house. he got the restaurant. she got the golf cart. >> all that cash that seemed to flow from the gourmet deli? >> wanted all played out in divorce court, considering that his assets had been seized, she ended up being entitled to $100 a year. >> that was it? >> that was it. >> does she worry still? perhaps. betty has declined all interview requests, including ours. >> i know that when i tried to contact her, she did not want to speak. >> as for the deli, it went to glenn sandler's brother but last we checked, they had yet to perfect the recipe for the creamiest cake around, the cake to die for, that killer cake. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i am craig melvin. thank you for watching. thank you for watching. orf: it's hard to think that that could happen to someone. craig melvin: ...a dive instructor and his wife on a dream trip to the tropics till a scuba adventure turns into disaster. mr. david swain: he surfaces screaming, it's shelley!'

craig melvin: she never reached the surface. what happened some 80 feet down? prosecutors called it murder. dennis murphy reporting: so this is the classic motivation... ...the other woman? mr. terrence williams: yes. craig melvin: a wife lost in the deep. david swain: fighting for my life. craig melvin: a husband becomes the accused. murphy: you turned off her air supply, killed her underwater. did that happen? david swain: absolutely not. craig melvin: now, hold your breath for the twist. david swain: that was one of the most surreal moments in my life. craig melvin: hello and welcome to dateline. scuba divers shelly tyre and her husband david swain were captivated by the aqua blue waters of tortola. the caribbean island boasts a majestic underwater world but for one of them, the breathtaking views would come at a deadly cost -- a tragic twist

that would expose family secrets as dark as they come. here's dennis murphy with "the last dive." dennis murphy: for most of us who enjoy spending time in the water and an occasional swim, a dunk in a backyard pool will suffice. but for the more adventurous, only total immersion in the open ocean will do, a ticket to paradise. unidentified woman #1: it's incredibly peaceful. you're down there with the fish. you look around you and there's amazing wonder. and the closer you look, the more beautiful it gets. unidentified man #2: all of your senses are getting overloaded, your visual colors are just phenomenal. murphy: david swain and his wife shelly tyre shared that passion for scuba diving. david swain: give me the water and that's where i belong. murphy: so to escape a dreary rhode island winter in march of '99, they chartered a 45-foot sailboat with another couple and their child. if a carefree scuba vacation is what you want,

it doesn't get much better than the caribbean's british virgins. murphy: was shelley looking forward to it? david swain: oh, yeah. it was definitely a different experience for her. murphy: she was a big fish person. david swain: yeah. anything to do with animals and critters and whatnot, that's what she was about. murphy: she liked to count fish underwater; he liked to photograph. so what could go wrong? as it turned out, quite a lot. they were wreck diving south of the island of tortola when it happened. mr. dan o'connor: he immediately noticed that her breathing apparatus was out of her mouth. mr. keith royle: i heard an emergency call that there was a diving accident and they needed assistance. unidentified man #3: the body appeared to be lifeless. murphy: what happened in 30 minutes' time 80 feet beneath the surface would be examined and replayed in people's minds for the next decade. how was it that an experienced diver like shelley tyre could be lost just like that? and when it happened, where exactly was her husband, a master dive instructor, who was her safety

buddy on that dive? david swain: my mouth drops open and i'm in shock again. murphy: david swain answers the tough questions. david swain: i don't know what happened. i wasn't there. murphy: give them a theory. david swain: i don't have a theory. murphy: it's a decadelong story that began here in coastal rhode island, far from those beautiful waters of the caribbean. it was the early '90s when david and shelley met. he was the dive instructor and she was the customer on a boat out in narragansett bay. mr. swain: it was a rocky day and a little bumpy. david swain: a couple of the big tough guys got seasick, so i paired up with her and went back in. murphy: so she had some spunk, huh? david swain: oh, she had a lot of spunk. and i was showing her fish in a way that she had never seen them before. so that's what got things started. murphy: shelley tyre, was a bundle of energy, a five-foot-nothing-tall teacher and school administrator. she was as vivacious as he was quiet. and when they started dating, david was only too happy to show shelley the waters where he

pursued his life's passion, teaching scuba and kayaking through his dive shop in jamestown, rhode island. here he is in 1997 giving a kayak lesson. david swain: it's just a very easy figure eight stroke. murphy: swain was known to his friends and customers as an honest businessman murphy: and an active member of the community. and, likewise, the people in shelley's circle raved about her. school parents like colleen tondorf. ms. colleen tondorf: she was effervescent. she was always on the move, always on the go. murphy: shelley, who memorably wore a bumblebee costume to a school event once, was seen as nothing less than a gift by the faculty and parents at thayer academy in suburban boston, where she was headmaster of the middle school. ms. tondorf: she had an ear for every child. and when she spoke to you, she looked you in the eye, and she didn't care, the world fell away. murphy: and always by shelley's side, her constant companion tori, the bernese mountain dog.

