Nightmare Honeymoon Ends in Scuba-diving Murder in Australia
Written by Makungu Harrison for the HOMICIDE INC. Podcast
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to witness the murder of this woman by this man. This is the disturbing story of a newly-minted groom who took the words “Till death do us part” into his own hands.
On the 21st of October 2003, two happy newlyweds arrived in Townsville, Australia. Known for its postcard beaches, azure waters and proximity to the famous Great Barrier Reef, Townsville was the perfect destination for Tina and her new hubby Gabe. Gabe was an avid diver, even receiving certification as a rescue diver, and he was keen to get his new bride into the water to experience one of his most cherished pastimes.
Tina and Gabe had flown over to Australia after their nuptials in Birmingham, Alabama just eleven days earlier. The couple had met as students at the University of Alabama. Tina was engaged to someone else at the time, but Gabe had set his sights on her, and he would not take no for an answer. He asked her out over and over, but Tina would continue to remind him of the little issue that stood in their way: the ring on her finger. His persistence was either romantic or creepy, but either way, he eventually won her over. Tina and Gabe found themselves at the same New Year’s Eve party, and it seemed like the stars had finally aligned. Tina had just broken off her engagement and she was finally ready to jump back into the dating scene.
Tina was smitten. She told her adoptive father of the nice man she had met at university. She described Gabe as funny and a little weird, a bona fide gentle giant. The pair started dating and, soon enough, Gabe was asking Tina’s dad, Tommy Thomas, for her hand in marriage. Tina’s knack for getting a ring is only rivalled by Thanos himself. Tommy’s response to Gabe asking for Tina’s hand in marriage wasn’t necessarily a resounding “Yes”. Apparently, the Thomases didn’t really care for Gabe. But as we’ve seen, Gabe had trouble understanding the word “no” and so he proposed. And Tina said yes.
Tina and Gabe jumped feet first into wedding planning. For the couple, the honeymoon was almost as important as the wedding itself. Tina was excited to see the koala bears at the zoo and to visit the Sydney Opera House before they made their way to the Great Barrier Reef for their scuba trip. Sounds like a trip tailor made for Tina and Gabe, right? But when Tina’s parents heard of these plans, they were not happy. See, Tina had been diagnosed with a heart condition that caused an abnormal heart rhythm. Diving can be risky for all novice divers. Add the fact that she had a heart abnormality and her parents felt it was too big of a risk to take.
Ever the understanding and loving partner, Gabe considered the fact that his new wife would be in danger and decided to pressure her into diving anyway. According to him, he had to do all the things she liked to do so it was time for Tina to return the favour. Tina didn’t want to disappoint her soon-to-be husband so she assured her parents that everything would be fine. She started taking diving lessons and earned her diving certificate in time for the trip.
She just had one more thing to ask her dad.
Tommy was the beneficiary to the life insurance policy that Tina received from work. Gabe wanted Tina to increase the life insurance and to make Gabe the sole beneficiary. Now, let’s pause. How did he manage to convince her to go through with all of this? “Hey honey, let’s go on this trip that might be super risky for you but, before we go, please make me the beneficiary of your life insurance policy”. But Gabe must have had the gift of the gab because Tina bought it, hook, line, and sinker.
Tommy convinced his daughter to tell Gabe that she had sorted out the life insurance, even though she hadn’t. Tommy wanted to talk to Tina about it some more after she came back from her honeymoon. Tina agreed and this would turn out to be a very wise decision.
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The couple got married on the 11th of October 2003 and set off on their honeymoon shortly after. Ten days later, after exploring Sydney, Australia, the couple headed to Townsville where they boarded a motor vessel named the Spoilsport. The plan was to head to a shipwreck called Yongala, and dive down to it the next morning. At 9am on the 22nd, the diving company briefed all of the divers, and everyone started donning their equipment. Gabe and Tina had brought a lot of their own equipment, so the company only provided them with air tanks.
With all their equipment on, Gabe and Tina (accompanied by four other divers) headed deep into the belly of the ocean. It was just moments later that they resurfaced. Gabe had trouble with his diving computer, a device worn around the wrist like a watch. It checks things like depth, time, and oxygen levels. After messing with the batteries, he considered it fixed and the couple headed back into the water. Perhaps this was a clue, ominous and foreboding. A signal to not go back in, to reconsider, get back onto the boat and go get drunk on strong cocktails like a regular honeymooner.
Fatefully for Tina and Gabe, they headed back into the uncompromising ocean. They sunk deeper and deeper, further away from the all-seeing eyes of witnesses. According to Gabe, that is when everything started to go wrong. Gabe claims that Tina started to panic. They had been swimming against the current and her inexperience as a diver caught up with her. As she signalled that she wanted to head back to the surface, she reached for his oxygen mask and knocked it off of his face in the process. During the chaos of trying to get his mask back on, Gabe lost track of his wife. When he finally managed to get his bearings, he saw his wife sinking rapidly towards the ocean floor.
It was a normal day on the job for Wade Singleton, the dive leader of the Spoilsport. But all of that would change when one of the divers, Gabe Watson, burst through the ocean surface in a panic. He claimed that his wife was in trouble. She was quickly sinking to the bottom of the ocean. Wade used his years of experience and plunged into the water to try and rescue Tina. When he found Tina, she was laying face up on the ocean floor. He quickly worked to get her back to the boat and it took him all of 90 seconds.
