Tina and Gabe Watson - Part 1

0:00 Hi, I'm Tina and I'm Rich. And if there's one thing we've learned in over twenty years of marriage, it's that some days you'll feel like killing your wife, and some days you'll feel like killing your husband. Welcome to love, Mary Kill, Hey Rich, Hey Tina. How are you. I'm a little sleepy. How are you. I'm a little sleepy too. Are you not a surprise? Huh? You seem to have been sleeping pretty well last night? Oh and you didn't. Well, there were many disturbances really. So we have two cats, as everyone knows, Cosmo and Clover love them very much. And Clover so Cosmos like kind of like a fat cat who's kind of like a Garfield type, and Clover's like young. Well they're both the same age, but she's more spry and why she loves to play. She'll play all day. Got her new toy because she wasn't playing very much. Yeah, and she's so needs like she was just like, I'm tired of all of these things. So I got a couple of new toys catscus they're they're pretty spoiled, yea. And she woke me up to play with her in the middle of the night and we sleep in the same bed, you and I, and you didn't seem to wake up. I do not remember that. It was just like she comes in a room, she starts to I'm like, no, I'm not going to play with you

1:32 right now. So it's just really sweet that she really loves, loves, loves loves her new toy. She's very good at letting you know what she wants to. She's really she's very smart. She's so cute. But I was gonna just say the name of the toy. It's Emmy O h u. I and you think it's I think it's yeah, kind of a cute take on how to. But it's like this dangy toys, Like it's like a fishing pole. Looks like a fishing pole. Yeah, and it seems pretty star. He hasn't broken yet, and she's been pretty aggressive with it, and it has like these little dangly feathers and other little Anyway, no one wants to hear this, but she just really loves it. Cames with two and it was only ten ninety nine, so it's a great toy.

2:12 See how long she stays interested in it, you never know. I'm kind of it like I was tired of all her old toys, so it's a fun one. Anyway, I'm sorry she woke you up. Oh it wasn't just that though, So she like it was both cats and then the boycat like he gets mad if she gets in bed, like she'll sit at the end of the bed where he just wants to, like sit on my face. Fell pet him all night, yeah, because that's how much I love him, Like I'll sacrifice my sleep. So I'm like, oh, he needs he needs me at him. He doesn't sleep with this every night. But anyway, he was like she was in the bed, and I think he was like, oh no, we're yeah, and I think he was like then an alert and he was like, I'm going to scare her away, so then he anyway, I wasn't aware any of this was going We have an alarm system, an alarm system, and they're allowed because it's an alarm system. It's supposed to wake you up. And it went off, and I was scared because it doesn't It wasn't it wasn't armed, yeah, but it just went off and so I didn't really know what it was.

3:16 It was like one of the rare times that I actually fell asleep for five minutes, and then I didn't know what it was. And I've over twenty years of marriage, I don't know if I've ever woken you up in the middle of the night for almost anything, right, I mean that's I don't wake you up like I probably have, but I just don't recall. So I like wake you up, and I'm like, honey, I'm like, what is that noise? You literally and it's an alarm again going off. Quite Look, you literally rolled over and went back to sleep. Not like, oh, let me protect my wife and children and cats. No, you literally rolled over and went back to I have a vague of just a very vague recollection. Oh my gosh. I was kind of stunned. I was like, Okay, don't worry, I'll take care of it. So then I like, it took me a few minutes and then I figured it out and I turned it off. But I'm glad there wasn't. Initially I was like, what is that noise? Because it doesn't normally go off especially yet three am. Oh, I'm glad there wasn't an intruder. Yeah, me too. Well, you would have been safe because I would have had to have taken care of it. Well, A good job taking care of stuff. All right. Well, I did bring you a snack. I liked you. Told you I didn't, but I brought you a second.

4:25 You're gonna be really exciting, sneaky, I know, I am. Okay, hold on, hold on, I'm gonna feel it here in just a second. Under the table, he's gonna I think he's gonna gasp when he sees this boy. I can't wait. Maybe he won't. I don't know. Yeah, there you go. Cookie. You made cookie? I made cookie. Well, I didn't mate cookies. I made these cookies. I posted them on Instagram, I think because I was they were so good over a month ago, and I saved a couple or a podcast. They are from Mel's Kitchen Cafe who mel is one of my favorite blog recipe sites to go or Instagram people to follow. And they're from their knockoff cookies from the I think I'm gonna say, I hope I'm saying this right, the Lavan Bakery, which is well known in New York for their like colossal yes cookies.

5:15 Wow, Well, let's take a quick break. Hold on, let me just say they're they're called big Fat, Double Dark chocolate cookies, and I think I made them smaller than what males suggested, and they're they're they're pretty big. Yeah, right, do you want to take a break to test? Let's do that. Okay. Twenty two minutes later, I was so good I had to eat the whole thing. I know. I was like, are you almost do you don't have to eat the whole note it was kind of big and chewy and just oh man, it's so chocolate e. They're really they're really good. I highly recommend I say that every freaking time they made cookies. But they're so good. Yeah, you rarely make a bad cookie when I've said this a lot of times. But we are trying to reduce our sugar and takes. I think when we do eat a cookie now we're just like, this is the best condemn thing I've ever put in my mouth. I was gonna say that, yeah, because I think I haven't eaten a lot of sugar lace. It is the benefit, honestly, of eating less sugar, because when you do eat it, some people are like, oh, it's too sweet, I don't like it, but I'm still like, no, I love it. It tastes even better when you just eat one cookie a week or whatever it is. Yes, excellent, thank you, you're you're quite welcome. So I lied. We lied last week when we recorded, we said, oh, we're probably going to be on vacation this week. I had the timing off. We're actually on vacation right now. Yeah, you're right, we are going to be on vacation when people are listening to this episode. Yeah, that's good. I'm looking forward to it. I mean, it's it's it's a lot shorter than

6:46 we would like. Yeah, but it was our babies are going with us, not the cats. And yeah, I'm very much conferred to spending some time too. And I bet our listeners, if you've been listening for a while, you know where we're going. You don't. Maybe I don't know. Just we're going to Traverse City or home away from home. Well, I'm going to tell you a story today about Tina and Gabe Watson. Spoiler alert, You're gonna hate Gabe Watson. Okay, you're really gonna You're not gonna like him very much at all. I pare myself to hate him. This case is also called like the Honeymoon Killer, So I guess that tells you all you need to know, I guess so, And this is going to be a two parter, right. This might be my longest case to date by by just like a couple one hundred words. But it's long, and uh I kind of had to rush it a little bit at the end.