her furry comfort was always available to a pupil having a bad day. murphy: shelley and david married in 1993. they didn't have children together, but she quickly endeared herself to his two, a son and a daughter from a previous marriage. murphy: did she fit in with them ok? david swain: oh, the kids loved her. murphy: what do you think that thing was between you? david swain: a love of adventure, love of nature. you couldn't find somebody that had more liveliness and gumption and determination. murphy: if there was a marital speed bump, it was shelley's weekday commute. the private school where she worked was a long slog from coastal rhode island. she was probably seeing more of tori the dog than david, her husband. ms. tondorf: i think it was some god-awful amount. murphy: at least four hours behind the wheel back and forth, huh? ms. tondorf: yes. murphy: did that start to get to her? david swain: there were times it would get to her. you know, she'd be up at the crack of dawn or before and not get home until late at night. without question, we were struggling about the time

apart. murphy: spring break of 1999 would be shelley and david's time to escape the grind and enjoy together what they loved best, the water. murphy: but, of course, that trip, that last dive would go so horribly wrong. how could anyone make sense of the deeply sad and mysterious death of shelley tyre? craig melvin: coming up disaster underwater. david swain: he surfaces, screaming. craig melvin: what had happened beneath the surface? david swain: he's got another diver with him. i realized it's shelley. craig melvin: when dateline continues. (♪♪) from celebration moments... ...to joyride moments. your moments are worth protecting against rsv. rsv is a highly contagious virus if you're 60 or older with certain chronic conditions, you're at higher risk of being hospitalized from rsv. and there are no prescription rsv treatments.

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murphy: tortola, the british virgin islands--sailing, diving, postcard-perfect beaches. how shelley tyre looked forward to it. she and her husband, david, had chartered a sailboat with their friends the thwaiteses. the other couple would be bringing along their young son. a week of diving and sailing whichever way caught their fancy. murphy: upon arrival here in tortola, the men set out to arrange for their charter and the rental of their scuba gear. the women went shopping for provisions for their sailboat called the caribbean soul. then the five motored out from this marina for their holiday at sea. and to this day, no one in that group can say that anything was amiss. and it was, by all accounts, the leisurely week

gunkholing around the caribbean that all on board had hoped for. they dove the british virgin's greatest hits: salt island, peter island, the wreck of the rhone. on the morning of march 12th, they set a course for cooper island and a site known as the twin wrecks. tortola dive instructor keith royle has been down to the twin wrecks hundreds of times. mr. royle: there are two wrecks sitting right next to each other, bow to stern. and there's a small gap in between them. mr. royle: the allure to that is the fish life. murphy: david swain and his friend christian thwaites were both certified scuba instructors. between them they had more than 1,000 dives under their belts. and shelley tyre was no novice. in her log book, she'd recorded more than 350 dives. now, divers with comparable experience will tell you that diving the twin wreck site, with its nice, flat, sandy bottom, great visibility and minimal currents is about as challenging as a walk in the park on a sunny day.

at about noon that day, the caribbean soul tied up at the twin wrecks, nabbing the sole mooring buoy. in a sometimes busy tourist ocean, the friends on board would have the dive site all to themselves. then david and shelley made their dive plan. david swain: this particular time it was decided that we'd go down first, shelley and i. murphy: david swain says he and shelley made a routine entry into the water and then made their way down, over the reef and across the open sand to the twin wrecks dive site. mr. swain: as we routinely did--and when i say routinely, probably 100-150 times--she went off with her slates and started counting fish and i went off with my camera and started taking pictures. murphy: swain says as each did their underwater thing, they went their separate ways. mr. swain : when i get pretty much around the wreck, circumnavigate the wreck, i don't see her in the vicinity anywhere.

