Canal drowning misadventure

A Coroner’s Inquest held earlier this month determined that Shella Carson Tatum, also known as Tatum-Carter, died by misadventure after the truck he was driving flipped into a canal in the Grand Harbour area on 6 November 2009. It was a Friday, the Constitution Commencement holiday. 

Government pathologist Shrvana Jyoti said the physical cause of death was blunt force trauma and drowning, with alcoholic intoxication a contributing factor. Mr. Tatum’s blood/alcohol reading was .223; the legal limit for driving is .100. It was also discovered that Mr. Tatum was not wearing his glasses. 

Queen’s Coroner Margaret Ramsay-Hale read to the jury a statement by Mrs. Tatum, who said she and her husband went with friends on a boat ride to Kaibo, leaving from a dock behind Hurley’s at Grand Harbour. She thought her husband had five or six beers and two or three glasses of wine that day.  

She knew he was concerned about his sister, who was in hospital, and he felt “ripped off” by contractors working on the new home they were building. On the way back from Kaibo he started getting ignorant and agitated. He started arguing with her about silly things and at one point the boat captain turned up the music so he would not be heard. He did calm down after a while. 

One of the women on the boat said she did witness arguing, but then the couple seemed to have made up. 

When the boat docked, Mrs. Tatum made a phone call, suggesting meanwhile that Mr. Tatum help unload the boat. Instead, he went to his pick-up truck and drove off.  

Jeremy Superfine, who was out jogging, saw a truck coming toward him and it looked out of control. Then he thought the driver managed to get the truck under control, as he was clearly trying to correct himself and did end up getting onto the road. But his left wheels got caught on the dock wall and the truck flipped into the water. He and another man tried to get the driver out, but they were unsuccessful. 

Accident reconstructionist Vincent Walters said he observed tyre marks and uprooted grass from where the vehicle accelerated. He said the vehicle was driven along the grass verge; when the driver reached the roadway he swerved sharply to the left, lost control and went into the canal. The truck was found submerged in water about 44 feet from the edge of the canal. Given the 300-foot marks he saw in the grass and other measurements, Mr. Walters estimated the vehicle’s speed at 54mph. 

Later inspection of the vehicle showed an absence of stress marks on the seat belt, indicating that Mr. Tatum was not wearing it. His unrestrained body went forward and his head impacted the windshield.  

Special Constable David Wilson said he got the call about the incident at 4.45pm. When he got to the scene, water visibility was zero. He and PC Anderson swam in a search pattern to locate the truck. They found it but were unable to gain access because of water pressure on the doors. 

Rescue diver Ian Porter said he entered the water at 5.09pm. The vehicle was in 13 feet of water, upright on its wheels. Water temperature was 86 degrees. Mr. Porter said he pried a door open and was able to reach across and pull the driver out. Vital signs were absent. 

The pathologist’s summary of the incident indicated that Mr. Tatum was in the water about 30 minutes. 

A consultant engineer, Mr. Tatum was 41.