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Thomas J. Morgan -
David Swain and his children declared Friday that they are thankful for the decision last week by an appeals court in the Virgin Islands to overturn the former Jamestown Town Council member’s conviction for the murder of his wife. They insisted he was innocent, and appealed for privacy.
The joint family statement represented the first indication that Swain had returned to the United States. The statement did not address whether he had returned to Rhode Island.
Swain’s children, Jennifer Swain Bloom and Jeremy Swain, said, “We are grateful that our father is free ... We never doubted his innocence.”
David Swain, 55, who was freed from a prison sentence of 25 years to life, denied any role in the death of his wife, Shelley Tyre. “I miss her every day,” he said. “She died an accidental death while scuba diving ... I had nothing whatsoever to do with this tragedy.”
Swain’s words and those of his children were contained in a statement issued by Boston lawyer Timothy J. Bradl.
After being found culpable for Tyre’s death in civil court, Swain had been judged guilty in criminal court of murdering her while on vacation in 1999.
Prosecutors in Tortola alleged that Swain, during a dive on a shipwreck, turned off Tyre’s air supply and held her down in 80 feet of water.
An appellate panel a week ago overturned the conviction and barred a retrial of the case. It found that Swain’s defense — that his wife’s death had been accidental — had been prejudiced by the instructions the trial judge issued to jurors. The panel declined to order a new trial because of the amount of time that had elapsed.
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