7:45 So yeah, just hang in there with me. Buckle up, everyone, Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna start by telling you about the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is the biggest coral reef system and our planet, and is one of the seven Natural wonder of the World. Composed of over nine hundred islands and over three thousand reefs, the Great Barrier Reef is over one hundred thirty five thousand square miles and is a vast and delicate ecosystem of its own. The best time of a year to explore the reef is in the dry months of Australia May to October, when the waters are warmer and clearer and stingers are less active. The best diving on the reef is the wreck of the S. S. Youngala, a deep dive as deep as thirty meters in some places that requires advanced certification. The waters are generally too warm for great white sharks, so the dive is generally safe. Preservation of the reefs is of utmost importance. Many factors threaten the reef's existence, among them tourism, over fishing, the crown of Thorne's starfish, pollution, ocean acidification, and warming waters due to climate change. The crown of Thorne's starfish is one of the largest starfish and it actually eats the coral. The reef is susceptible to bleaching, which is exactly what it sounds like. Coral reefs have a symbiotic relationship with a microscopic algae called zooxanthelli, which produced the vibrant colors of the reef. When the coral becomes stressed by various factors, it expels the lgae and the reef loses its color, turning white looking bleached.

9:20 Lower tides, pollution and too much sunlight also can cause bleaching. Up to seventy five percent of corals have experience experienced bleaching. The most important factor in reducing bleaching is to address climate change. The good news is that coral can heal itself, but it takes quite a long time. Anyway, I always learned something new when you do your episodes. I appreciate that. I hope other will do too. I am very naturally am a pretty curious person, so I always I love hearing about little tidbits like that related to the case. Well, thank you, all right, here we go. Christina May Thomas, known as Tina, was born on February thirteenth, nineteen seventy seven, in lun Stall, Germany. Kind of, I'm just going to tell a quick story, like I am known as Tina. I was going to ask you that or my name this is this is such a silly thing.

10:13 But my name was supposed to be Christina, but it's not. It's not. My name is Tina, Tina Marie on your birth certificate. On my birth certificate, it's Tina Marie. And the story is that my mom was, you know, drugged up, passed out, and they asked my dad what my name was and he said Tina, not Christina as he was supposed to and my no one ever changed it on my birth ortain. Like, I don't really I think there's some holes in that story. Maybe, but it's probably pretty uncommon for people to have the actual first name of Tina. You think it's uncommon. Yeah, I mean, I think most Tina's are Christina. Maybe I've always kind of wanted to change it because I actually don't like the name Tina. But anyway. Her mother, Mary Cynthia Waddell Ivy Burge Thomas or Cindy, married Jerry Ivy when she was seventeen and still in high school. Their marriage didn't last long. She married her second husband, Don Burge when she was nineteen. Cindy and Dodd lived in Germany, where he served in the Army. Tina was born there, but they returned to Midland, Texas when she was about one. Cindy and Don divorced in June of nineteen seventy eight, and Cindy soon met William Edwin Thomas the Third or Tommy, who was serving in the Air Force at the time. Tommy and Cindy married and moved to Alabama, where Tommy's family was from. Well, the third time was the charm. I'm happy to report Tommy and Cindy

11:43 were very happy together. In nineteen eighty, Tommy adopted three year old Tina and her last name was changed to Thomas. Tina's sister, Alanda, was also born that year. The sisters were best friends from the start, but her parents noticed that Tina never matched the energy of Alanda or or other children. Although she was known for her sweet disposition and dimpled smile, she tired easily. Around the age of five, Tina was diagnosed with a heart condition called paroxysmal superventricular tachycardia or PSVT. That doesn't sound good. Can you tell me how good I did pronouncing that? Because that was I have no idea, but it sounded good to me. PSVT can cause fainting, heart palpitations, rapid pulse, and convulsions. The doctor insisted Tina's case was minor and prescribed her medication to stop the heart palpitations. The condition didn't really affect her daily life, but she was never very active or athletic. Tommy's outgoing personality made him a natural salesman. After leaving the military, he began selling insurance.

12:48 The Thomas family frequently moved through the South. As he was promoted. In nineteen ninety one, they moved to Mandeville, Louisiana, where Tina met Amanda Lorenz, who would become her lifelong best friend. They were inseparable and even worked together as models for J c. Penny after school. Tina was a bit of a Southern bell. She embraced her femininity and enjoyed doing her hair and makeup, and she loved fashion. She also loved Gone with the Wind, both the book and the movie. In her bedroom, she had a framed poster from the movie, a life sized cardboard cutout of Scarlett O'Hara, and a scarlet barbie that she never took out of the box. She was a romantic at heart and waiting for her rut butler, but romance eluded her while her sister and friends had many suitors. She graduated from Mandeville High School in nineteen ninety five, then enrolled in Southeastern Louisiana State University, majoring in mass communications. Tina continued modeling part time and began working as a pharmacy technician. Tommy and Cindy moved back to Alabama to a small town called Helena near Birmingham while Tina remained studying at s LSU. She missed her family and eventually moved to Alabama with her parents, where she transferred to the University of Alabama. At Birmingham, she joined a sorority and she was very active the sorority was Alpha Omicron Pie. In nineteen ninety nine, Alanda, aged nineteen, got married. Tina was her maid of honor, and in two thousand

