text: BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- A Jefferson County judge has dismissed the capital murder charge against Gabe Watson, ending his prosecution in the death of his wife, Tina, while scuba diving during their Australian honeymoon in 2003. 
   
   
   
   Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tommy Nail said there was no evidence that a reasonable person could consider to be proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Watson, 34, committed an Alabama crime by intentionally killing Tina Thomas Watson for monetary gain on Oct. 22, 2003. 
   
   
   
   "The evidence is sorely lacking that it was an intentional act," Nail said this afternoon in a response to a defense motion for acquittal after the prosecution completed its case. "The only way to convict him of intentional murder is to speculate. Nobody knows exactly what happened in the water. I'm sure we'll never know."Nail also said the prosecution's evidence that Watson hoped to benefit financially by killing his bride of 11 days was a stretch and he heard no evidence proving a profit motive.The courtroom erupted in cheers from Watson's supporters. Watson, holding hands with his wife, walked out of the Jefferson County criminal justice building at 2:25 p.m. today. He stood silent as his attorney, Brett Bloomston, made a brief statement to a crowd of news reporters.Bloomston said he hopes this gives closure to Gabe Watson and both families. "It has been a nightmare for Gabe and his family and a nightmare for Tina's family," he said.Watson, his wife, and attorneys then quickly jumped into an awaiting black SUV and drove off.David Watson, the defendant's father, said he was relieved."I'm just thrilled for Gabe," he said. "I think he can finally start the healing process and put his lilfe together. We are so sorry for the Thomases' loss. I'm sure they'll never get over it."The Thomas family left without commenting.The prosecution rested its case following a lunch break today. Then defense lawyers Brett Bloomston, Joe Basgier and Mike Hanle asked Nail to dismiss the case, a motion that routinely is made before the defense case begins.Bloomston said the only eyewitness who saw Gabe and Tina Thomas Watson together underwater testified he thought Gabe Watson was trying to save his wife's life. The witness even said he was shocked when he was subpoenaed to a murder trial, Bloomston said."The state is relying on speculation, suspicion and opinion," Bloomston told Nail. "The state failed to show Gabe Watson revceived any economic gain or attempted economic gain in this jurisdiction."Watson was charged in 2008 with intentional murder in Australia, and pleaded guilty in 2009 to the lesser charge of negligent manslaughter. He served 18 months in prison there before he was released and sent to face the Alabama charge.To convict him in Alabama, prosecutors had to show some element of the crime occurred in the state. Prosecutors claimed Watson talked about insurance with his wife before the honeymoon, including a policy from her job in Hoover, and he tried to collect on insurance after her deathEarlier today, Tina Thomas Watson's father fought tears as he described to a Jefferson County jury how he found out his daughter died on her honeymoon and why he became suspicious that defendant Gabe Watson killed her.Watson did not call his in-laws to tell them she died while diving inside the Great Barrier Reef in Australia on Oct. 22, 2003, testified Tommy Thomas. The Thomas family found out from the defendant's father more than a day after the death, he said.The dismissal by Nail came this afternoon after the prosecutors had rested their case against Watson.Tommy Thomas was the last witness for the prosecution. 
   
   
   
   
   
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   ||||| A judge on Thursday acquitted a man accused of drowning his newlywed wife during a honeymoon diving trip to Australia eight years ago, saying in an unusual ruling that prosecutors did not prove the man intentionally killed his wife to collect on a life insurance policy. 
   
   Tommy Thomas identifies a picture of his daughter Tina Thomas Watson for Prosecutor Don Valeska, right, and the jury during the Gabe Watson capital murder trial at the Mel Bailey Criminal Justice Center... (Associated Press) 
   
   Gabe Watson, left, stands during a break in his capital murder trial at the Mel Bailey Criminal Justice Center in Birmingham, Ala., Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012. An Alabama judge acquitted Watson, accused... (Associated Press) 
   
   Circuit Judge Tommy Nail issued his ruling before the defense had even presented its case in the two-week-long trial and before jurors were given the case to deliberate. Prosecutor Don Valeska, head of the violent crimes division for the state attorney general's office, said he never before had a trial end in a judge's acquittal in 41 years of trying cases. 
   
