Print ShareThisTORTOLA, British Virgin Islands — A jury convicted a Rhode Island man of murder Tuesday in the drowning of his wife during a 1999 scuba-diving trip in the British Virgin Islands.
A judge expects to soon sentence David Swain, who would be sent to a Tortola prison where he already has been held for about two years.
The nine jurors had four hours to produce a verdict under local law. Although only a seven-vote majority was required, Supreme Court Justice Indra Hariprashad-Charles urged the seven women and two men to issue a unanimous verdict after giving a three-hour summation of the case, and they did.
The drowning was initially ruled an accident, but authorities in the British Virgin Islands charged Swain with murder after a 2006 civil trial in Rhode Island found him responsible for his wife's death. That jury awarded Tyre's family $3.5 million, but Swain filed for bankruptcy and has not paid the sum. |
