Former Jamestown town councilor David Swain was arrested over …
A Caribbean appeals court said there was not enough evidence to…
Three judges in the British Virgin Islands have overturned the …
Updated: Tuesday, 10 Nov 2009, 7:38 PM EST
Published : Tuesday, 10 Nov 2009, 9:51 AM EST
TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands (AP) - A judge in the British Virgin Islands says former Jamestown Town Councilman, David Swain, must serve at least 25 years of his life sentence for killing his wife while diving in the Caribbean in 1999.
David Swain faced a mandatory sentence of life in prison following his murder conviction last month.
The defense asked that the 53-year-old be eligible for parole after 18 years. But the judge sided with the prosecutor and sentenced him to at least 25 years in Her Majesty's Prison at Balsam Ghut on the island of Tortola.
The case drew attention because local authorities initially found no evidence of a crime.
Swain was charged with murder in the British Virgin Islands after a civil court in the Rhode Island found him responsible for killing Shelley Tyre.
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