Digital Media Center
Bryant-Denny Stadium, Gate 61
920 Paul Bryant Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0370
(800) 654-4262

© 2024 Alabama Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Australia Will Appeal Sentence in Honeymoon Death

By The Associated Press

Brisbane, Australia – Australian prosecutors said Thursday they will appeal for stronger punishment for a man from Alabama who was sentenced to serve one year in prison for manslaughter in the death of his wife during a honeymoon scuba diving trip.

David Gabriel Watson, of Birmingham, was sentenced earlier this month to serve one year of a four-and-a-half year sentence for the 2003 death of his wife during a trip to Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

He was to stand trial in the Queensland state Supreme Court for murder until the prosecution accepted the guilty plea to the lesser charge.

Christina Mae Watson drowned while diving with her husband of 11 days on the Great Barrier Reef. Her body was found on the ocean floor.

Coroner David Glasgow formally charged Watson with murder last June.

News from Alabama Public Radio is a public service in association with the University of Alabama. We depend on your help to keep our programming on the air and online. Please consider supporting the news you rely on with a donation today. Every contribution, no matter the size, propels our vital coverage. Thank you.