and, you know, i'm thinking, all right, she's either somewhere around the wreck or she's gone off somewhere else.' and so i get--head off to the reef looking for a better photo things. murphy: what's your recollection of the last time you saw shelley? david swain: as best as i can recall, it was when we parted ways on the wreck. murphy: he says when they parted, after about 10 minutes into the dive, shelley appeared fine. but somehow, at some point, at what should have been a pleasant little dive before lunch, something went gravely amiss. david swain says he surfaced alone and spoke to christian. david swain: my first question is, you know, have you--is shelley back yet?' he said, no.' and i says, ok. looks like you're going in.' murphy: that moment, is there any alarm... david swain: no. murphy: ...that she hasn't broken the surface? david swain: that was--she--he wasn't alarmed. i wasn't alarmed. murphy: christian thwaites then started his dive. thwaites would later give a statement that between the anchor line and the wrecks he found something odd, shelley's fin, like this one, sticking up out of the sand. when he got closer to the wrecks, he found shelley herself lying on the ocean floor face up,

eyes open, near one end of the boats. he quickly grabbed her and brought her to the surface. murphy: and then christian does come back and... david swain: well, he doesn't come back. he surfaces, screaming. murphy: what did you hear in his voice? were there words or alarm or noise... david swain: the word was "emergency." murphy: swain hopped in the dingy and sped over to him. david swain: and when i get close i do see that he's got another diver with him; and then as i get closer, i realize it's shelley. murphy: how much trouble was shelley in? david swain: the idea that she was unresponsive right away, that was a huge problem. murphy: christian and david say they both attempted cpr, but shelley's body did not respond. david, trained as an emt, said, she's gone.' david swain: the part that really got me was her pupils were just flat out saucers and not doing anything. that's what broke my heart and brought this whole calamity to where we are today. murphy: back on the boat, swain radioed for help.

the first to respond was keith royle. mr. royle: the scene on caribbean soul was somber. mr. royle: and shelley was laying in the cockpit, and everybody, obviously, was very, very distraught. murphy: back on island, shelley was pronounced dead. an autopsy was conducted at a local funeral home, the cause of death drowning. the medical examiner ruled it an accident. swain was free to leave tortola and return to his own little island of jamestown, rhode island, to try to settle back into the routine he held for years of running his dive shop, but now without his shelley. years later, though, he would return tortola, but this time in handcuffs. craig melvin: coming up called an accident, could that drowning have been deliberate? a dramatic re-enactment on tape of that day in the deep. ms. lisa tyre: we have now found out what we wanted to find out. craig melvin: when dateline continues.

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all aboard! mucinex dm. come with me to meet the wizard. why couldn't possibly. this is your moment. i'm coming. if you think that's something to see, wait til you see this. ♪ ♪ you're good. -very good. and saw there were 12 messages, i immediately thought, it means somebody died.' murphy: colleen tondorf remembers the day thayer academy lost its headmaster and beloved friend shelley tyre. murphy: how did you take the news, colleen? how did you put it together? ms. tondorf: i cried for three months in a row. it was hard. it's a hard thing to think that someone--that

could happen to someone. murphy: and not just anyone, but someone so full of life as vivacious, energetic shelley tyre. what had happened to cause her to drown while scuba diving off the caribbean island of tortola? back home in jamestown, rhode island, the newly widowed david swain, always the man of few words, shared few details, even with good friends like local marina owner bill munger. murphy: do you remember the first time you see him, or what you say? mr. bill munger: yeah, i gave him a hug. you know, there was tears, both of us. murphy: but the talk here along coastal rhode island was that david swain wasn't acting the way a grieving widower should. to some people he seemed detached at her memorial service. to others it looked as though he was living it up on the $600,000 he'd received after shelley's death. and a few months after losing his wife, he started dating again. a story began to buzz on main street about how

