Tina Watson was a year-old American woman from Helena, Alabama , who died while scuba diving in Queensland , Australia, on 22 October Tina had been on her honeymoon with her new husband, American Gabe Watson, who was initially charged by Queensland authorities with his wife's murder.
Watson pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. Evidence presented at the trial included Watson's differing accounts of what had happened on that day, of the couple's diving experience or lack thereof , and of Tina's life insurance.
While Watson was serving his term in Australia, authorities in Alabama flagged an intention to charge him with murder at a later date.
After his release, he was deported to Alabama on the condition that he would not be sentenced to death if found guilty of murder. Watson was then put on trial, but on 23 February , Judge Tommy Nail dismissed the murder case due to lack of evidence. They lived in Walker County , Alabama , with her younger sister before moving to Louisiana then Birmingham. Despite an earlier diagnosis of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia PSVT , Tina began diving lessons in January , and earned her certification just before her wedding to Watson on 11 October Watson had completed 55 dives by the time of their marriage, and Tina 5.
The couple had planned a scuba trip in the Great Barrier Reef for their honeymoon , [ 4 ] and flew to Sydney for a week before heading to Townsville. At around am on 22 October, during an excursion from the dive boat Spoilsport to the site of Yongala , Tina lost consciousness and sank to the bottom, 30 metres 98 ft below the water's surface within two minutes of beginning the dive. When Watson recovered his sight, Tina was sinking too quickly for him to retrieve her and he quickly surfaced to get help.
