Shelley’s Last Breath: 48 Hours
Reprint from May 11 2010
Last Saturday 48 Hours featured the story of Shelley Tyre and David Swain, a married couple who took a Caribbean vacation. While on a dive, the two separated according to David, and when David surfaced, Shelley did not. Shelley died on that dive. Was it an accident or murder?
Read moreDavid Swain was eventually convicted of murdering his wife, and I have to say that I agreed with the verdict. When 48 Hours interviewed David, it appeared to be after the verdict, which we must remember would subdue or eliminate clues to deception as the high stakes are gone, though in David’s situation, I believe clues are still present.
David has absolutely no emotions about the loss of his wife. He doesn’t give us reasonable answers to fair questions, which leads me to believe he isn’t a victim. When asked how he felt when his in-laws thought he killed their daughter, David said he felt sad. That just doesn’t fit with a man who is wrongly accused of a murder he didn’t commit– the murder of his wife! He should be angry, but when questioned if he was, he said her parents didn’t understand diving. I’m not buying it.
David quit CPR within “minutes”, too, which is not common for professionals and David was an EMT. One witness said that David was “emphatic” his wife was dead, which surprised people, and when helped arrived, David said he didn’t want any extraordinary measures taken — he’d seen dead bodies before. Most people who lose a loved one are the last to give up hope. Why was David so accepting of Shelley’s death so quickly?
David denied that he had any affair with Mary Bassler to the point it was absurd, if you ask me. Why would he do that if he was honest? You can see a copy of a letter he wrote to Mary here.
Another thing that tipped me off was the fact that he wants us to believe he is a non-emotional guy–that’s why he isn’t showing emotions for his wife. But if you watch David when they talk about his brother killing his mother, amazingly, David has emotions! He feels pain at the loss of his mother some 30 years ago, but when it comes to the recent death of his wife there is nothing! Isn’t that interesting? Obviously, one death pained him while the other one didn’t, sad to say. If he didn’t feel emotions, it would be across the board, but its not. I could go on and on…
But by far the most peculiar thing I saw on 48 Hours was what David said himself. At approximately 19:00 minutes into the show, David said, “Everybody keeps thinking that I’m doing all this for money. I’m just as happy being flat broke as I am when I’m fat and rich. Probably happier flat broke. Less hassle.”
What?
Did David just make himself culpable? Everybody keeps thinking I am doing all this for the money”. If you are a victim, do you feel any culpability whatsoever? If you were innocent, wouldn’t you say, “People think I did this for the money.” Why is he still “doing all this”?? He is in prison for Pete’s sake. I think it is the tense of the words that he used which really set me off.
Why is he still in action?
