’t like what I would’ve thought a leisurely float you know down a lazy river

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 3: First, Watson says the reason he did the dive was because he read about it in a book, then corrects himself and says he didn’t read it until after the incident because he did not know about the currents ahead of time.
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LAWRENCE: you’re saying UI radio that having done the dive now um that you didn’t think any anyone but an advanced diver

WATSON: no, I didn’t know anything about the dive before we did ah and like I said the only reason I’d done it you know, went to the aquarium, I bought I bought a book you know that had like Australia’s Greatest Dives or whatever and it had the ‘Yongola’.. I remember reading.. I think he said and you know that it’s not, not what I would consider a dive that a beginner which is what Tina was, just was not a dive that they I don’t even know if they should be allowed to do it with somebody

LAWRENCE: you read that before you you

WATSON: no, no, no, no

Mrs WATSON [Watson’s Mother]: this was yesterday

3.1 [Did Watson and his mother go to the aquarium together the day before the interview - just 4 days after Tina’s death?]

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 4: Watson’s dive plan appears to be consistent with his first statement regarding the briefing, which was to swim with the current known as a drift-dive. Then he claims that he got the idea he would be able to swim against the current because in the briefing they said swim back to see how far you can make it. If this were true, the dive briefing gave two completely different instructions.
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WATSON: oh our plan basically was to go down to the top of the wreck you know around the forty-five foot area and just swim along the top of it to the other shot line and then go up the line on the other side..

WATSON [re: dive briefing]: he [dive master] said it would be easier swimming that way [with the current] as opposed to starting at the back [stern of the wreck] and going up current [against the current] um and that was probably thirty or forty-five minutes, I mean it was a lengthy you know lengthy talk..
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WATSON: ..they even said about some people going down floating with the current [beginning of the dive] along the bottom come up the top [the bow of the boat] and just swim back [to stern of the boat, against the current at the end of the dive] as far as you can and then just ascend, so to me that meant you can swim against the current..

WATSON: .. he said you know you come up and swim back [against the current] and see how far you can make it and you get we got in and it was you know it was pushing along..

4.1 [unclear if “come up” means all the way to the surface, or to the deck of the boat before swimming against the current]
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Source: Death dive

The third witness was Gavin Docking, the former captain of the Spoil Sport, via telephone from Fort Lauderdale in the US, giving evidence contradicting Mr Watson's claim that he and his wife were not told of the strong currents.
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SKILLS: Avoid overexertion. [the idea of swimming back just to “see how far you can make it” goes against 2 PADI training rules: 1) avoid overexertion; and 2) if swimming against a current, it should be done at the beginning of a dive, not at the end. Either one of these statements would have been a red flag for a dive briefing if true]

PADI Open Water, page 80. If you try to maintain an elevated activity level while diving – like swimming against a current.. You may experience overexertion.. Overexertion results when your body demands air faster than breathing can deliver it. This can happen more easily underwater because you’re breathing dense air, you’re moving against resistance, and scuba regulators have limits on how much air they can deliver. Obviously, you want to prevent overexertion..

PADI Open Water, page 128. Earlier, you learned to remain relaxed, avoid overexertion and take it easy while diving..

PADI Open Water, page 129. When there is a mild current at a dive site, begin your dive by slowly swimming into the current so that at the end of the dive, instead of fighting to get back.. The current assists your return..

PADI Open Water, page 157. Underwater Problem Management.. Underwater, overexertion can give you a feeling of air starvation because breathing resistance through the regulator increases as you go deeper. Overexertion is the problem, but it may feel like your regulator isn’t delivering enough air. Actually you’re demanding more air than it can deliver..

PADI Open Water, page 142. When diving in current from a boat, you generally being your dive swimming to the current, so that it’s pushing you back to the boat when you end the dive. If you get caught in a current, don’t fight it..

PADI Advanced, page 123. Drift Diving. When you first became a diver, you learned that you need to consider currents when you plan your dives, that strong currents can wear you out.. When you drift dive, the current works for you instead of against you.. drift diving usually requires little effort. During the dive, you just go along for the ride.. drift diving does have some concerns that make using appropriate drift techniques important. You and other divers need to closely coordinate exit and entry procedures.. extra vigilance in maintaining buddy contact..