14:18 and one Amanda got married. Tina was dating a man named Stan who was ten years older at the time, but she knew he wasn't the one. So Tina, I guess at this time, was starting to feel a little bit like an old maid, even though she was still very young. A lot of people in the South, you know, get married a little younger, and she was just a little I think she was a little frustrated with her dating life. Right in August two thousand and one, when she was twenty four, Tina had a procedure to correct the PSVT she had been suffering from since she was a child. The procedure was a success, and Tina finally had more energy and was ready to take on the world world with more vigor and determination. That's cool. Yeah, that was great her. And you know, I say, like, she wasn't athletic, but she was a very vibrant. She was of a room lighter upper people. She had a really great personality. People really adored her. Where Gabe, who I'm about to tell you about was not a room lighter upper. David Gabriel Watson, known as Gabe, is the oldest of three brothers. He is named after his father, David. He grew up playing football, basketball, and baseball with three athletic sons, David and Glenda, Gabe's mom were a busy, sporty family. David coached his son's teams when he could, and Glenda was their cheerleader. They were an active family with endless sporting events, camping trips, and volunteering at their church. They owned a cottage on a lake that they went to as much as they could. Gabe graduated from high school in nineteen ninety five, then attended nearby University of Alabama at Birmingham. It took him seven years to finish his undergraduate degree because he worked at the family

15:52 business packing materials on supply in Birmingham while attending college. Gabe is the only son who were of the family business. He was actually a huge asset to the company and helped modernize and stream streamline the business. As a kid, Gabe had always loved being in the water, frequently snorkeling at his family's cottage. As a teenager, he fell in love with scuba diving. His dream was to someday visit Australia and dive of the Great Barrier Reef. He was a Level four diver under the PADI or Patty Professional Association of Diving Instructors. He was trained how to identify stress divers and help them reach the water surface.

16:33 Gabe planned to continue his dive training and even considered a career as a commercial diver. Are you with me so far? I am okay? Tina met Gabe in a communications class at the University of Alabama. Tina was still dating Stan and wasn't really interested at Gabe. Gabe, however, was very interested. There are rumors that Gabe stalked Tina like online, like on different forums. I found this, but I not corroborate it, so it's possible that he stalked her. Yeah, they were friendly and hung out sometimes in group settings. He bought her a Christmas gift, a red Kate Spade spadebag that she'd had her eye on. Red was her favorite color, so allegedly, stand her boyfriend at the time, went to New York on a trip and she was like, Hey, I really want this red Kate spadebag.

17:23 And stand failed to get it for I think she must have told the story to Gabe and Gabe was like, hmmm, ah, he saw his inn. Yeah. Her relationship with Stan had been fiddling out for months, so she broke it off with him and began dating Gabe. Their first kiss was on New Year's Eve. Tina was reluctant to bring Gabe around her parents. She had loved her close knit family, but sometimes they were overbearing and two opinionated, especially when it came to her love life. When they finally met him in May, Gabe didn't make the best first impression. He was reticent, reserved, and moody. Tommy was disappointed. He liked to be friendly and roast the people that Tina dated. Tommy tried to keep his feelings to himself, but he and Cindy noticed the Gabe was gone a lot on the weekends, on fishing trips with the guys or at his parents' cabin. Tina was left behind often. Sometimes she went to the Watson's cabins, but outdoor activities just weren't her thing. But she really did love Gabe's family. The Thomas could feel her slipping away. They saw her rarely since she'd been dating Gabe. She was always at his place. One night, Tina and Alanda were out for pizza. When Gabe showed up. He was quiet and grumpy, making Alanda uncomfortable. She and Tina tried to have a conversation, but his presence had shifted the mood. When the pizza came, Sorry I shouldn't laugh, Gabe picked up a piece and threw it at Tina. I just laughed because they imagined like that happened. I'd be like, what is your problem? It's insane, I know. Shocked. Alanda didn't know what to

18:56 do, so she left the restaurant. I'm pretty sure that happened to my sister. I'd be like, I pump him, girl. I know. I think I would have been like, you apologize to my sister right now. He Gabe certainly wasn't winning any points with the Thomas family. In January two thousand and three, Tina, then twenty five, decided to take scuba diving lessons. Her parents thought it was a bad idea. Tina had never been athletic and was generally risk averse. Diving also is a really expensive sport. A basic set of scuba gear will set you back about two thousand dollars and certification cost about a thousand dollars. But Tina wanted to learn so she and Gabe could dive together. She was no longer de tiered by a heart condition and she wanted to try new things. Tina was excited when classes began, but things didn't go as planned. She tried to like diving, but it made her anxious, and to make matters worse, she suffered a couple of lung infections. During her first certification test, Tina had a panic attack and needed to be rescued. Her structor cautioned her that diving wasn't for everyone and it was okay if she didn't want to continue, but she told him Gabe would kill her if she didn't get her certification, so she soldiered on.

20:11 Her instructor later said that she was the most nervous, panicky student he'd ever had. I really loved the idea of scuba diving, but I think I would be terrified. I'm the same. The idea of it sounds so cool, like being in this other world and seeing all these cool and beautiful things under the water. But man, I just would I think I would panic would, I would definitely panic. And I think something that people might not know until your underwater is it soundless? And I think that would freak me out, like one of your senses is pretty much completely gone. Right, So a new tension erupted in Tina's relationship with her parents. She started seeing a therapist to work her way through the problems with her family, and she ended up moving into her own apartment. Up until this point, she had lived with her parents. Okay, and what how old was she at this point? I think she's about twenty five. Several months into dating Tina, Gabe purchased an engagement ring. He placed the small box on top of his entertainment center. He was taunting her. Tina knew it was there and was anxious that Gabe hadn't yet proposed. When they had a disagreement, Gabe would tell her he was going to take the ring back to the store.

