BIRMINGHAM - AL -
It was an emotional day in court for Gabe Watson, Wednesday, as the jury heard the details through his eyes of how Tina Thomas died.
"In my head, the current was the trigger," he said.
He blamed Tina's death on a rough current saying he and Tina were not trained well enough to handle it. He remembers trying to pull her to safety.
"I had her left hand in my right hand," he said. "I started swimming because at that point when I had her hand, I realized, you know, this is not a good situation. I could tell at that point she was scared. I could tell she was frightened. And that's when I realized something's going on."
He says while trying to pull her, Tina panicked.
"Her hand hit my mask and knocked my mask sideways...so I had to go," he said.
Watson says while he was losing air, he cleared his mask then tried to go back after Tina. He says she was sinking, looking up with both arms reaching out, but she was sinking too fast. Prosecutors showed the jury Tina's diving gear. Australian Police Det. Kevin Gehrington said his investigation showed the gear was not faulty and did not contribute to Tina's death.
Watson says he did everything he could to save her before returning to the surface to get help.
"I remember shouting through my regulator, 'Tina! Tina! Tina," he said.
Tina was later brought up by another diver where she was pronounced dead after 40 minutes of CPR.
The defense began cross examining Gehrington later Wednesday afternoon. Watson's lawyers tried to discredit him, asking if Watson seemed "confused" or "detached" at any time during questioning. Gehrington replied "no."
The trial will continue Thursday morning.