shelley had been found underwater missing some of her diving gear. some locals who knew their way around scuba thought it didn't add up. murphy: was the town divided then? mr. munger: certainly if you went up and down the avenue here that you would find, you know, people on both sides of the issue. murphy: could it be? was it even remotely possible that david swain had had something to do with his wife shelley's death? that was the question burning in the minds of shelley tyre's parents, richard and lisa. ever since swain had returned from tortola with their daughter's body, the tyres demanded answers from their son-in-law, answers that weren't forthcoming. mr. richard tyre: the first moment i heard it, i kept saying over the phone to him, but you have the buddy system. you were there. you have the buddy system. you were there.' and he just kept saying, i wasn't there.' murphy: so they're saying, you're the expert, you're the buddy.' david swain: yes. murphy: you're the caretaker of our daughter.' david swain: they were wondering why i--why i let her... murphy: why did you leave her?' david swain: yeah. why did i let this happen? murphy: swain's first face-to-face meeting

with his in-laws after coming home ended in a shouting match, as swain recalls it. and for the next three years, their suspicion of foul play only grew. so much so that in 2002, her parents filed a wrongful death suit in civil court claiming swain was involved in shelley tyre's death. mr. tyre: nothing that happens in the court takes care of our pain and our loss. ms. tyre: i'm very, very emotional, yes. murphy: the tyres hired experts to thoroughly investigate shelley's drowning. after traveling to tortola and examining shelley's scuba equipment, the experts formulated this scenario, which they then re-enacted on videotape, that david swain attacked shelley underwater, approaching her from behind, shutting off her air supply and then holding her down until she drowned. it was a shocking allegation, indeed, and one that was never seriously challenged because david swain's lawyer fell ill and swain himself chose not to appear in court.

murphy: why didn't you take the civil suit, it seems to outsiders, more seriously? it looks like you kissed this off, and it was a very serious event. david swain: in the civil world, who--he who has the most money will almost always win. and here, not only did they have the most money, i had no lawyer. so where was there any chance of me winning? murphy: at the end of the trial, though, david swain did make a surprise appearance and a last ditch effort to defend himself. david swain: it's a grand story, but it's just not true. murphy: he then called his sole witness, his daughter, jennifer, who described how her father showed genuine emotion when shelley was lost. jennifer: and you told us the story about shelley drowning, you were tearful and angry. murphy: but it wasn't enough. unidentified woman #2: have you reached a verdict? unidentified man #4: we have. murphy: david swain was found responsible for shelley tyre's death. the jury awarded her parents $3 1/2 million dollars,

though swain couldn't pay because he'd filed for bankruptcy months before. ms. tyre: we have now found out what we wanted to find out, what exactly happened. murphy: the friends who had stood by him throughout were shocked by what they saw as nothing less than a miscarriage of justice. mr. munger: there was no cross-examination. there was no, i mean, nothing went on. it was totally a one-sided trial. murphy: but that civil verdict did catch the attention of the authorities a world away, down here in tortola, the british virgin islands. officials here had ruled shelley tyre's death back in 1999 an accident, but the fine print read, "an accident unless proven otherwise." that judgment against swain in civil court gave the authorities here fresh prosecutorial ammunition. murphy: tortola reviewed the evidence from the civil case and made an extradition request. eight years after her death, us marshals showed up at the dive shop and arrested swain for the murder of his wife shelley tyre. mr. dan jaehnig (nbc10 news): david

swain is headed back to the caribbean, but this is no vacation. unidentified reporter: swain is being held without bail. mr. tyre: it's almost a miracle that this is happening. murphy: this time swain wouldn't take any chances. he would launch a vigorous defense. but he'd now have to plan it from his new home, a stifling cell in tortola's balsam ghut prison, a fortress high up on a bluff facing the ocean, where the view can't be beat, but comes at a price no one wants to pay. craig melvin: as the criminal trial gets underway, a surprising revelation bubbles to the surface. craig melvin: coming up another diver in the life of david swain? murphy: so this is the classic motivation, classic ingredients of murder sometimes, the other woman. mr. terrence williams: yes. craig melvin: when dateline continues. murphy: david swain had spent two my name is brayden. i was five years old when i came to st. jude. i'll try and shorten down the story.