21:19 Months literally passed and Tina was on pins and needles waiting for a proposal. She thought that maybe he was waiting for a holiday, but one by one they passed Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, her birthday, even Valentine's Day and still no ring. Gabe knew that Tina wanted him to ask her father for his approval. When the time came, finally, Tommy received the call from Gabe he was expecting. Tommy told Gabe that he'd preferred to meet in person. They met at the coffee shop of a Books a Million store on February fifteenth, two thousand and three, and had an awkward conversation. Tommy just couldn't shake the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach whenever he was in Gabe's presence. When he asked Gabe if he loved Tina, he didn't give a direct answer. The question seemed to make him uncomfortable. As he drove away, Tommy realized he had never given Gabe his consent, a decision that must must have given him solace in the years to come. This might be an unpopular opinion, but in the year twenty twenty three, I think the idea of a woman waiting for a man to propose as a little archaic.

22:30 Yes, and the man has to give a woman a ring as if to mark her as his property, kind of and he doesn't wear a ring. Do you think that's a little like that's kind of bullshit? And it is kind of Yeah, I guess I never really thought about it being a man, but yeah, you're right, and asking permission for a girl's parents seems a little archaic. Also, Yeah, the whole thing is just it's just kind of weird. Yeah, but I guess most girls seem to still like it. Yeah, I guess, I don't know, but I was. I was thinking about this case, and I was just like, yeah, this just kind of like it made me sad that she, poor Tina is just sitting there waiting for this proposal for months. In a month and from a guy who through pizza at her at a restaurant. That makes me sad. Also, it did seem like she was settling a little bit.

23:15 Yeah, So Tina became increasingly frustrated by the lack of proposal. She and Gabe decided to take a break. She started talking to Amanda's cousin, Xander, who lived in Atlanta. Tina and Xander had a fling years before when they were in college, and she'd always wondered what could have been. Xander invited her to come see him for the weekend, and she jumped at the chance. She felt young as free. As she drove her red Mazdamiata for three hours to Georgia. The weekend, however, wasn't the romantic get away she'd hope for. Things felt awkward and they failed to ignite the spark that once had been there. Tina ended up leaving early. She had been avoiding Gabe's calls all weekend, and finally called him on the way home and told him where she had been. He was furious, but happy to have her back in his fold. On Easter Sunday, April twentieth, two thousand and three, Gabe made an Easter egg hunt for Tina, with plastic eggs hidden around her apartment. She loved holidays and was very excited Gabe had finally done something thoughtful for her. She opened the candy filled eggs and one had a note inside that said, will you marry me? She screamed as he placed the three thousand, five hundred dollar ring on her hand. She was very glad to be finally engaged, but her friends and family were rested, less than effusive with their congratulations, and some of them even actually said, like, she didn't seem quite as excited as we thought she would, So three

24:45 thousand, five hundred dollars that's a pretty nice ring. Adjusted for inflation, Just in case anyone's wondering on air, it's five thousand, eight hundred dollars, So that's a pretty nice nice Yeah, we're not going to talk about the price of engagement rings because I don't want to bring up any sold I'm just kidding. I love my ring. Wedding plans immediately ensued. Gabe's parents and grandparents had gifted him with a trip to Australia after his long awaited graduation from college. Tina suggested that they defer the gift and use it as a honeymoon. The best months of the year to see the Great Barrier reef. I think we said mentioned this earlier. Are quiz times summer for us, but in Australia it's the dry season, right like September and October. Okay, So the wedding and honeymoon moon were planned around the optimal dive time.

25:40 A few months before the wedding, Tina's sister, Alanda's marriage started to crumble, and at the same time she discovered that she was pregnant. Tina moved in with her to help her through the divorce and the early stages of pregnancy. Tina and Alanda had always been close and in recent years they worked together at the department store Parisian as department managers. Tina manager managed the children's department. Alanda was relieved to have the love and support of her best friend and sister. I should say years years, years years ago. My sister and I worked together at the Piggy Wigley and it was a lot of fun working together. That was a very fun time. In June, Tina retested for her open water scuba certification and this time she passed. She was very relieved.

26:25 They had already put a deposit down on the honeymoon, but she still needed the next level of certification to be able to dive the Great Barrier Reef. Gabe was most looking forward to the Young Gala Wreck dive. The Angala Wreck dive is Australia's best known shipwreck and one of the best dives along the Great Barrier Reef. I'm going to talk about that more a little bit later. Gabe purchased travel insurance. He was apparently a big believer insurance because he also told Tina to increase her life insurance benefit at work to the maximum available coverage and be sure to change the beneficiary to him. This did raise some eyebrows, though, especially to Tommy, who had sold insurance his whole life.

27:07 He told Tina not to worry about it until they were back from their honeymoon. A few months before the wedding, the couple bought a house together and Hoover, Alabama, and Gabe transferred twelve thousand dollars of Tina's debt to his credit card so they could qualify for a home loan, as her debt to income ratio would have made it difficult to have a mortgage approved. They paid nearly one hundred ninety thousand dollars for a brick and vinyl split level home on Oak Leaf Circle near Gabe's parents, who generously helped with a deposit, gave me. Tina trade in her Mazda Miata for a Jeep Cherokee. He was six foot two and couldn't easily fit into the Miata, and he made sure that his name was on the title. So I've said Mazamata twice and you haven't. You haven't said anything. It's a cute card. But what would I say? You don't remember this? No? What? What?

28:03 What am I not remembering? Oh my god, I want like when we were for that first dating, we weren't married yet, and I really wanted it a Masdimiyata okay, and you were like, no, really you don't remember this? No? Oh my yeah, that was a huge It was a heat, like why would I say no? What did I What was I supposed to? I think he thought it was. I mean, I don't think they were the safest car. I think they're really cute. Yeah, you you didn't want me to get it. You were really adamant about it. Oh, I'm a jerk. I'm surprised you don't remember it because that was you don't fight off of it. I think that was a pretty big like yeah, and it wasn't like now looking back, like you never tell me no to anything, so that I'm shocked. I don't know.

