Honeymoon Murder?

[Graeme]

Making Australian (the fattest nation in the world) news this evening...



At right, in the background, is the faint outline of Christina Mae Watson's body. Going to the 'rescue' at left, in the distance, is a diving instructor. In the foreground is an unidentified diver.



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[timshatz]

WTF? That's pretty sick, if true.

Do they have capital punishment in Australia?

 

[Wayne Little]

Sounds like he did it to me...Pr*ck!

 

[Screaming Eagle]

WTF? That's pretty sick, if true.

Do they have capital punishment in Australia?

Agree with wayne, does sound like he did it.

and no tim, Australia no longer has capital punishment anymore.

 

[Freebird]

no capital punishment anymore....

That's right, the really bad criminals are transported to the penal colony in Australia!

Hmm I guess that's not such a severe punishment anymore....

 

[Henk]

Sick freak.

Hanging is still the best way of killing someone. Why waste money on them by keeping them in prison? Kill them and make it easier for everyone else.

 

[Graeme]

Trial to begin soon.



Accused scuba killer returns to face trial - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A US man accused of murdering his wife while on honeymoon in north Queensland nearly six years ago has been arrested in Brisbane.

David Gabriel Watson was arrested by police on arrival at the Brisbane International Airport just after 5am AEST.

He has returned voluntarily to Queensland to face trial for the murder of his 26-year-old wife Christina 'Tina' Watson.

It is alleged he killed Ms Watson while they were scuba diving off Townsville in North Queensland during their honeymoon in October 2003.

State prosecutors filed a murder indictment against him late last year.

Watson is in police custody and is due to appear in the Brisbane Supreme Court today.

Tina Watson's father Tom Thomas says he was surprised when he was contacted by Australian authorities early this morning.

"The news came as a total shock to us. I just learned of this in the last couple of hours and we weren't expecting it," he said.

"We had no indication that this was going to happen so it's been a total shock at this point."

 

[RabidAlien]

If he knew he was guilty, why would he go back? Doesn't make sense...

 

[Von Frag]

They did a story about this on 20/20 not too long ago. The evidence does not support his story.

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Christ, if true, that POS better get the maximum sentence. Shame Austrailia doesn't have capital punishment. Any chance of extraditing him to US, since he is a American Citizen?

 

[Ferdinand Foch]

Christ, if true, that POS better get the maximum sentence. Shame Austrailia doesn't have capital punishment. Any chance of extraditing him to US, since he is a American Citizen?

That or send him someplace in Africa. The worst of American jails cannot compare to the worst (or best) of jails in Africa. That would be justice to me. If the warlords don't kill him, the AIDS sure wil (no offense to any members from Africa on this forum).

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

A pair of concrete shoes and the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean. Sound like a good punishment to anyone else?

 

[gumbyk]

If he knew he was guilty, why would he go back? Doesn't make sense...

Because not going back would make him appear as if he had something to hide.

Also, I would think he would have been extradited from the US pretty easily.

 

[drgondog]

buddy breathing is one of the first things you learn in any dive school. His story does not hold wate r.

 

[Maestro]

If he knew he was guilty, why would he go back? Doesn't make sense...

I don't know much about US laws, but if I'm not mistaking...

1 - Alabama (where the couple is from) still has capital punishment
2 - If a crime "cross a state border" (i.e. a man from New York commit a crime in New-Jersey), the crime is automatically considered as a federal crime. And the US federal gouvernment still has capital punishment.

However, what I don't know is if an American who kills an other American in a foreign country can be judged in the USA. If so, may be it was just a "smart move" to escape the electric chair.

 

[timshatz]

I don't know much about US laws, but if I'm not mistaking...

1 - Alabama (where the couple is from) still has capital punishment
2 - If a crime "cross a state border" (i.e. a man from New York commit a crime in New-Jersey), the crime is automatically considered as a federal crime. And the US federal gouvernment still has capital punishment.

However, what I don't know is if an American who kills an other American in a foreign country can be judged in the USA. If so, may be it was just a "smart move" to escape the electric chair.

I think it's a jurisdictional thing. He probably has charges brought against him in Australia. After that, it is a matter of extradition. Can't imagine any judge in the US is going to keep him in the states. No reason to do it. Only reason he would be tried in the US is if the country that wanted him was a totalitarian state and the act he committed was so henous it could not be ignored by the US authorities (international incident).

I don't think he's done anything illegal in US. He left the US with his wife and then didn't come back with her. That's pretty much that.

But it's better (for him anyway) he gets tried in Australia. If they did it in Alabama, he would most likely end up meeting "Old Sparky".

 

[Butters]

I've been a scuba diver for 30 yrs, and this guy's story is a complete load. I went to some of the links -this took place at 15 m (approx 50 ft0 and the guy took 2 min 30 secs to ascend. One minute would be plenty safe at that depth...Plus, it shows that he had air at the time.

If his bride was panicked or unconscious, all he had to do is dump her weights or pull the emergency CO2 inflater on her BCD. Either would have taken her straight to the surface without his assistance. In a case like that, you take the chance of an embolism over letting her drown. He's supposed to be a trained rescue diver, fer crissakes!

All I know is that there is no way that I would slowly ascend while watching MY wife sink to the bottom. That guy is one cold-blooded a-hole.

JL

 

[Butters]

The a-hole this thread is about has pled guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 4 yrs. He could be eligible for parole in as little as 18 months.

And I thought that the Canadian justice system was a joke...

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Scuba man jailed for wife's death

JL

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Who knows, maybe somebody will shank him when a guard's not looking.

 

[sabrina]

4 1/2years??!! They said that the guy asked his new wife to maximize her life insurance shortly before the honeymoon and now he's pled guilty...and he gets 4 1/2 years?