   Gabe Watson, 34, had faced life in prison without parole if convicted of murdering his wife, Tina Thomas Watson, in 2003. He already served 18 months in an Australian prison after pleading guilty there to a manslaughter charge involving negligence. 
   
   Nail agreed with defense arguments that prosecutors failed to show Watson intentionally killed the woman. Prosecutors claimed he drowned her for insurance money, but the only eyewitness testified he thought Watson was trying to save the woman. 
   
   The state's evidence was "sorely lacking" and did not prove Watson had any financial motive. 
   
   "I don't think anyone knows for sure what happened in the water down there," Nail said. He repeatedly clashed with prosecutors during both the trial and earlier hearings. 
   
   Defense attorneys had argued that Watson didn't stand to gain anything monetarily because Tina Watson's father was the beneficiary of her life insurance policy. They contended her death was an accident. 
   
   Gabe Watson's father, David, hugged his son in the courtroom after the judge made his ruling. He said every court that had looked at the case determined Gabe did not intentionally kill his wife. 
   
   "I'm just so relieved. Hopefully he can put his life back together," David Watson said. 
   
   "I hope everyone can begin to heal. The rest of his life will determine his legacy. Gabe is a good kid." 
   
   Gabe Watson left the courtroom hand-in-hand with his second wife without commenting to reporters. 
   
   Tina Watson's father, Tommy Thomas, had testified earlier in the day. He described how his family's grief and shock over Tina Watson's death turned to suspicion of Gabe Watson. 
   
   Valeska, the prosecutor, walked with his arm around Tommy Thomas, who appeared to be in shock and stunned by the judge's decision. 
   
   "It should have gone to the jury for them to decide," Thomas said of the judge's decision. 
   
   Thomas had testified earlier that shortly after the death, his wife, Cindy, was worried about Gabe Watson's condition. However, evidence showed relations between Watson and his wife's family frayed quickly as the Thomases began having doubts about what happened and Gabe Watson began asking for Tina Watson's belongings. 
   
   Gabe Watson's father called to tell them about the woman's death more than 15 hours after she drowned, Thomas said, and Tina Watson's family never heard from Gabe Watson until they attempted to contact him through the U.S. consulate in Australia. 
   
   Thomas said that in a phone call from Australia, Watson claimed his wife gave him a thumbs up underwater, indicating she wanted to go back to the surface. Watson said he was leading her back to a rope when she panicked, knocked off his mask and air hose, and began sinking, according to Thomas. 
   
   But during a later talk at a lawyer's office, Thomas said, Watson changed his story and said the woman indicated she wanted to go back to the rope leading to the top rather than go directly to the surface. Staring directly at Watson from the witness stand, Thomas said he asked his former son-in-law at that time: "When Tina gave him the thumbs up sign to go to the surface, why didn't he just take her to the surface?" 
   
   The judge blocked Thomas from testifying about Watson's alleged desire to increase the woman's life insurance policy, a blow for prosecutors who earlier had been barred from presenting other evidence about Watson's actions after the death. 
   
   Montre Carodine, a law professor at the University of Alabama, said the judge's decision to end the trial without the defense even presenting evidence was a "serious indictment" of the prosecution's case, particularly considering it was a capital trial. 
   
   "It means the evidence was weak," she said.
target: – It's normally just a legal routine: After the prosecution rests, the defense stands up and asks the judge to dismiss all charges. Today, though, a judge in Alabama surprised everyone and agreed to do just that. As a result, Gabe Watson, accused of drowning his wife on their honeymoon in Australia in 2003, is a free man, reports the Birmingham News. "The evidence is sorely lacking that it was an intentional act," said Judge Tommy Nail. "The only way to convict him of intentional murder is to speculate. Nobody knows exactly what happened in the water. I'm sure we'll never know." Tina Watson drowned while they were scuba diving, and the only witness thought Gabe was actually trying to save her life underwater. Watson served 18 months in prison in Australia after pleading guilty to a manslaughter charge related to negligence, notes AP.