Woman details affair during Swain trial

TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands (AP) - A Rhode Island man accused of killing his wife while scuba diving told another woman several months before the death that she was his "soulmate" and that he was ready to leave "for good," according to evidence presented in court Wednesday.

In a letter dated October 1998, David Swain called Mary Basler his "playmate" and said he struggled with how they could be together without hurting each other or other people, prosecutors said.

"A lot of me would like to come hustle you up and leave the country for good to enjoy life elsewhere," the letter stated. "I'm waiting to be with you, but I can't change this mess I've gotten into anytime soon."

In the letter, he called Basler "soulmate of mine."

Prosecutors allege that Swain, 53, killed his wife to pursue a romance with Basler.

Swain, of Jamestown, maintains his innocence, and his defense lawyer says they will show the drowning of the 46-year-old woman  was a tragic accident.

Basler, a chiropractor from Warwick, said she met Swain while taking lessons through his dive shop. She said she invited him to  her home in 1998, and that Swain confided that he and his wife, Shelley Tyre, were having problems.

"He did not explain the nature of those difficulties," Basler testified. "I said something to the effect that, if he was unhappy, to either fix his marriage or get divorced."

Basler said she was surprised when Swain kissed her that night because she did not know he was attracted to her. Basler testified
that she was not intimate with him that night.

The trial is in its second week and is being held in the British Virgin Islands, where Swain and Tyre went on a scuba diving trip in  1999.

A forensic specialist testified Tuesday that he believes Swain wrestled Tyre from behind and shut off her air supply. A scuba product developer also concluded her mask was torn off and that somebody had to "jab" her fin for it to become embedded in the sand.

The March 1999 drowning was initially ruled an accident, but Swain was charged with murder after a jury found him responsible in a 2006 civil trial in Rhode Island. Swain was extradited to the British Virgin Islands a year later and has been in jail since.

In the civil suit, Tyre's parents accused Swain of killing their daughter because he was romancing another woman and because the couple's prenuptial agreement denied him money if they divorced.

Before his wife's death, Swain wrote Basler at least three letters, which were presented as evidence Wednesday.

Basler said she sent a condolence letter to Swain when he returned from Tortola, and that he called her soon after to meet at a restaurant.

"I don't recall him discussing any details with me" of the death, she said. "I don't recall there being a purpose, other than to offer friendship."

She testified in an occasional hesitant and stammering manner that she began to see Swain "intimately" in May 1999 -- about two  months after the death. She said they took a break because he "was going through a difficult emotional time," and that she ended  their "fling" in late 2000.