Post date: Feb 23, 2012 11:9:9 PM
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 23, 2012) (NBC) - A judge on Thursday (February 23) acquitted an Alabama man accused of killing his new wife on a honeymoon scuba dive trip in Australia, saying prosecutors failed to establish she had been intentionally slain.
Gabe Watson is acquitted of killing his wife Tina after she died during a scuba dive trip in Australia due to lack of evidence.
Prosecutors maintained that Gabe Watson, motivated by potential insurance payouts, had drowned his wife Tina in October 2003 by turning off her oxygen supply during their dive in the waters off Townsville, Australia.
But after prosecutors wrapped up their case on Thursday, Judge Tommy Nail ruled there was no evidence to suggest that Gabe Watson intended to kill.
Gabe Watson served 18 months in an Australian jail after pleading guilty to failing to do enough to help his wife during the dive. He was tried for murder in Birmingham, Alabama, because that was where the couple married and where prosecutors say he plotted Tina's death.
Watson's mother collapsed in tears outside of the courtroom after hearing the news of his acquittal.
Alabama authorities agreed to waive the death penalty in order to get Australian authorities to release Watson back to the United States, meaning he would have faced a maximum lifetime prison sentence had he been convicted.
The judge's ruling Thursday abruptly ended the trial, which was in its second week and had been closely watched by the Australian media.
Tina Watson's father was the state's final witness. He told jurors how Gabe Watson had sued his wife's family after her death for everything she owned, down to her "Gone with the Wind" videos.