28:45 I'm surprised you don't remember this. Well anyway, my apologies. It's okay, but it's still like now I'm old, and who want you know? Now I won't look as good at a bride convertible. Oh you'd still look fine in a Masdamiata convertible. Well I don't. Maybe we could. I don't think they make most in means anymore. I really do. Speaking of vehicles, though, I really am happy with the car that I have it. I really like it. Yeah, it's a Kia, which I don't think i've ever I didn't say before because I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not, but I think it's been great. It's a Key and Nero keya Nero plug in hybrid, and the gas mileage is insane. It really is. Yeah, yeah, the plug in part. I'm not sure why I'm talking about this now, but in case anyone's wondering, if you're looking for a new car, I really like it. All of some people would be like Actually, someone literally said to me the other day in a parking lot. They were like, oh, your car's so cute, and I was like thanks, and I told her what it was, and it's like it's a plug in hybrid hybrid, and she was like, oh, I'm not ready for all that, which literally you just have to plug it in and you get like thirty five miles from the plug in part, which isn't a ton if you're on a road tart, but it's plenty for like just local driving, which I was amazed when you got it. Like you didn't have to get gas for like it seemed like for a month and a half or two months you didn't get gas because it never used gas anyway. Tina's childhood dog, a miniature Schnauzer named Tiffy, died unexpectedly and she was heartbroken.

30:07 Gabe bought a black Lab puppy to take Tiffy's place, but Tina didn't love the new dog. It was probably just too soon since her beloved Tiffy had passed on October tenth, the day of the wedding rehearsal and dinner, Tina wasn't feeling well. She had a cough and cold, with aches and difficulty breathing. She went to the doctor and they gave her medication and a shot to help her feel better as soon as possible. The day, off to a rocky start, didn't get any better. There was tension between the families. It only met once previously and hadn't really hit it off after the engagement. That Thomases had invited the Watsons over for dinner and Glenda said, why we're not mirroring into your family? Gabe is the pastor. Craig Greer later recalled it was the worst rehearsal he had ever officiated. Chrissie mccampbell, Tina's cousin, recalled Tina seemed little quiet and pensive on the day of the wedding. She even took her aside and told her she didn't have to go through with it, but Tina shrugged it off and everything went off as planned.

31:08 Tina was a beautiful bride with a classic off the shoulder dress. Her bridesmaids wore purple and carried apricot roses. Despite a bumpy start, everyone was on their best behavior and it was a happy night for both families of celebration and unity. But sadly, it was the last time any of them saw Tina alive. I haven't really described to Tina and Gabe up to this point, but Tina was just a really beautiful blonde, blue eye, just flawless complexion. She's actually done modeling, right, I mean for the JC Penny catalog. But yeah, she was a very pretty, very pretty young woman. And Gabe looks like a lump. Oh. I saw a picture of him. I did show you a picture because I said, describe this person.

31:56 What did it showed? And I can look up that word. I did not know what we're all adults here. Yeah, it's a it's a slang word for a penis that is very wide. He just he just looks like I mean, it's not like grossly unattractive or anything. He's just kind of it looks like a lump. He's just like this big kind of you know, like a guy that played football in high school. And how they look like later, how they just kind of it turns into like just fat kind of. It wasn't like grossly fat or anything. He's just a big guy, just a big guy. And whenever I saw I think the picture I showed of you, when he tries to smile, it just looks he looks really uncomfortable. Yeah, so I just don't have the best impression of Gabe. The honeymoon was planned for two weeks. We took a two week honeymoon. We did and that was my favorite thing. Yeah, it was good anyway. The first leg was for Tina. The newlyweds flew into Sydney.

32:58 They did touristy things like this, the opera house and the zoo and the aquarium. They were having a wonderful time. On October twentieth, two thousand and three, the second leg of the honeymoon started. It was the trip that Gabe had been dreaming of since he was a kid. We kind of did the same thing. The first week was sort of for you. We went to Disney World, and the second week was for me. We went to Jamaica and went to the beach and stuff like that. I mean, I don't think that was your dream honeymoon. It was my dream, but it was more you were. Disney World was definitely more for you. For sure. I would live at Disney World if I know. It says a lot about me. I know, people judge I'm not like a Disney adult, but I love I love Disney and superficial happiness. Yes, but Tina was excited for the second week too. Finding Nemo had just come out that year, and she was looking forward to finding Nemo and the Sea Turtles.

33:50 Gabe and Tina boarded a one hundred footboat called the Spoil Sport in Townsville, Queensland for a seven day diving excursion with the mic Ball Diving Expedition. There were twelve crew, crew members and twenty five passengers. Everyone boarding the boat was super excited and friendly. Each guest brought their own gear, except for oxygen tanks that were already on board the ship. After getting settled, each passenger was interviewed by Wade Singleton thirty four, a master scuba diving instructor who was the trip director. He inquired about each divers level of training, number of dives, health history, medications, etc. Wade allow Tina and Gabe to be interviewed together, even though this was against company regulations. The divers are supposed to be interviewed alone so their answers can't be influenced by each other. Tina did not mention the heart issue that she had had surgery to repair, and Wade didn't ask Gabe or Tina about the number of ocean dives that they had completed. The divers were given a rating based on their experience and training, which dictated which dives they would allowed to be go on from.

