Swain found guilty of wife's murder

TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands (WPRI) - A jury in the British Virgin Islands has found former Jamestown Town Councilor David Swain guilty of the murder of his wife, confirmed Aisha F. Hill, Communications Officer for the Deputy Governor's Office.

Shelley Tyre died during a scuba diving trip in Tortola back in 1999. Swain surfaced, his wife did not.

She was later found unconscious and efforts to revive her were unsuccessful. The drowning was originally ruled an accident, but investigators in the British Virgin Islands filed murder charges against Swain eight years later after a civil jury in Rhode Island found him liable for his wife's death.

During the criminal trial, prosecutors accused Swain of killing Tyre, so he could pursue a relationship with another woman. The defense claimed Tyre might have panicked underwater, causing her accidental death.

Swain has been held in a jail on the island of Tortola for nearly two years, as the criminal case against him slowly proceeded.

In the British Virgin Islands, juries are given just four hours to reach a verdict. Swain faces the possibility of life in prison.

Hill said a sentencing date for Swain has not yet been set.