By . Mark Duell . Last updated at 2:18 PM on 16th February 2012 . The man accused of killing his new bride as they honeymooned in Australia wept as a police interview tape was played out in court, in which he described his failed attempts to resuscitate his wife. Gabe Watson, 34, is accused of drowning Tina Watson, 26, in 2003 by turning off her air supply when they were scuba diving, prosecutors say. During the taped interview, Watson told Townville detectives that he thought other divers in the Queensland vicinity would think 'something odd was going on,' as he struggled to save his wife. Arriving at court: Gabe Watson (centre) and his new wife Kim enter court on the third day of his trial for allegedly killing his wife Tina Watson during their 2003 honeymoon . Horrific death: Tina Thomas Watson is seen lying on the bottom of the sea in this chilling photo as a rescuer rushes to save her in October 2003 - this photo was shown in court . The police interview, recorded five . days after his wife's death, was played to the jury on the third day of . Watson's murder trial underway in Birmingham, Alabama. Watson said during the struggle he was breathing heavily and was attempting to activate his wife's buoyancy control vest. 'In . the back of my mind I was thinking these people could see us, or at . least think something was odd going on,' Watson told detectives. 'I pretty much lost it,' Watson told Townsville detectives. As the court listened to his voice, defence lawyer Brett Bloomston handed Watson a box of tissues and patted him on the shoulder. Watson and Tina Watson married in their home state of Alabama just 11 days before her death. They were in Australia on their honeymoon and were on the first . day of a week long diving trip off the coast of Queensland when she . died. Watson told . police 'five to seven minutes' into their dive over the SS Yongala . shipwreck they struggled against a strong current. He said Tina Watson got into . difficulty and at one point banged his mask and air regulator. He said he thought he kicked his wife with his fin to get some space from her and she floated away from him. Preparing: Gabe Watson, right, talks with his attorney Michael Hanle at the Mel Bailey Criminal Justice Center in Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday. He is accused of killing newly-wed bride Tina Watson . In court: Gabe Watson, with wife Kim, wait in the courtroom for jury selection to begin at the trial on Monday . 'She was out of arm's reach,' Watson said in the police interview. Jewellery: This was the ring being worn by Gabe Watson's new wife Kim outside court on Monday . Watson said he swam down to get her, but decided against chasing her to the seabed and instead headed for the surface. 'I remember shouting through my regulator 'Tina, Tina, Tina',' Watson told police. The jury of eight women and six men also looked at a haunting underwater photo taken by another diver of the death scene. It showed Tina sprawled in deep water as Watson swam to the surface. Prosecutors appeared to attempt to cast doubt on Watson's version of what happened. They believe Watson turned off his . wife's air supply while both were underwater and held her in a bear-hug . until she lost consciousness - before turning the air back on and . letting her sink. They elicited testimony that . Gabe Watson, now 34, was certified as an open water scuba diver, an . advanced diver, rescue diver and specialty diver. Earlier . yesterday, Townsville detective senior constable Kevin Gehringer, who . conducted two taped interviews with Watson, testified from the witness . box. Married again: Gabe Watson, along with his new wife Kim, prepares to enter the Mel Bailey Criminal Justice Center in Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday, ahead of jury selection for his trial . Was it murder? Gabe Watson says his wife Tina Watson died as the result of a terrible diving accident . On the day Tina . Watson died, the detective said Watson became agitated when told police . could not give him back his dive computer. The dive computer, which looks like a large watch, tracks a swimmer's dive. 