35:00 Green were less experienced divers, Yellow for intermediate, and read for more experienced divers. Are you with me so far? The Angala dive was ranked as a red dive. It was challenging because of its depth, strong current, and difficulty to navigate. The Angala was typically saved for the last dive of the week as it was the most challenging, but if the weather was better earlier in the week, the order of the dives was switched. Due to her lack of experience, Tina was required to do an orientation dive with an instructor at night, but according to the mic Ball Diving policy, she should have been required to do a supervised orientation dive. Wade suggested that her first dive should be supervised, but she refused. Everyone on the boat was friendly and thought Gabe and Tina were a very cute couple, and they were.

35:52 They were put in the luxury estate room because they had been because they were on their honeymoon. I've seen pictures of this room and it is not what you would consider a luxury. Well, I think gets you know, you're on a boat. It's not a huge boat, and in any boat, the rooms are small, but it's just the room just I think it might have handed on sweet bathroom. Maybe that was what made a luxury I think some of the guest rooms had a shared bathroom. It took three hours to travel the forty eight nautical miles from the dock and Townsville, Queensland, to the Young Gala shipwreck. The anchor dropped at one fifteen am near thee You're the Young Gala wreck while most of the crew and passengers slept. There are twelve different levels of scuba diving certification, according to the PADI Certification program.

36:42 One through five are considered recreational and six through twelve professional. The certification is based on the number of hours in a classroom and the number of dives you've done. Level one you're allowed to dive at a maximum depth of forty feet and must be accompanied by a professional diver. Tina had passed her level to certification meeting. She could dive to a depth of eighteen meters or fifty nine feet. Gabe was a Level four diver, a rescue diver. He was trained to look after other divers and identify anyone in distress and be able to help them. Every diver is required to keep a detailed dive log of the depth, length, gases, buddy, etc. Tina had about eleven dives, all in pools or in an old quarry where she had trained.

37:28 Gabe had over fifty dives, but he had only dived in the ocean once before in Mexico several years prior to the Honeymoon. Okay, no, I'm going to tell you a little bit about the Young Gala. The SS Young Gala was a cargo and passenger steamship that sank in nineteen eleven off the coast of Queensland after a cyclone hit the area, resulting in the depths of all one hundred twenty two people aboard. Though the ship had room for two hundred forty passengers on the day of the wreck, seventy three passengers and forty nine crew members our board, including a race horse named Moonshine, which was the only body that was found washed ashore. The shipwreck was found in nineteen fifty eight by free divers in near perfect condition, after decades of speculation about where the missing ship had sunk. The Youngala shipwreck is three hundred sixty feet long, so that's pretty long. The Spoil Sport is one hundred feet long, so it's over three times the size of the Spoil Sport, where ten thousand people visit the site each year. It's known as one of the ten best shipwrecks in the world, known for its vast marine life, including over one hundred twenty two species of tropical fish and sea turtles in the center of the Great Barrier reef. It's unique because it's become its own unique reef structure covered in colorful coral cool. Okay, another it's just a tiny little rabbit hole here. Another one. The rabbit holes always have rabbit holes. The oldest known shipwreck is the Docos shipwrecked in the a GNC from somewhere between twenty two

39:01 hundred to twenty seven hundred BC. Although the ship dissolved in the sea, clay pottery was found at the site and excavated. Hundreds of clay artifacts were found, consisting of over five hundred vases, cops, and plates of the Heladic period before the invention of the pottery wheel. Archaeologists assume the items were meant to be traded, and the pottery is over four thousand years old. That's essential. Yeah, Okay, so now you got you have a vision of the young galaship, right, I do, which I have to say I have kind of like mixed feelings about, Like, you know, we recently had that Titanic. Oh yeah, the submersible. Yeah, the summers they had that. I think it's kind of weird because we know one hundred and twenty people like this is their their grain and their tomb, and to dive it just becomes like a tourists destination. Yeah. It's a little bits a little uncomfortable. Yeah, as long as people are respectful, right, Yeah. And I don't think you're supposed to go into the You're supposed to dive along it. The next morning, October twenty two, two thousand and three, the dive instructors took a preliminary dive to assess the conditions and noted perfect weather, what the current was strong. Before the excited divers could get into the water, they were given a forty minute briefing by Wade Singleton about water conditions, procedure, and safety protocol. He gave very specific instructions as how the dive should proceed and caution the divers that the current was swift.

40:32 At nine thirty am, Teina and Gabe put on their wetsuits and gear. Gabe helps Tina because she had forgotten where some of the equipment went. Among the equipment is a BCD, or buoyancy control device, which wraps around the body like a vest and buckles in the front. The air tank is connected to the back of the BCD. The BCD allows a diver to control their buoyancy underwater by adding or releasing air to the vest By the way, the air tank is filled with seventy eight percent nitrogen, twenty one percent oxygen, and the remaining other gases, just like the air in her atmosphere. The divers would be doing a drift dive. There were two lines. One was attached to the dive platform at the surface of the water to the top and then it went down to the top of the shipwreck. The divers would then drift across the Young Gala shipwreck with the current and then grab another line to help them ascent to the surface. Can you picture that. Yeah, So remember it's three hundred and sixty feet long. This, so they're going from you know, they hold onto the chain or rope and then and then the current takes them down the shipwreck and then they go back up. Then they go back up the other line exactly. Support staff was offered to any divers that felt uncomfortable or wanted to guide. Wade Singleton checked in with Tina and asked if she wanted to do a guided dive with him, and she said no, She'd be with Gabe and she fell safe. She said she would dive with weight later on during the night dive. I think I might have

