she never reached the surface. what happened some 80 feet down? prosecutors called it murder. a wife lost in the deep. a husband becomes the accused. did that happen? absolutely not. now, hold your breath for the twist. were captivatequa blue waters of tortola. hello, and welcome erwato dateline. scuba diver shelley tyer and her husband david swain were captivated by the aqua waters of portola. but for one of them , the breathtaking views would come at a deadly cost. the tragic twist that would expose family secrets as dark as they come. here is dennis murphy with the last dive. for most of us who enjoy spending time in the water and an occasional swim, a dunk in the backyard pool will suffice. but for the more adventurous, only total immersion in the open ocean will do a ticket to paradise. you are down there with the fish, you look around, and it s amazing. the more you look, the more beautiful it gets. all of your senses are getting overloaded. david sw
over towards the wreath area to see if there is something there to see. but, according to the prosecutor, 5 to 10 minutes into the dive is exactly when shelley died. here s why, as laid out by experts. the prosecutor said that based on the amount of oxygen used from chile s air tank on the fateful last time, they estimated, she had taken her last breath at about eight minutes into the dive. meaning, after eight minutes underwater, she had drowned. the experts then said it, given swain s description of his dive, and eight minutes in, swain would have been right where shelley was, right when she was drowning. obviously, he was there, with her. further, it goes to tell you, when he swims away, according to him, looks back to see her, and she is fine, it cannot be true. why would he do it, the prosecutor asked? just take a snapshot of shelley and david s life before their vacation, he said. shelley had recently taken a new job, to spend more time with her husband, but, she had also
and swain himself chose not to appear in court. why didn t you take a civil suit? and what seems to outsiders, more seriously? it looks like you push this off it was a very serious event. in the civil world, he who has the most money, always, comes out on top. and not only did they have the most money, i had no lawyer. so, where was there a chance of me winning? at the end of the trial, david swain did make a surprise appearance. and, a last-ditch effort to defend himself. it s a grand story, but it s just not true. then, he called his sole witness. his daughter, jennifer, who described how her father showed genuine emotion when shelley was lost. he told us the story about shelley drowning. you are tearful. and angry. but, it wasn t enough. have we reached a verdict? we have. david was found responsible
to the criminal trial i thought, please, god, let someone find a way back to letting people know how wonderful she was. that special light of shelley tire, deeply missed by so many who knew her. was her husband, david swain, responsible for taking it from the world? or, was he an innocent man, whose private ways had made a tragic accident, only look like murder? a jury, in a courtroom, would soon decide. but, not before david himself took the stand, to answer questions from his island attorney. mr. swain, when you went on the dive was surely tire, on that 12th of march, of 1999, did you kill shelley tire? i did not, could not, would not dream of taking the rock of my life out of the world. no, i did not. did you, in any way, through the course of that dive,
this whole calamity to where we are today. back on the boat, swain radioed for help. the first to respond was keith roy. the scene on the caribbean soul was somber, shelley was laying in the cockpit. everybody obviously was very, very destroyed. back on island, shelley was pronounced dead. an autopsy was conducted at a local funeral home. the cause of death, drowning. the coroner ruled it an accident. swain was free to return to tortola, in return to his own island of jamestown, rhode island, to try to settle back into the routine he held for years, running his dive shop. but now, without his shelley. years later, though, he would return to tortola. this time, in handcuffs. coming up, call it an accident, could that jury have been deliberate? a dramatic reenactment, on tape of that day in the deep. we found out what we wanted