'At . that stage he became a little agitated about not getting it that . night,' Det Snr Const Gehringer told the Jefferson County courtroom. The . dive computer, which Watson wore on his wrist while diving is . considered key by the prosecution to prove its case that Watson lied to . investigator. Prosecutors . contend that shortly after Watson and his wife entered the water for . their drive, Watson signaled to his wife to return to the boat because . his dive computer was beeping, indicating the battery was incorrectly . installed. He borrowed a coin from someone on the boat to remove the battery and turned it around, and the couple continued their dive. Prosecutors believe that it was a ploy to get his wife away from other divers so he . could drown her. They also argue that a dive computer wouldn't beep if . the battery was installed incorrectly - it would stay silent. Facing closure: Tommy and Cindy Thomas will finally see their former son-in-law tried for their daughter's murder when the case begins Monday in an Alabama courtroom . Watson's . lawyer, Brett Bloomstom, intends to present testimony that the . Australian police never contacted the computer's manufacturer to see if . the dive computer beeps when the battery is in upside down. Watson’s defence team claimed the . prosecution is based on ‘bumbling’ detectives in Australia believing . that a problem with a dive computer on his wrist proved he killed the . woman he loved. That mistake early in the . investigation made police wrongly see innocent actions and circumstances . as proof of a crime, defence lawyer Brett Bloomston told the court in . Birmingham, Alabama. 'Tina trusted her husband,’ Mr Arrington told the court, while Watson’s new wife Kim . Lewis, who bears a strong resemblance to Tina, sat listening. ‘She felt . safe diving with him.’ Rather than being murdered, Tina . struggled and knocked off her husband's air supply and diving mask, . forcing him to resurface without her, Mr Bloomston said. She drowned on . her own, he said. ‘This is a tragic case,’ Mr Bloomston . said. ‘What's even more tragic is the blame Gabe has had to live with . this last number of years.’ He added that Tina’s father was the . beneficiary on her life insurance. That policy was worth only $33,000, . not the $165,000 claimed by prosecutors, he said, and a travel policy . for $45,000 was only to cover the cost of the trip. ‘There was no . financial motive,’ Mr Bloomston said. Mr Bloomston argued that Tina Watson . contributed to her own death by waiving an orientation dive and placing . too much weight in a device meant to help her stay underwater during the . dive. She panicked once during a diving . class in a flooded suburban rock quarry, Mr Bloomston said, suggesting . that she may have panicked again in the fatal dive. 'This is a tragic case. What's even more tragic is the blame Gabe has had to live with this last number of years' Brett Bloomston, defending . Mr Bloomston denied prosecution claims . that Watson was a highly trained rescue diver who should have been able . to save Tina, and instead said they were both ‘very inexperienced’ underwater. Watson initially was charged with . murder in Australia, after Tina’s body was found near Townsville, . Queensland, but he pleaded guilty to a lesser manslaughter charge and . served 18 months in prison. A grand jury in Alabama also indicted . him for capital murder as he allegedly planned his new bride's death . while still in the state. A judge granted a defence motion to have one . murder count dropped. Remarried: Gabe Watson remarried, to Kim Lewis, pictured, after being released from prison in Australia . Honeymoon Horror: The newlyweds were diving at the Great Barrier Reef off Australia when Tina died . Before Australian authorities would . release Watson to the U.S., Alabama had to agree to waive the death . penalty as a possible punishment, prosecutors said. He faces life in . prison if convicted. 'There was no financial motive' Brett Bloomston, defending . Australian authorities performed . exhaustive tests to try to recreate Tina Watson's death, which occurred . soon after the couple's wedding. A coroner’s report threw up some . interesting ideas. Tina was an inexperienced diver and he . had rescue certification, the report said. The Alabama trial poses . logistical challenges, as up to a dozen witnesses will be flown in from . Australia to testify. The state of Alabama has also . subpoenaed people from California to testify about what happened that . day on a dive boat called the Spoilsport, but it's unclear how many will . take the stand. See video here .
Gabe Watson, 34, of Alabama, allegedly drowned wife Tina, 26, in 2003 .
Admitted in police interview other divers may have thought 'something odd was going on' during his wife's last moments underwater .
Prosecution focused on his dive computer -  Watson became agitated when police refused to return it to him after his wife's death .