42:06 said this, but I think they're supposed to do four to five dives a day, and none of the dives are You're not supposed to be underwater super long. I think most of them are like thirty minutes. Over the course of the week on the Spoil Sport there were twenty five planned dives, and I should mention the importance of a dive buddy. Tina and Gabe were dive buddies. It's dangerous for any diver to go alone. You should always have your buddy, and you are never supposed to leave your dive buddy. They should always be in your vision. As divers immersed themselves into the cool, seventy seven degree water, they were immediately struck by the current. It wasn't unmanageable, but required a strong kick and focus. The divers were amazed by the abundance and diversity of the marine life. Tina and Gabe went into the water for their first dive and went down a few feet. When Gabe realized that his dive computer wasn't working. It was beeping, alerting him that it was malfunctioning. A dive computer is a device that looks like a watch and it you wear it on your wrist and it forms the diver of the depth and length of their dive, as well as the air and their tank, which is important to know when you should return to the surface. Understandable, Yeah, Divers are told to monitor their air. One third is for the descent and a third is for your ascent back up. But you're always supposed to leave at least one third of your tank for emergencies. The dive computer ensures a safe ascent. It alerts the diver if they are going too fast, preventing decompression, sickness or bends, which occurs when the pressure changes too

43:42 quickly. You're supposed to like kind of hang out like when you ascend. You're supposed to hang out for stop at certain points. Yeah, supposed to just equalize the pressure. Gavantina had to go back to the Spoil Sport to have his dive computer looked at, but when they got there, he realized the battery was just inserted backwards, which would later be called into question. If the batteries were in backwards, how was it beeping, and it did record the first dive. Tina added more weight to the pockets of her BCD, as much as twenty pounds during this time. Okay, so divers have to add weight because some of the they have a hard time controlling their buoyancy. Some divers are too buoyant. Some divers aren't buoyant enough, so you have to add because when you're underwater, you're essentially weightless, so you're using your BCD to get up and down. Do you know I'm not a divers, so some of this is this technical stuff has a little confusing. Some divers use a belt and the belt has extra weight in it. But I believe Tina had in her vest, she had little pockets where she could put these little weights in, and she added as much as twenty pounds. Experts would later say that Tina added too much weight and eight pounds would have been the appropriate amount, and they called her grossly overweight. Did some divers struggle more than others with being extra buoyant and adding the weight it helps them descend more efficiently. Gabe fixed the battery in his dive computer and they were taken back to the dive platform. Guests are transported back and forth by tenders.

45:15 Do you know what a tender is? No, I don't because of my exclusive viewing of Bravo's blowdeck, which really came in handy at this episode. It's just a smaller a little like speedboat kind of thing. They just take you back and forth between the you know, the smaller or the larger boats and the dive decks. So they were taken back and they re entered the water. There was another ship called the Jazz two that was moored near the Spoil Sport. It was a smaller ship, about fifty feet with thirteen people on board, and they were also descending in to see the Young Gala Rack at the same time as the Spoil Sport. It isn't clear what happened next, but a thirty year old er doctor named Stanley Stutz, who was a passenger on the Jazz too, was descending along the anchor rope to the wreck and saw Tina in the water with her blonde hair trailing behind her. Her body was in a horizontal position, which is not right, shouldn't. His assessment was that she was in trouble. Her limbs were flailing about and in an unproductive manner. Her eyes were wide and fear her regulator. I don't think I've talked about the regulator yet. Do you know what that is.

46:25 It's like the part that goes in your mouth, the breathing apparatus that is connected to the air tank. It remained in her mouth. He saw a larger male who he would later identify his Gabe, swim over to help her. He put his hands under her armpits and embraced her in a bear hug, as if trying to lift her up. For as long as thirty seconds, Doctor Sand couldn't clearly see what was happening, but he saw Gabe ascend without Tina as she drifted downwards. He said, at no time did he see any interaction that could be an interpeted gave a readjusting his mask and regulator. Doctor Stan was too far away to reach Tina as her body began sinking.

47:08 By the time that he had notified his dive guide, Wade Singleton, was on his way to Tina. He was doing an orientation dive with another Newlywood couple, Dawn Asana and Gary Stempler. They were both experienced divers, but Don had requested that Wade keep close to her because it had been a while since she dived. Gary was testing out his new underwater camera by snapping a few pictures of Dawn as she explored the wreck. It was then that he knowingly captured a picture of Tina, motionless on the floor of the sea. Wade saw Tina out of the corner of his eye and immediately swam over to her, noting the lack of bubbles coming from the regulator in her mouth.

47:50 Her eyes were open, but she was unresponsive. He quickly noted that she still had plenty of air in her tank and her BCD was empty, dropped his weight belt and inflated both his own and Tina's BCD and began the ascent. He ignored his beeping dive computer, warning him that he was ascending too quickly. He knew Tina's life was in his hands and brushed off any worry for his own health. He traveled eighty nine feet to the surface of the water in just ninety two seconds while tightly clutching Tina. Are you with me? Yeah? So. A minute before Wade's re entry with Tina, Gabe had made it to the surface, yelling help help. He explained somewhat incoherently that Tina was in trouble and he hadn't been able to lift her, but couldn't communicate her location. It had taken Gabe two to three minutes to ascend the fifteen meters to the surface. Rescue divers were quickly dispatched and ready to descend into the waters when Wade and Tina appeared about a minute later.

48:49 Wade had covered twice the distance and half the time as Gabe, with Tina as her limp body was brought to the surface. There was foam, blood, and vomit coming from Tina's mouth. Her eyes were fixed and dilated. There wasn't much water coming from her mouth, which isn't typical in a drowning. The Jazz two diving platform was closer, so Wade brought Tina. There were several people helped by quickly stripping Tina of her dive gear and scuba suit to prepare her for chest compressions, while Wade cast his equipment aside. Tina didn't have a pulse and there was no d strip of lead or aboard either boat. While life saving measures were being administered to Tina on the dock, Gabe was back on the spoils board, crying and trying to explain to the other divers why he'd abandoned his new wife rather than helping her himself when he was a trained and certified rescue diver. He said that she'd grabbed at his mask and tried to take the regulator out of his mouth. Every diver has a secondary air source called an octopus on them, so what he should have done was grabbed it and given it to her. When he saw that she was flailing, He said that he tried to hold her, but he lost grip and she began to sink. Instead of trying to regain her in his grasp, he made a calculated decision to ascend to the surface and call for help. The remaining divers on the spoil Sport tried to comfort Gabe, but couldn't help wondering what really had happened and why he wasn't with his wife while