PADI Rescue, Page 4. Prevention also means recognizing problems like overexertion.. soon enough to head them off. For example, if you were swimming hard against surge, you may find yourself breathing hard and becoming overexerted. By stopping immediately and resting, you prevent the problem from growing into a serious situation.

PADI Rescue, page 132. Rescuing the Responsive Diver Underwater. Overexertion. As discussion in Chapter 1, overexertion can be closely linked to stress and panic. Rapid shallow breathing, whether initiated by fear or trying to swim too hard, can cause the diver to feel as if he can’t get enough air, setting up a stress cycle that leads to more rapid breathing, increased air starvation and eventually panic.. Watch for overexertion when you see a diver swimming hard or doing anything strenuous underwater. Also look for more bubbles than usual..

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 5: Watson returns to police station to change his assessment of the current.
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BRAD FLYNN: In his first statement, they ask him, on a scale of one to 10, what was the current like? He says, "a five." He said, "if it would've been much stronger, I don't think a novice diver," implying Tina, "would've been able to handle it." Several days later, he shows back up at the police station.

MSNBC: He'd bought a book at the local aquarium, researching the prevailing currents, and he told the police he was now sure that they at least partly explained Tina's drowning.

WATSON: 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 black out or whatever, and sink.

BRAD FLYNN: He starts talking adamantly at how severe the current was.

INTERVIEWER: So he's researched the current?

BRAD FLYNN: Yeah. After the fact.
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WATSON: I told him like there’s no way I would’ve let any beginner do it I said I probably wouldn’t have done it.. There were just too many things that were present you know with that type of dive for a bad situation to occur and that you know, and I know it, what I think may not jive with what they come out with but I know in my head that’s what I think, you know, the current was the trigger.. what brought this up about the current was because ah, I don’t remember who it was, one of the people from Mike Ball said ‘conditions were near perfect’ or, um that may have been actually the quote ‘were near perfect … diving conditions... for the way diving is in Australia, that’s perfect conditions or near perfect, but I know at home it’s not... you know when we go out in the Gulf, most of the time there’s just there’s no current and I’ve gone on some down there where they’ve said there’s a pretty big current and it was you know not even a third you know as strong as that one was.

5.5 [Someone should investigate the currents where Watson dives.]

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 6: Dive computer beeps with battery in backwards. Issue is a device cannot work at all with a battery in backwards. If this were a deliberate deception, a potential reason would be to gain distance and time with other divers.
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WATSON: Started to go down just a couple of feet under the water, my computer beeped at me... I pulled the battery out, swapped it around, hooked it back up. I had my battery in backwards, so, you know, that problem was solved.
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WATSON: started to go down just a couple of feet under the water, my computer beeped at me um you know ‘gas alarm’ which is basically it’s not, means it’s not registering with the cylinder, either you know out of air, or it’s not working or whatever so you know motioned to her, we went back up um you know I told her my computer weren’t working, and I said well hang on a second and I went down you know a few more feet or a couple feet again just to see, cause normally with mine if it doesn’t register before you’re in the water, once your under a couple feet the pressure makes it kick in.. and it never did so, you know I went back up told her and we went back over to the boat.. I told him my computer wasn’t working right and ah you know headed back to the boat, ah and we got back to the, to the spoil sport ah..I asked him to, to find me some type of coin so um I could you know check my battery and um you know he got me a coin, I pulled the battery out swapped it around hooked it back up.. I knew you know that that the problem, er so I went back an I you know casually told Uzi ah said you know well ‘here’s your quarter’ and I you know ‘don’t tell anybody but I had my battery in backwards’ ah so you know that problem was solved.. the total time we were there was probably ten fifteen minutes ah and it, it didn’t seem like it was all that long..

6.1 [Watson is using a wireless computer that synchronizes with a transponder. The idea has been brought-up that perhaps there may have been a battery in the transponder that in backwards. However: 1) the police tested his equipment as he described the problem and it wouldn’t work at all; and 2) the computer recorded the short dive he described where his battery failed, so it was working.]
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WATSON: I got a few feet under I heard this ‘beep, beep’ but when I got up it quit, so I didn’t know if that was you know somebody else’s watch or whatever um so I went around the back of the boat we go on line and you know started to go but really before you know we got much more than snorkeling depth um well you know that’s not the term I guess but within a few feet is when my thing beeped and that’s when I you know tapped her you know we went back up..
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MSNBC: The Australian police tested that common-sense theory and, sure enough, with the batteries put in backwards in Gabe’s dive computer, the thing didn't work at all. There would have been no underwater "beeps" and that aborted dive wouldn't have been recorded at all. But it had recorded the first dive. It showed Gabe going down a few feet, then coming back up.