By . Mark Duell . Last updated at 2:18 PM on 16th February 2012 . The man accused of killing his new bride as they honeymooned in Australia wept as a police interview tape was played out in court, in which he described his failed attempts to resuscitate his wife. Gabe Watson, 34, is accused of drowning Tina Watson, 26, in 2003 by turning off her air supply when they were scuba diving, prosecutors say. During the taped interview, Watson told Townville detectives that he thought other divers in the Queensland vicinity would think 'something odd was going on,' as he struggled to save his wife. Arriving at court: Gabe Watson (centre) and his new wife Kim enter court on the third day of his trial for allegedly killing his wife Tina Watson during their 2003 honeymoon . Horrific death: Tina Thomas Watson is seen lying on the bottom of the sea in this chilling photo as a rescuer rushes to save her in October 2003 - this photo was shown in court . The police interview, recorded five . days after his wife's death, was played to the jury on the third day of . Watson's murder trial underway in Birmingham, Alabama. Watson said during the struggle he was breathing heavily and was attempting to activate his wife's buoyancy control vest. 'In . the back of my mind I was thinking these people could see us, or at . least think something was odd going on,' Watson told detectives. 'I pretty much lost it,' Watson told Townsville detectives. As the court listened to his voice, defence lawyer Brett Bloomston handed Watson a box of tissues and patted him on the shoulder. Watson and Tina Watson married in their home state of Alabama just 11 days before her death. They were in Australia on their honeymoon and were on the first . day of a week long diving trip off the coast of Queensland when she . died. Watson told . police 'five to seven minutes' into their dive over the SS Yongala . shipwreck they struggled against a strong current. He said Tina Watson got into . difficulty and at one point banged his mask and air regulator. He said he thought he kicked his wife with his fin to get some space from her and she floated away from him. Preparing: Gabe Watson, right, talks with his attorney Michael Hanle at the Mel Bailey Criminal Justice Center in Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday. He is accused of killing newly-wed bride Tina Watson . In court: Gabe Watson, with wife Kim, wait in the courtroom for jury selection to begin at the trial on Monday . 'She was out of arm's reach,' Watson said in the police interview. Jewellery: This was the ring being worn by Gabe Watson's new wife Kim outside court on Monday . Watson said he swam down to get her, but decided against chasing her to the seabed and instead headed for the surface. 'I remember shouting through my regulator 'Tina, Tina, Tina',' Watson told police. The jury of eight women and six men also looked at a haunting underwater photo taken by another diver of the death scene. It showed Tina sprawled in deep water as Watson swam to the surface. Prosecutors appeared to attempt to cast doubt on Watson's version of what happened. They believe Watson turned off his . wife's air supply while both were underwater and held her in a bear-hug . until she lost consciousness - before turning the air back on and . letting her sink. They elicited testimony that . Gabe Watson, now 34, was certified as an open water scuba diver, an . advanced diver, rescue diver and specialty diver. Earlier . yesterday, Townsville detective senior constable Kevin Gehringer, who . conducted two taped interviews with Watson, testified from the witness . box. Married again: Gabe Watson, along with his new wife Kim, prepares to enter the Mel Bailey Criminal Justice Center in Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday, ahead of jury selection for his trial . Was it murder? Gabe Watson says his wife Tina Watson died as the result of a terrible diving accident . On the day Tina . Watson died, the detective said Watson became agitated when told police . could not give him back his dive computer. The dive computer, which looks like a large watch, tracks a swimmer's dive. 