50:22 Wade and the others tried to revive Tina. Doctor John Downey, thirty six, an emergency room physician from Chicago, was on board the Spoil Sport when he was summoned to the Jazz Too. He worked on resuscitating Tina for forty minutes. Usy Burney, a master diver who had taught medical first aid while in the Israeli Army, was by the doctor's side doing NonStop chest compressions. Doctor Downey inserted an ivy and administered five doses of epinephrin to Tina and two doses of light acane. They checked her dive computer to get a better picture of what had happened in the water. She'd been on the water for ten minutes at a maximum depth of eighty nine feet. Her dive computer displayed the message too fast because of Wade's quick assent with her during the rescue. Her blood nitrogen appeared to be within the normal range, and her oxygen take was at two thousand psi, about two thirds full. Tina's gear was set aside to be taken back to the spoil sport and not to be touched again until an investigation could take place. Doctor Stan, who had witnessed Tina flailing underwater, re emerged to be of assistance. He quickly assessed the situation and said there was nothing else that could be done for Tina. That's so sad.

51:37 Every time I just can't choke it back. I'm just like I can feel myself getting emotional. He called the time of death at eleven twenty seven am. So yeah, as headly she died. Yeah. Doctor John Downey took a tender back to the spoil Sport to tell Gabe the tragic news. Gabe fell to the floor and sobbed, while John Ken and other passengers tried to console him. Gabe asked to go see Tina, but not before trying to explain again what had transpired underwater. Quote. We went down to about forty five feet. We'd started to dive along the wreck. At some point Tina signaled that she wanted to turn around and head back. Her eyes were wide open. We turned around to start heading back and I grabbed her hand.

52:19 She seemed to relax, but then suddenly tried to grab my regulator from my mouth and to grab my mask. I couldn't tow her anymore, and I let her go and she sank to the bottom. Gabe would repeat many times later that Tina had grabbed at his mask and had filled with water. When he took the time to empty the mask of water with both hands, he lost focus on her and she quickly fell out of his reach, sinking to the bottom. He claimed that he tried to go after her, but realized she was sinking faster than he could swim to her, even though she was less than ten feet away. He decided to ascend to the top and get help. Gabe may have panicked and forgotten to release some of the air from his beast CD, making it near impossible to descend further. Gabe was taken by tender to the jazz Who's diving deck where Tina lay. The people there that had tried to revive her were still there. They left to give Gabe some time alone with Tina. After a few minutes, he said he was ready to go back to the Spoil Sport. Tina's body was putting a body bag and taken back to the boat, where he's putting a cold, air conditioned cabin along with her gear. I was a little surprised that they had body bags on board. I mean, I know you have to prepare for worst case. But the door of the cabin was locked by order of the water police, who had been contacted by the boat's staff until they could assess the situation. When the Spoil Sport returned to land, it took three hours to get back to the mainland. Gabe addressed the passengers on the ship.

53:50 He said, quote, I want to thank those people who have been supportive of me, supportive of me and the past hours, as you know, as you know, my wife died today. This just really sucks. End quote. There were conflicting reports as to whether he was playing or not. A Gabe was seen sitting at a table where people were playing cards on the trip back to Townsville. A passengers noted that he didn't look like a husband who had just lost his wife. Suspicious, I mean a little suspicious. I'll be interested to hear more about the investigation because I've always felt like scuba, like scuba diving, if you were going to kill someone, it would be the perfect way to do it and get away with it because there's, you know, nobody to really witness what happens under the water, right, And it sounds like there were a couple of people that sort of saw things that happen. But it just seems like it would be it would be hard to it would be hard for investigators to really identify in intent on Gabe's part of killing her. Well, we'll just have to wait and see. I know, therefore, there were I don't know how many people are underwater, but I think there could have been as many as twenty five people underwater.

54:58 Right, But it's a big area, you know, because it was an expedition. It wasn't just a couple of people. It was like a whole you know, a whole group of people. And I think they were all it was their first introductory dive, right, So I think there were a lot of people underwater. Yeah, well, I'll look forward to hearing the rest of it. What do you think of Gape so far? I mean, you know, so far, you haven't said other than the pizza incident. You know, you haven't said anything that was makes him into too horrible of a person. I mean, obviously I don't like him because you told me I wasn't gonna like him. So I don't know, we'll see a Part two should be really interesting. So I hope you all come back for part two. I'm going to end it here. Please don't throw things at me. But yeah, this is a there's a lot. There's a lot in part two, and you there are definitely some things in part two where you're going to be like, huh, that happened I can't wait. Yeah, so before we start part two, can I have another cookie? Uh?

55:58 No, Well you mean by I mean I've been good. I've been listening, I've been paying attention. You told me that until we went on vacation that you didn't want to eat any treats, and I already give you half a cooky. I'm gonna have another half. Well, I guess I can't stop you. You are bigger than me. Well, it's always thank you so much for listening. We really appreciate it. We really do. We really really do. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram, Love Mary Kill, threads, or Twitter, send us an email at love Mary Kill at gmail dot com. Cook Oh yeah, I love talking to you guys.

56:39 So people always message me be like, oh, I know you're really busy. I'm like, I'm never too busy to talk to you guys. It really makes it worthwhile for us when we hear it does, because that's the only positive reinforcement we have. Yes, I was, I was just gonna mention. Reviews are also a nice bit of positive reinforcement. So if you have a minute, leave us a review or rating on any where you listen. If you don't, just yeah, I just move along, move al But if you don't like, because you probably haven't made it to the rest the end of this episode, but anyway, until next time, don't kill your wife, don't kill your husband. Hi. I'm Tina and I'm rich and if they're There's one thing I've learned is that I'm bad at podcasting. M