A photo taken underwater revealed something terrifying in the background which ended up leading to a murder trial.
The photo was taken in 2003 and was shown in court during the trial of Gabe Watson, who was accused of killing his new bride, Tina Watson, on their honeymoon just 11 days after tying the knot.
Watson was part of a trial that aimed to discover what happened to Tina, 26, as she’d went missing while the couple were scuba diving from the dive boat ‘Spoilsport’ in Queensland, Australia.
The American couple had planned to dive down the anchor line of their ship during their honeymoon, with the aim of exploring a ship wreck and going up another anchor line to return them to the surface.
Gabe and Tina Watson were only married for 11 days. (ABC News Australia)
However, a strong current caused them to drift off course, with the photo accidentally taken by a fellow diver revealing Tina’s lifeless body laying on the seabed floor.
According to The Mirror, Gabe reportedly broke down in court when he was shown the photo, as he explained: “As soon as we let go, we were moving, moving quite a bit… it was definitely not what I was expecting, and neither was Tina.”
He claimed in a 2012 interview with Elizabeth Vargas that they couldn’t swim against the current to get back, and that he’d told his wife to fill up her buoyancy compensator so that they could float back up, but he revealed that it didn’t work as ‘nothing happened’ from the inflater hose.
“That was when I realised, you know, We’re — This isn’t good. We’re in trouble. So I reached out and grabbed a hold of the b.c. strap right there.” he claimed. “And I just pulled her in, and then I turned and started heading back to the anchor rope.”
Tina’s body can be seen in the background. (ABC News Australia)
Then disaster struck as he said that on their ascent, he felt a ‘whack’ across the face from Tina, displacing his mask, and as he let go to readjust it, he looked back to see his wife 10 feet down and continuing to sink, as reported by ABC News.
“She was face up, and she had her arms up. She was reaching out for me to grab ahold of her,” Watson said.
“I kinda just turned on my head and gave a few kicks down to see if I could grab her, and she was still out of arm’s reach. And that I just decided I got to go find somebody.”
He then swam to the surface, later admitting: “I don’t think I was making rational choices at that point. I don’t know what I would have done had I stayed with her. I don’t know that there’s anything that I was actually capable of doing.”
He said he then called for help, with a dive master going down to find Tina and bring her up, after which several crew members and passengers made numerous attempts at resuscitating her for 40 minutes.
Watson later plead of negligent manslaughter in relation to Tina’s death (10 News)
After initially being charged for murder by Australian authorities, Watson was later plead guilty to the charge of negligent manslaughter, and he served 18 months in an Australian prison for a four and a half year sentence, ABC News reported at the time.
A murder retrial in Alabama was thrown out by a judge in 2012 due to a ‘lack of evidence’ to convict him.
According to The Guardian, Judge Tommy Nail acquitted Watson on his own, agreeing with defence that prosecutors had failed to prove that he had allegedly planned to kill his wife for insurance money.
Following an interview with Australian police, Gabe had become a suspect in Tina’s death, however, while some passengers had thought that his story didn’t add up, diving medical expert Dr Carl Edmonds said that ‘it all fits together … as a very common drowning accident’.Feaured Image Credit: ABC 7 News Australia
A case that had people gripped two decades ago is now back at the forefront as a new documentary sits in the top 10 shows on Netflix.
American Murder: Laci Peterson looks at the tale of convicted murderer Scott Peterson and his horrific crimes. Making for an uncomfortable viewing, the true crime doc outlines the disappearance of the expectant mum and features interviews with those close to the Petersons.
One of the people featured is Amber Frey, who was unknowingly Scott’s mistress and went on to help the police with the investigation.
In the Netflix documentary, the now 49-year-old speaks out for the first time in a filmed video interview.
Scott was having an affair with the woman in the six weeks leading up to the murder in 2002, when Laci was reported missing on 24 December. She was eight-months pregnant with the couple’s first child.
And four months later, her body washed up on the shores of Brooks Island with her unborn son found a mile away the day before.
Scott was convicted in 2004 and sentenced to death before later being resentenced to life in prison without parole – he has always denied the murder.
Scott lied to Frey about his wife. (Netflix)
And Frey explained he initially ‘lied about being married’.
She said: “He said he had ‘lost’ his wife and this would be the first holidays without her. I remember just comforting him.
“With all his emotions, I thought ‘I don’t want to pry, he will share what he feels comfortable with’. He was sorry he had lied to me and hoped that it hadn’t changed anything.”
However, turns out the day he told Frey he’s ‘lost his wife’ was the same day Scott bought the boat he went on to use to dump her body into the water.
But with his girlfriend carrying on the relationship, she didn’t realise the red flags until late December when her pal sent her a newspaper snipping of missing Laci along with a description of her husband.
He was convicted of the murders. (Netflix)
Frey explained she was ‘in disbelief’ as it was ‘terrifying’ to think she was getting to know a man who was involved in his wife’s disappearance.
So, on 30 December, she rang the police ‘eager to tell them everything she knew’.
She showed them images which proved he was living a double life and promised the cops she wouldn’t tell Scott she’d spoken to them.
Frey was then able to record their conversations as evidence with the Netflix show featuring their phone calls.
Eventually, she confronted the convicted killer on the phone who teared up as he said: “Sweetie, you think I had something to do with her disappearance?
“I am not evil like that.”