'At . that stage he became a little agitated about not getting it that . night,' Det Snr Const Gehringer told the Jefferson County courtroom. The . dive computer, which Watson wore on his wrist while diving is . considered key by the prosecution to prove its case that Watson lied to . investigator. Prosecutors . contend that shortly after Watson and his wife entered the water for . their drive, Watson signaled to his wife to return to the boat because . his dive computer was beeping, indicating the battery was incorrectly . installed. He borrowed a coin from someone on the boat to remove the battery and turned it around, and the couple continued their dive. Prosecutors believe that it was a ploy to get his wife away from other divers so he . could drown her. They also argue that a dive computer wouldn't beep if . the battery was installed incorrectly - it would stay silent. Facing closure: Tommy and Cindy Thomas will finally see their former son-in-law tried for their daughter's murder when the case begins Monday in an Alabama courtroom . Watson's . lawyer, Brett Bloomstom, intends to present testimony that the . Australian police never contacted the computer's manufacturer to see if . the dive computer beeps when the battery is in upside down. Watson’s defence team claimed the . prosecution is based on ‘bumbling’ detectives in Australia believing . that a problem with a dive computer on his wrist proved he killed the . woman he loved. That mistake early in the . investigation made police wrongly see innocent actions and circumstances . as proof of a crime, defence lawyer Brett Bloomston told the court in . Birmingham, Alabama. 'Tina trusted her husband,’ Mr Arrington told the court, while Watson’s new wife Kim . Lewis, who bears a strong resemblance to Tina, sat listening. ‘She felt . safe diving with him.’ Rather than being murdered, Tina . struggled and knocked off her husband's air supply and diving mask, . forcing him to resurface without her, Mr Bloomston said. She drowned on . her own, he said. ‘This is a tragic case,’ Mr Bloomston . said. ‘What's even more tragic is the blame Gabe has had to live with . this last number of years.’ He added that Tina’s father was the . beneficiary on her life insurance. That policy was worth only $33,000, . not the $165,000 claimed by prosecutors, he said, and a travel policy . for $45,000 was only to cover the cost of the trip. ‘There was no . financial motive,’ Mr Bloomston said. Mr Bloomston argued that Tina Watson . contributed to her own death by waiving an orientation dive and placing . too much weight in a device meant to help her stay underwater during the . dive. She panicked once during a diving . class in a flooded suburban rock quarry, Mr Bloomston said, suggesting . that she may have panicked again in the fatal dive. 'This is a tragic case. What's even more tragic is the blame Gabe has had to live with this last number of years' Brett Bloomston, defending . Mr Bloomston denied prosecution claims . that Watson was a highly trained rescue diver who should have been able . to save Tina, and instead said they were both ‘very inexperienced’ underwater. Watson initially was charged with . murder in Australia, after Tina’s body was found near Townsville, . Queensland, but he pleaded guilty to a lesser manslaughter charge and . served 18 months in prison. A grand jury in Alabama also indicted . him for capital murder as he allegedly planned his new bride's death . while still in the state. A judge granted a defence motion to have one . murder count dropped. Remarried: Gabe Watson remarried, to Kim Lewis, pictured, after being released from prison in Australia . Honeymoon Horror: The newlyweds were diving at the Great Barrier Reef off Australia when Tina died . Before Australian authorities would . release Watson to the U.S., Alabama had to agree to waive the death . penalty as a possible punishment, prosecutors said. He faces life in . prison if convicted. 'There was no financial motive' Brett Bloomston, defending . Australian authorities performed . exhaustive tests to try to recreate Tina Watson's death, which occurred . soon after the couple's wedding. A coroner’s report threw up some . interesting ideas. Tina was an inexperienced diver and he . had rescue certification, the report said. The Alabama trial poses . logistical challenges, as up to a dozen witnesses will be flown in from . Australia to testify. The state of Alabama has also . subpoenaed people from California to testify about what happened that . day on a dive boat called the Spoilsport, but it's unclear how many will . take the stand. See video here .
to resuscitate his wife. Gabe Watson, 34, is accused of drowning Tina Watson, 26, in 2003 by he thought other divers in the Queensland vicinity would think 'something odd was going allegedly killing his wife Tina Watson during days after his wife's death, was played to the the detective said Watson became agitated when return to the boat because . his dive computer