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February 24, 2006

Jury finds Swain liable in wife's death

Journal file photo SWAIN, in court earlier this week

PROVIDENCE -- A jury hearing a civil case found today that a Jamestown scuba shop owner killed his wife during a 1999 diving trip in the Caribbean, and it awarded her parents more than $3.5 million in damages.

The Superior Court jury found that enough evidence was presented to prove that David Swain, 50, a former Jamestown Town Council member, acted with "malice aforethought" in killing Shelley Tyre, 46, off the island of Tortola.

The five women and one man on the jury returned with their verdict at about 11:45 a.m. after deliberating for a little more than three hours over two days.

Tyre's parents, Richard and Lisa Tyre of Jamestown, brought the wrongful-death suit against Swain, alleging that Swain killed their daughter for money at a time when he was pursuing a relationship with another woman.

-- Journal staff writer Tom Mooney

Posted by Jack Perry  at 12:20 PM | Permalink