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hi, i'm richard lui with a news update.

president biden announcing sunday he is pardoning his son hunter. earlier, hunter biden was convicted of federal gun charges, pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion charges. he faced sentencing later this month. this move is a remark -- reversal from the president said he would not pardon his son. and a statement, he said while politics led to a miscarriage of justice in the hopes americans understand his decision. for now, back to dateline. david swain: the only time i was out of my cell was one or two hours a day that i could walk around. every day when they'd let me out, i'd go walk for that entire time. murphy: but now swain would finally have his day in court. the charge, murdering his wife, shelley tyre, on a scuba dive 10 years before. he pleaded not guilty. and with the stakes so much higher this time, criminal, not about money but maybe decades in prison, swain came prepared with caribbean counsel plus

a top legal team from boston. unidentified man #5: it's going to be a lengthy trial. the government experts to continue to call witnesses for another 12 days. murphy: but shelley tyre's parents also had their attorney, renn olenn, in tow. he'd won the civil suit against swain back in rhode island and was now helping tortola prosecutors. tim bradl was swain's attorney tim bradl: the prosecution wasn't going to conduct any further investigation. they had--they had something that was neatly packaged, in their view, and they presented that in the criminal case in tortola. murphy: the civil suit became the criminal suit. mr. bradl: exactly. murphy: no cameras were allowed in court, but the press could audiotape the proceedings. prosecutor terrence williams laid out his case to the jury methodically, speaking first of motive. mr. williams: this man here, his wife is killed, and all his dreams came true. all his dreams came true. murphy: dreams, he would argue, about insurance money,

more than $600,000, and another woman in swain's life. a lethal scheme executed, he said, in an underwater setting. the autopsy had shown no underlying medical reasons for shelley to have drowned, so the key to what did happen to shelley tyre, the prosecution said, was her diving gear, how it was damaged: her snorkel missing its mouthpiece, the strap to her mask broken, the pin that held the strap in place gone. that kind of damage happens rarely in the world of scuba, experts said, and only when great force is applied to the equipment. mr. williams: they have never, ever seen this strap broken like this during a dive. never, ever! murphy: and what about shelley tyre's lone flipper, all by itself, stuck in the sand toe-first, its heel strap pulled back? the prosecution said it could have ended up in that position if shelley's foot was yanked out of it as it was forcibly shoved into the sand. the prosecution put forth the same theory

the tyres' attorney had advanced back in the rhode island civil trial that shelley's scuba gear in such disarray meant only one thing: that shelley tyre had been attacked underwater. mr. williams: what this shows is a continued struggle with a human being. murphy: and the prosecution says the only human on that dive with shelley was her husband and dive buddy david swain. but swain had always insisted he was nowhere near shelley when she died. rather, he and shelley had gone their separate ways after reaching the wrecks. david swain: i have a vague recollection of circumnavigating the wrecks, poking around the wrecks, and seeing shelley still interested in looking at something around there. and that's the last time i saw her as i swam off towards the reef. murphy: but now the prosecutor said that swain's own words in this taped deposition proved he was still with shelley when she died. listen to how long he says he was at the wrecks

before leaving shelley for the reef. unidentified man #6: how much time did you spend at the wreck? david swain: not long. certainly less than 10 minutes but certain--probably more than five. man #6: and after your five to 10 minutes at the wrecks, what did you do? david swain: meandered over towards the reef area to see if there was something there to see. murphy: but, according to the prosecutor, five to 10 minutes into the dive is shelley tyre died. and here's why, as laid out by his experts. the prosecution's scuba expert said that based on the amount of oxygen used up from shelley's air tank on that fateful last dive, they estimated that she had taken her last breath at about eight minutes into the dive, meaning after eight minutes underwater, she drowned. the experts then said that, given swain's description of his dive, at eight minutes in swain would have been right where shelley was right when she was drowning. mr. williams: obviously, he was there with her.

and further, it goes to tell you that when he swims away, according to him, and looks back and sees her and she's fine, that cannot be true. murphy: why would he do it?' the prosecutor asked. just take a snapshot of shelley and david's life before their vacation,' he said. shelley tyre had recently taken a new job to spend more time with her husband, but she'd also taken a pay cut. the prosecutor said to swain this meant shelley might quit sinking money into his dive shop as she'd been doing for years. what's more, shelley might be around the house more, but was this what swain really wanted? the answer, said the prosecutor, fed swain's second motive. mr. williams: he had started to have an attraction to another woman towards the end of the year before she died. murphy: that other woman was mary grace basler, dr. basler. she was a local chiropractor and a diver who frequented david's shop.tortola jurors heard from mary basler that david swain had tried to kiss her during an evening

drinking wine at her home, but she rejected his advances because he was married. murphy: so this is the classic motivation, the claslsic ingredient of murder sometimes, the other woman, huh? mr. williams: yes. that is a motive that we advanced. murphy: then there were the letters swain wrote to mary basler, some of them before his wife's death. in one he asks a particular playmate to join him in vermont. he calls her "soul mate mary." another he signs, "with all my love, david." most ominously, this one dated five months before shelley's death, which reads, "life has definitely gotten more complicated. i'm wanting to be with you, but i can't change this mess i've got anytime soon." why not just divorce? because their nuptial agreement prevented either david or shelley from receiving money from the other of they parted ways. but the prosecution said swain saw another way. mr. williams: under the will, if she died, he benefited from her entire estate.