TOMMY THOMAS: Was this an attempt to put time and distance between yourself and the main body of divers?
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LAWRENCE: um, did you see any other divers around at that time, did you pass anyone out, didn’t pass anyone back?

WATSON: no, no I knew there was some behind us just.. because of Wade and them.. I don’t know how far behind us they were ah.. I don’t think there are any others because the groups were spread out a little bit.. I don’t think there was anybody um because there you know other, like I was saying other then you know me having to move over because you know her [Tina’s] bubbles.. [the question was about other divers in the area, not Tina]
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Source: http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2008/01/26/10135_news.html

[AMANDA PHILLIPS] Mrs Phillips said in the days leading up to the wedding the pair had run errands, including picking up a dive computer that needed checking before the couple's trip to Australia. She said she thought it was Tina's dive computer, but it turned out to be Gabe's; and that the man at the dive shop said the batteries were in backwards, and turned it on to show them it worked. "Back at the house ... Tina was razzing Gabe about it, as it was usually him giving her a hard time about being a ditzy blonde and doing things wrong, but this time it was him," Mrs Phillips said. "I remember Gabe then fiddled with the dive computer for a few minutes while we were getting the rest of Tina's dive gear together for him to pack."

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 7: Watson claims currents too strong, should have only been for advanced diver. However, they did get into the water, started to descend and aborted the first dive due to computer problem. Since he was in the water and got a feel for the conditions, why did Watson let Tina get in the water a second time?
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WATSON: we went back up um you know I told her my computer weren’t working.. headed back to the boat.. we headed back out um you know to the dive you know.. and I told Tina, I said lets go ahead and get the rope we’re going down..

WATSON: I didn’t know anything about the dive before we did..
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GEHRINGER: you know say like you know ask a person the question how drunk they think they are, some people you know when their staggering think their only a five on eleven or ten whereas other people at that stage think their a nine, so I think there’s um probably a a cross section of people with their opinions as to how strong the current was..

Mrs WATSON [Watson’s mother]: putting the lines out she said it was so strong as her body was vertical..

WATSON: yeah
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WATSON: ..that’s when the girl said well you know when we were setting up to dive ah you know as we were coming off the line hanging off the line it was blowing us out vertical from the current um you know I just remember thinking at that point you know that might’ve been nice to know at eight thirty this morning..

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 8: Watson chose to swim against the current with his wife in distress, rather than surface and signal the boat or swim with the current and go up the other line as was planned. He says visibility was an issue and he wasn’t sure where they would end-up as the reason for not swimming with the current to the other line. Divers tend to think of wrecks as the easiest dive for navigation because you follow the wreck and go up and down the anchor lines.

LAWRENCE: ok, and between you said that then you realised that you couldn’t surface and that’s why you were heading back to the anchor rope?

WATSON: yeah the, the well yeah the second, when she was sinking that’s when I, I thought you know something was going on ah so I just grabbed her and went..
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8.8 [However Watson said earlier that they started back against the current to the rope before Tina was sinking]

WATSON: I turned to look at her was about the same time as she was turning to me, kind of gave me a motion to thumb back towards the anchor rope, so we turned around and started swimming
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WATSON: oh our plan basically was to go down to the top of the wreck you know around the forty-five foot area and just swim along the top of it to the other shot line and then go up the line on the other side

WATSON: um and you know I knew I think from what they’d said and I knew I don’t know if I may jump the gun on this but the reason when the problems happened that we didn’t keep going with the current was cause we couldn’t see the other end ah if, and that was one of the things I was saying about the misconception about the visibility..
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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 and the visibility being you know either twenty-five, twenty thirty you know somewhere in there um cause otherwise we'd have been so far off you know that we wouldn't have known which way to swim

PHOTOGRAPH: Shows the 90 feet bottom is visible with Tina on it from a safety stop level 15-20 feet and an instructor who clearly sees Tina on the bottom. That is visibility of at least 70 feet.
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GEHRINGER: from a visual inspection when you were when you were down, did you observe any particular part of the wreck that you know you got to?

