Qld scuba dive murder trial to begin in US

13 Feb 2012, 1:16 pm   -   Source: AAP
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The eight-year mystery of what happened to American bride Tina Watson while scuba diving off the coast of Queensland may soon be solved in a US court.

The eight-year mystery of what happened to American bride Tina Watson while scuba diving off the coast of Queensland may soon be solved.

On Tuesday (AEDT), Tina's husband of just 11 days, Gabe Watson, will stand trial in a court in Birmingham, Alabama, for her murder.

"We are ready for trial," Don Valeska, head of the Alabama Attorney-General's violent crime unit and lead prosecutor on the Watson case, told AAP.

The trial will begin with Mr Valeska and Watson's three-man legal team of Brett Bloomston, Joe Basgier and Mike Hanle debating a number of motions before judge Tommy Nail.

They will then whittle down a jury pool of 70 to the 12 who will decide Watson's fate.

Two opposing theories have been floated in the lead-up to the trial, which could last up to a month.

Did Watson, as the prosecution has alleged, devise a despicable plan to marry Tina in their home state of Alabama, take her halfway around the world to Queensland for their honeymoon and murder her with an underwater bear hug to claim insurance money?

Or is Watson, as his defence team has argued, just a "bad dive buddy" who has already been punished by the Queensland court system after pleading guilty to Tina's manslaughter in a Brisbane court and being sentenced to 18 months' jail.

"It is a very distasteful situation when someone goes and takes responsibility for their actions in another country, serves his time and now he comes back to his home state facing nothing more than a lynch mob from the attorney-general's office," Mr Bloomston told US TV talkshow Good Morning America.

A large contingent of Australian witnesses have been flown in to Alabama to testify, including Queensland police, divers and crew members of the Spoilsport, the dive vessel that took the newlyweds to the Yolonga shipwreck, 40 nautical miles southeast of Townsville, on October 22, 2003.

Watson's 2009 manslaughter plea deal with Queensland prosecutors, in which he agreed he did not inflict intentional harm to his 26-year-old wife, outraged Tina's family and the then Alabama attorney-general Troy King.

A Birmingham grand jury charged Watson in October 2010 with murder for pecuniary gain and kidnapping.

If convicted, Watson, 34, faces life in prison.

"This is not about me," Tina's father, Tommy Thomas, said after the grand jury decision.

"This is about my daughter Tina and the fact we wanted to, from the very beginning, just know the truth about what happened to her and get justice for whatever reason may have caused her death."

The truth, after more twist and turns than a Hollywood thriller, will be decided by 12 anonymous jurors.

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