murphy: in fact, with shelley gone, david would get the dive shop, the money, and the girl. just two months after his wife's death, he and mary basler started dating. murphy: and, in fact, they became a couple following shelley tyre's death. mr. williams: yes, they did. and for, i believe it was a year and a bit, and then she broke it off. murphy: lastly, williams also brought to the stand a trio of witnesses critical to the prosecution's case: christian thwaites, swain's own friend and charter boatmate who said swain hardly attempted cpr on shelley even though cpr training mandates never to stop until help arrives. mr. williams: by all accounts, there was brief cpr. murphy: brief meaning a few minutes? mr. williams: a matter of a few minutes. murphy: keith royle, who testified that when he pulled his boat up to the caribbean soul to offer assistance, he was surprised to be told, no thanks.' mr. royle: he declined my offer of cpr and oxygen, and i thought it was a little strange.

murphy: another prosecution witness was phil brown, the island dive shop owner who'd rented the two couples their scuba gear and who'd collected shelley's scattered and broken equipment from the ocean bottom. brown said that swain later came into his shop after the so-called accident and told him to give away shelley's dive gear. add it up, said the prosecutor, and you had a husband who wanted his wife's dive gear deep-sixed before a proper investigation, a husband who didn't really try to revive his wife, a husband who wanted her dead. but tides in the caribbean, like everywhere else, run in and out. for the first time in 10 years of rumors and lawsuits, a jury would hear a true defense from david swain. and the prosecutor's account that seemed as clear as a virgin island's dive site would become murky and clouded over. craig melvin: coming up... murphy: canoodling at her place with a glass of wine. david swain: i'm not going to deny that.

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let me set the record straight. are people born wicked? or do they have wickedness thrust upon them? oh! -ah! [ laughter ] no need to respond. that was rhetorical. hm, hmm. murphy: tortola jurors in the case of the queen vs. david swain had just finished hearing from 17 prosecution witnesses. one witness that had captured their attention in particular was rhode island chiropractor mary basler. murphy: what about mary, was she your girlfriend on the side?

david swain: she was a girlfriend after shelley's passing. she was not a girlfriend before shelley's passing. murphy: and yet, there's a story told about canoodling at her place with a glass of wine and an... david swain: mm-hmm. murphy: ...attempt of a kiss? david swain: mm-hmm. i'm not going to deny that. did i cross a line that i probably, in retrospect, would like to have back? sure. but there was no intimacy. murphy: mary was feeling a little bit of a void of some kind, you think? david swain: i think mary was just being an emotional friend. she was fun to be with. she was a smart gal. she was empathetic. murphy: is mary motivation for murder? david swain: absolutely not. murphy: but what about those letters david wrote to her? murphy: you've got a dead wife on the one hand and "my soul mate" on the other. did you give the prosecution ammunition with that? david swain: he really laid into me. i probably didn't answer things in a way that made the jury happy. murphy: that idea laid out by the prosecutor that, with shelley gone, david swain would get the money and the girl,

was a juicy sounding motive. but swain's attorney, tim bradl, says it isn't true. mr. bradl: the idea of david intentionally attacking his wife isn't borne out by history. he's got no history of violence. he's never raised a hand to anyone in his life. murphy: yet, what else but an attack would explain shelley's broken dive gear found strewn about the ocean floor? murphy: if i'm a juror, i'd wonder what's going on with all of this scattered gear. mr. bradl: exactly. murphy: why is this fin sticking up so oddly like this? mr. bradl: exactly. murphy: why is this pin off this... mr. bradl: absolutely. all valid questions. murphy: ...usually unbreakable piece of gear? where's the mouthpiece? what... mr. bradl: all valid questions. murphy: what happened to this woman? mr. bradl: all valid questions. the padi rescue divers manual points to the signs of a panic diver, and it says that they reject their gear. murphy: jurors evidence that this was ripped off in a violent underwater struggle. david swain: and the struggle might have been with herself. it's not uncommon. in fact, it's routine with panicked people