Wade took Tina to a boat close to the Spoilsport and he and another crew member started performing CPR. At the same time, Gabe stayed on the Spoilsport. His fellow divers remember his strange behaviour as he watched the team work on his wife. He appeared to be mildly upset and he was asking people for hugs. There are few occasions where asking strangers for hugs is appropriate, not sure if this was one of them. Most people would be swimming over to the other boat, trying to make sure that their loved one is okay. Not Gabe though, he had to get those hugs in.
After 41 minutes of the crew trying what they could to resuscitate Tina, she was pronounced dead at 11:21. The beautiful young bride had lost her life trying to make her husband happy. She was known for having a passion for animals. She adored shopping and her favourite movie was Gone with the Wind. She was just your quintessential southern lady.
And now there she lay, ice cold after being pulled out of the ocean’s depth. Her blonde hair billowed around her, like a beautiful sea nymph that had drifted ashore, spat out by the sea gods.
Early the next morning, Gabe’s family got a call. It was Gabe, and the story he had to tell was truly tragic. He told them that his new wife had just drowned. He also asked them to call Tina’s parents and let them know what had happened. He just didn’t have it in him to deliver the bad news. Tommy received a call that no parent should ever receive. His little girl was dead. And he needed answers.
An autopsy was performed on Tina and the findings were a little curious. She had no bruises on her, other than those she had sustained from the diving crew performing CPR on her. She also had an air embolism. An air embolism is caused by air bubbles in an artery or vein. While scuba diving, an air embolism can occur if you hold your breath for too long or if you head to the surface too quickly.
Later, a coronial inquiry would be held. Australian authorities were suspicious of Gabe’s accounts of what happened versus the evidence they gathered from his dive computer. Prosecutors believed that what actually happened that fateful day was far from an accident. It was alleged that once under water, Gabe turned off Tina’s regulator. He then held her in a bear hug until she went unconscious from the lack of air. Once she was unconscious, prosecutors allege that Gabe turned her air supply back on and left her to drift slowly towards the ocean floor. That’s when he turned on his act and went to the surface to ask for help.
If this version of events is to be believed, then Gabe is more monster than man. It is either insanity or evil that would allow a man to hold his new wife in his arms, not for a loving embrace, but instead to watch her gasp for air as she struggles to cling to life. So, is Gabe insane? Or is he just pure evil?
Some of the other divers had witnessed some strange occurrences that day. Some saw Gabe give Tina a “bearhug” shortly before she started to sink. Another diver’s diving camera happened to capture Tina’s lifeless body laying on the ocean floor. The diving leaders had found it particularly odd that Gabe and Tina had refused to go on an orientation dive before taking on the tricky dive to the shipwreck. Tina was a beginner and the dive she and Gabe had chosen was far too advanced for her. An orientation dive might have saved her life. Lastly, before they entered the water, Gabe had insisted on adding weight to Tina’s equipment. Weights are typically used to help divers descend and do not usually cause drowning. Tina only needed about 8 pounds of weights but by the time Gabe was done, she had about 20 pounds of weight on her. Surely an experienced diver would know better than to give his wife too many weights.
Of course, let’s not forget the main sticking point in this whole tragedy. Gabe is an experienced diver. So experienced, in fact, that he has a certification in rescue diving. He could have saved Tina before returning to the surface. So, either he could save her, but chose not to or something prevented him from doing so.
Gabe’s behaviour after he came back from Australia certainly did not help people’s suspicions of him. Gabe was showing pictures from the trip after Tina’s funeral when one of Tina’s friends noticed one picture that gave her goosebumps. It was a picture of Tina next to a sign that read “Caution: Drowning”. Either it was a really unfortunate coincidence, or this man has a sick sense of humour.
Because our dear friend Gabe just cannot quit while he’s ahead, he was also caught using bolt cutters to remove flowers from Tina’s grave. How can you even explain that one, Gabe?
In 2008, Australian authorities believed they had enough evidence to convict Gabe for the murder of his wife. In the end, Gabe pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and received a four-year sentence. He only served 18 months.
Tina’s family thought this was a huge miscarriage of justice. Their daughter’s life was not worth just 18 months. American authorities agreed. In an unprecedented move, they decided to charge Gabe for Tina’s murder in America too. Double jeopardy did not apply since the charges were in two different countries. American prosecutors argued that, since it is believed that Gabe planned Tina’s murder while back home in the States, the American courts have jurisdiction to bring him to trial.
Well, Gabe is one slippery fella because the judge in that trial ruled that prosecutors did not have enough evidence to charge him with murder and good ol’ Gabe walked free.
So, where is he now? Gabe now lives in the States with his wife, Kim Lewis. He actually married her while facing charges for the murder of his first wife in Australia. I guess we can commend Kim’s ability to see the good in people. Even if they are accused of drowning their wives.
Kim, who looks eerily similar to Tina, met Gabe while they were in high school. No one knows if they were still in contact while he was with Tina in university, but if they were then that would explain a whole lot.
What do you think? Is Gabe just one unlucky dude? Did he kill for love? Or did he concoct this sinister plan to receive an insurance pay out? If he did it for the insurance, then that makes this case all the more tragic because he was not a beneficiary anyway. Tina’s life would have been taken in vain.
In any case, the unfathomable loss that Tina’s family have had to bear is truly tragic. They have to live with the fact that they will never have closure, never have the justice they feel is deserved. They have to suffer the pain of being the ones left behind.
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