Alabama Prosecutors File Murder and Kidnapping Charges Against Gabe Watson

Gabe Watson, dubbed the "honeymoon killer" in the tabloid press, has been extradited from Australia where he served an eighteen month sentence for manslaughter in connection with the drowning death of his wife. Watson now faces murder and kidnapping charges and a possible life sentence in Alabama in a seven year old case which will be hard for the prosecution team to prove. Watson claims his wife's death was an accident and that he didn't know what to do when her air supply failed.

Tina Watson drowned while scuba diving with her new husband off Australia's Barrier Reef. Gabe Watson's claim is that something happened to his wife's breathing apparatus; she panicked and consequently drowned. Investigating authorities developed another version of events.

Australian police speculate that Tina Watson's death was the result of her husband cutting off the air from Tina's oxygen tanks, causing his wife to drown. Investigators point to disparities in the divergent statements Watson made to them regarding the circumstances of Tina's death.

There is photographic evidence, too, but this is also circumstantial and subject to interpretation. Another scuba diver was taking photos nearby and captured Gabe Watson and his wife in one photo. In the well-publicized photo, Gabe Watson is depicted swimming away while the lifeless body of his wife rests on the bottom. Another witness testified he observed that Gabe Watson held his wife in a "bear hug" before she died.

Gabe Watson's statement of events is contradicted by examination of Tina Watson's dive equipment. When she was pulled to the surface, Tina Watson's oxygen tanks were full, her mouthpiece was in her mouth, and her equipment was found fully functional.

Gabe Watson pleaded guilty to the negligent manslaughter charge when suspicious Australian authorities felt they could not prove murder charges in a largely circumstantial case. Australian authorities felt Mr. Watson could have done more to save his wife's life if that was his intent, but they could not find solid evidence to support a murder charge.

Watson had been certified as a rescue qualified scuba diver. Even without that certification, veteran divers say that "buddy breathing" is the most basic sort of procedure taught even to novice scuba divers. "Buddy breathing" refers to the practice of sharing breathing regulators while floating to the surface. Expert divers also say that Gabe Watson might also have inflated Tina's "buoyancy compensation vest" and brought her to the surface.

Mr. Watson married his wife, Tina Watson, in October of 2003 in the state of Alabama. The couple went on honeymoon to Australia where they went on the scuba diving expedition that led to Tina Watson's death eleven days after the marriage.

In convicted, Gabe Watson faces life in jail because Australia doesn't have a death penalty. One of the conditions imposed by Australia on Watson's extradition to the U.S. was that the U.S. should take the death penalty off the table for any conviction that might result.

Alabama authorities investigating the case believe Watson planned to murder his wife before he married her. They believe that the Australian honeymoon was part of Watson's plan to murder his wife and collect insurance payments. Prior to her death, Watson had asked his wife to maximize her insurance policies and make him the beneficiary so that benefits and payments would accrue to him in the event of her death.

Watson's lawyers say the prosecution theory of a money motive is weak. Tina Watson's insurance policies amounted to $200,000, a paltry sum according to the lawyers, and not reason enough to commit murder. Also undermining the prosecution case was the fact that Watson dropped his claims against the insurance company when he realized such claims could be used as evidence of motive to murder.