to rip off their gear. murphy: why does that happen? it seems inexplicable. david swain: when you are in a panic situation, rational thought goes out your brain, and the only thing that comes into your brain underwater when you're in a panic situation is getting to the surface. so they start clawing things off. murphy: and you've seen it. it's documented in the sport. david swain: i have rode people to the surface, slowing them down so that they don't go to the surface too fast, replacing the gear as they're ripping it off their faces. murphy: a fresh angle for jurors to ponder about shelley's puzzling death. could something, a sudden medical issue or maybe a startling sea creature, have set off a chain of events that caused shelley tyre to fatally panic? in court, the defense read the jurors excerpts from shelley's own meticulous dive logbook, a diary in which she noted each time she'd lost it a bit to fear. dive 167: "some initial panic." dive 183: "panic."

dive 266: "i admit, i panicked." dive 274: "panicked a little. or more." but what about the prosecution's claim that if you believed david swain's description of his dive, he had to have been right there when shelley was drowning, eight minutes after she entered the water? now, the defense said, hang on. how do we know shelley stopped breathing after eight minutes?' in truth, shelley was so petite, she was known for using less air than the average diver. so if she was just sipping at her air supply, that meant she likely died well after eight minutes into the dive just as swain had said. david swain: i wasn't there. by the time this happened, i was hundreds of yards away. murphy: but if shelley had died alone, what about that confounding clue on the ocean floor, her dive fin found stuffed toe first into the stand? prosecution argued it was forced in during the attack. the defense wondered about that theory

and dateline tried it out, conducting our own experiment down at the twin wreck site with the help of tortola diver keith royle. mr. royle: i went down on the same area and tried to do the same thing myself with the fin on. and it was impossible. the only way i could actually get to it stick in the sand was physically with my hands, putting it into the sand. murphy: in other words, royle says, someone must have put it there intentionally. but who? in court, the defense brought all the pieces together in its theory of what might have happened on shelley tyre's final dive, number 355. she descends the mooring line. a bruise found later in the autopsy had been bothering shelley on her left foot. murphy: so she peels her fin off and sticks it in the sand to retrieve later. she nears the twin wrecks and perhaps a bit of water leaks into her mask, but the slight nuisance escalates fast. frustration takes hold and mushroomed into full blown panic. she can't tamp it down like before.

irrationally, she tears off her mask and rejects her regulator. and, out of sight of her husband, david, she tragically, fatally loses control. murphy: next, david swain would take the stand and dark family secrets were about to be revealed. would they seal his fate or set him free? craig melvin: coming up.... david swain: i've had decades of horrific things happen to me. craig melvin: a painful past and a dramatic turn of events. david swain: fighting for my life. craig melvin: when dateline continues. craig melvin: welcome back. resolve! your pet knows if a mess is really gone; if not, they may re-mark the spot. resolve gets rid of pet messes better than the leading competitor. destroying stains, neutralizing odors, and preventing re-marking. love the love, resolve the mess. ♪♪ imagine checking your own heart with medical precision from anywhere.

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and fowelcome back.ndruff, david swain was on trial for the murder of his wife shelley. the prosecution argued david was a cold-blooded killer. the defense countered that he was innocent and shelley drowned after suffering an underwater panic attack. now david was about to testify, and what he revealed would send a chill through the courtroom. here's dennis murphy with the conclusion of "the last dive." we really need to remember that she was this incredible life force and she had all this energy, positive energy. so every time it came around to the criminal trial, i thought please, god, let somebody find a way back to letting people know how wonderful she was.

dennis murphy: that special light of shelly tyre, dearly 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 tortolan courtroom would soon decide but not before david swain himself took the stand to answer questions from his island attorney.

