Doctor: Drowned woman’s heart problem was fixed

Gabe Watson, right, talks with his attorney Michael Hanle at the Mel Bailey Criminal Justice Center in Birmingham, Ala., Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012. Watson is accused of killing newlywed bride Tina Thomas Watson. She drowned during a honeymoon scuba dive in Australia just days after her wedding in October 2003. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama— An Alabama woman had a heart condition that was diagnosed and fixed two years before she drowned during a honeymoon diving trip in Australia, a doctor testified as prosecutors on Friday tried to head off defense claims that medical problems caused her death.

Tina Thomas Watson, 26, died in 2003 while diving on a shipwreck on the Great Barrier Reef with Gabe Watson, her husband of 11 days. Watson, 36, is on trial on a capital murder charge in her death.

Dr. Farrell Mendelsohn said he considered Watson to be cured of an irregular heartbeat in 2001 after she underwent a medical procedure.

Testifying in a video deposition that was played for jurors, Mendelsohn said Watson complained of odd sensations that were linked to an irregular heartbeat.

“She said at times at night she could feel her heart beating,” said the doctor.

The woman underwent a cardiac procedure and returned to see Mendelsohn in September 2001, when he said he considered her cured. Under cross-examination from a defense lawyer, Mendelsohn said he didn’t think Watson’s heart would have made her more subject to stress and said he wasn’t sure if diving presented unusual challenges for people with heart problems.

Prosecutors presented Mendelsohn’s testimony on a large screen in an attempt to blunt the defense, which contends Watson panicked and might have had health problems that led to her drowning while diving with her newlywed husband in October 2003. One juror appeared to doze as the recording played in court, however.

The state claims Watson turned off his wife’s air supply and let her drown in a bid to claim some $210,000 in insurance proceeds he believed he could collect for her death. The defense contends no such motive existed because Watson wasn’t a beneficiary of her life insurance policy, which was offered through work.

Two experienced divers who were on board the dive ship with the Watsons testified that Gabe Watson’s story about his wife’s death didn’t add up, but a doctor who saw the couple in the water testified he believed Watson was attempting to save his wife as he placed his arms around her before she sank.

Watson’s attorneys contend the woman’s death was a terrible accident. Watson already has served 18 months in prison in Australia, where he pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge involving negligence in her death.

Alabama prosecutors must convince jurors the man intentionally killed his wife to win a conviction, which would bring a sentence of life without parole.