Former Dive Shop Owner Convicted of Murder, Drowning Wife While Diving

The dirtball we told you about a few weeks back has finally been convicted of murder.

A jury convicted a U.S. man of murder Tuesday in the drowning of his wife during a scuba-diving excursion a decade ago, dashing what prosecutors called a bid to get away with a nearly perfect crime.

Former dive shop owner David Swain, 53, of Jamestown, Rhode Island, dressed in a tan suit and tie, looked straight ahead as the unanimous verdict was read following a sensational trial that heard accusations he killed Shelley Tyre to pursue a romance with another woman and get his hands on his wife's money.

Tyre's drowning near an isolated shipwreck at a depth of 80 feet 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.

A judge expects to sentence Swain on Nov. 4. He faces life in prison in the sweltering hilltop prison in Tortola, where he has been held for about two years.

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