you got a little edgy on the stand. i'm sure i did. little abrasive. little in-- little in the face. i'm fighting for my life. dennis murphy: missing from his testimony was the grief of a husband who had lost his wife to a diving accident. did you get penalized for not showing them a turbulent soul that they expected? i'm positive i have been penalized for not being what people expect. dennis murphy: david swain says he's always had trouble expressing emotion in a way people expect. it's a problem he attributes to a very dark and secretive past. i've had decades of horrific things happening to me,

and the only way that i've survived all of these horrific things that have happened is to just buckle down and keep marching. you had a really tough childhood safe to say? safe to say. dennis murphy: when david was in his early teens, his father was convicted of sexually abusing a family member, but nothing was more traumatic than the actions of david's younger brother ricky. at the time, he was having his own emotional mental problems. my first reaction was, boy, does she make a nice appearance, clean cut, nice looking young man. dennis murphy: but former minnesota prosecutor jim erickson says nothing could be further from the truth. in 1976, 18-year-old ricky swain snapped and murdered his mother betty by bludgeoning her to death in the basement of their home. jim erickson: the skull was crashed in two places. there was lots of rage in this death. dennis murphy: horrible, horrible event. yes, it is. dennis murphy: back in tortola,

david swain's psychologist was prepared to explain in court how these horrible events could account for david's emotionless, some say suspicious, behavior soon after his wife's death. as strategy, i could see where that could play both ways and might blow back and say, well, what is this instability going on in this family. is there a demon seed? people with a pop psychology understanding might say what's going on with this. so should a person be committed and convicted of murder because of pop psychology? was it a risk? i'm sorry, but i didn't have a choice to live this truth. the truth is what it is. i'm just wanting to tell the truth. dennis murphy: but the defense's strategy was never tested. the judge denied the psychologist the opportunity to testify in part because he was a psychologist, not an md. so now it was left to the jurors to decide david swain's fate. i'm coming to you live with the news of that-- the jury is currently deliberating.

dennis murphy: then after just five hours came word. there was a verdict. as they're walking in, i pretty much knew. dennis murphy: guilty of first degree murder. the sentence 25 years. how do you face that kind of time? one day at a time. dennis murphy: give me a quick thumbnail of what your cell was like. six by 10, couple of bunks, a commode, a sink, no screen on the bars, so the window, anything and everything would come in. bugs. bugs were the easy part. it's the rats and the animals and all the other things. those are the hard parts. dennis murphy: david swain settled back into the misery of prison life. his only comfort was the prospect of an appeal. did you think he had a ghost of a chance on appeal. i did. i did. this wasn't a good trial. this wasn't a fair trial.

dennis murphy: almost two years after his guilty verdict, david swain returned to court. a three-judge appellate panel listened to more than three hours of oral arguments and then did something no one anticipated. david swain: the head judge ends it all by looking right at me and saying, mr. swain, you're free to go. you know, obviously, my mouth dropped open, and i'm in shock again. and so i just sit there for-- i don't know-- 15, 20 seconds. and the bailiff guy, he nudges me, and he's quietly says, mr. swain, you gotta get up and walk out now. dennis murphy: why did he walk? the panel believed in part that the trial judge had been biased toward the prosecution in her instructions to the jury. what's more, they ruled swain shouldn't be retried because too much time had passed since shelley's death for swain to get a fair trial. so just like that, david swain was a free man. that was one of the most surreal moments in my life. dennis murphy: did you think about shelley as you left the island? i think about shelley almost every day.

but, yes, i was thinking about her that day. dennis murphy: david swain returned to the us and to rhode island, not far from the home he once shared with shelley. do you have to pinch yourself sometimes that you're back in new england? it certainly is good looking over at jamestown and looking at this body of water where i have spent years exploring and teaching and enjoying. dennis murphy: but it was also home to many people who remained convinced david swain got away with murder. is there still a cloud over you? are people always gonna say, well, david swain, he got away with killing his wife, that he was cut loose on a technicality, that the judge erred? that's their opinion. i can't tell you what to think. i don't want to tell you what to think. if you wanna hear the facts, i'll be happy to share the facts. but i'm not gonna spend a lot of energy trying to change something that you've made up your mind on. dennis murphy: david continued to call jamestown home until his death in august 2022.

he was 66. as for shelley, her gravestone is close by for those who loved and admired her to visit and to find the lessons hidden beneath the surface of this senseless tragedy. if i was to ask shelley what do i do about this given the situation, she would say focus on the here and now. find the good in everybody that you see around you. see life's blessings. if you need help, i'll point them out for you. that's what she would do. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. i just knew that something happened. i got