WATSON: no ah, when we first got down you know, I just remember seeing the hull so I know which side we were on, cause I wasn’t sure which way it was laying I just knew the set across the top and I just remember seeing the hull so I knew that we were on the hull side I, cause I remember when I came up that’s what I told them I said you know ‘we were down on the hull side’..

8.1 [if he could see the hull, he could see the wreck and could follow the wreck to the other anchor line]
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WASTON: Wade [dive master] came out, you know met everybody on the diving deck um you know to go over the conditions of the dive.. pretty much went over, you know some of the different safety things.. if you surface way out from the boat, how to signal them.. he said it would be easier swimming that way as opposed to starting at the back and going up current um and that was probably thirty or forty-five minutes, I mean it was a lengthy you know lengthy talk..

WATSON: ..basic what they basically said was that you know there's some current going through there and that you can just go down and just float along with the current um you know nothing that you know to me that wasn't like what I would've thought a leisurely float you know down a lazy river

 

[K_girl]

ISSUE 9: Watson stated that the current was very strong and that is what he felt started Tina’s panic. The following scenario gives Watson the most favorable numbers for the fastest current possible. Watson’s statement about low visibility being only 30 feet, but being able to see the anchor line they descended down, puts them within 30 feet of the anchor line. He later changes the visibility to 20 feet. The lowest figure Watson gave for the time before Tina’s problems began was 5 minutes, if you give two minutes for the descent before they let go of the line, that leaves 3 minutes that they were in the current. He says it only took him five to ten seconds for him to get back to the anchor rope. So Watson made the visibility and distance to the rope match in his statements, but it cannot match a description of a strong current. To travel 30 feet from the anchor line in 3 minutes, the rate of speed would have been only 10 feet per minute. This translates to 1/10th of a knot per hour rate. The reason Watson needs to lower the visibility is because he chose to swim against the current rather than with the current to the other line, was he could not see the other line. He is either lying about his location or lying about the current.

9.1 FACT: Light current (to 1 knot): The small fish are aligned, all facing up-current. If they are still in large, spread out schools, the current is around a half-knot. lf the schools are low and wide, swimming close to the coral, the current is closer to one knot. You are able to fin against this kind of current for a short time. Source: The current meter - how to assess accuratelly the rate of current
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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 and the visibility being you know either twenty-five, twenty thirty you know somewhere in there um cause otherwise we'd have been so far off you know that we wouldn't have known which way to swim..
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WATSON: oh the first and you’ll have to probably maybe look at the statement is some reason I remember telling you that we were like 30 yards off the anchor rope

GEHRINGER: yeah

WATSON: which is roughly 90 feet

GEHRINGER: yep

WATSON: and I know, I know that’s not accurate because the top of the ‘Yongala’ is at 45 feet

GEHRINGER: right

WATSON: which would’ve meant as soon as we hit the water we could see it and we couldn’t. The first visual contact we had with the ‘Yongala’ was around like the 20 25 foot range which means since to the best of my, you know, 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

GEHRINGER: ok

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 an that, you know I don’t know if I meant to say feet instead of yards or if it was just, all of it, but I know that was one of the things I thought of to say to you, ah you know that I couldn’t remember
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WATSON: like I was saying the visibility you know I, my guess is you know around twenty feet or so..
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LAWRENCE: can you remember how, have you any idea how long you'd been under water at that time?

WATSON: oh if I had, if I had to guess and I mean it's strictly a guess maybe five to seven minutes..
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WATSON: I, my guess is you know around twenty feet or so ah from the rope was when um you know we both realised you know this currents a lot stronger than what we feel comfortable diving in and um about the time I turned to look at her was about the same time as she was turning to me, kind of gave me a motion to thumb back towards the anchor rope, so we turned around and started swimming and ah she you know she wasn’t moving as quick as I was
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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
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SOURCE: ON THE RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUSTREN: Breaking News | Latest News | Current News - FOXNews.com

FLYNN: It was a group dive, there were a couple dozen people on the boat with them... there were many people around, but as one of the big red flags we had as far as where Mr. Watson says they were diving in relation to the other divers and where her body was found just wasn't adding up.