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-------------------- Survivors Sue in Doria Diver's Death -------------------- Parents, fiancee blame trainers and boat owner By Joe Haberstroh STAFF WRITER February 6, 2002 The parents and former fiancee of a scuba diver who died while exploring the wreck of the passenger liner Andrea Doria have filed a $35 million federal lawsuit against the people who trained him and the owner of the Montauk-based charter boat that brought him there. Christopher Murley, 44, of Cincinnati, was one of five divers to die over the summers of 1998 and 1999 at the Andrea Doria wreck site when he drowned while preparing to descend to the sunken ship. It lies 180 feet below the surface, 100 miles from Montauk. Like the four other divers, Murley had been taken to the site in July 1999 by the Seeker, a diving charter boat that takes more scuba explorers to the Andrea Doria than any other boat. The lawsuit, filed in July, accuses Murley's scuba instructors, the certification agency Technical Diving International and Seeker operators Daniel Crowell and Jennifer Samulski of failing to ensure that Murley was prepared to make the dives and of providing him inadequate supervision. Besides involving one of the Northeast's top dive boats, the lawsuit pits two attorneys who are themselves highly qualified divers. The attorney for Murley's parents, Richard Lefkowitz, has dived on the Andrea Doria, and one of the defendants' attorneys, William Turbeville II of Boca Raton, Fla., has been an instructor and is certified to "technical" depths - below the recreational limit of 130 feet. In filings at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, Turbeville argues that Murley signed release forms that acknowledge the danger involved in deep-sea diving and give up his right to sue. The release forms are expected to be the cornerstone of the defense argument to dismiss the lawsuit. The Massachusetts state medical examiner's office listed Murley's cause of death as drowning, with obesity and Murley's enlarged heart cited as "other significant factors," according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Murley, who stood 6-7 and weighed 350 pounds, also had diabetes. Lefkowitz, a Garden City attorney, argues in court papers that Murley's instructors had cleared him for the high-level diving certification recommended for diving at the Andrea Doria even though he reportedly had not completed enough dives to earn it. "Our position is, Murley had no business being out there, no business at all," Lefkowitz said. Crowell and Samulski operate the Seeker as part of their company, Deep Explorers Inc., in Brielle, N.J., but they dock the boat in Montauk during the summer so they can ferry divers to the Northeast's premier wreck-diving sites. None is more revered than the Andrea Doria, which sank in July 1956. Strong underwater currents, limited visibility and the difficulties presented when entering the deteriorating 697-foot wreck have contributed to 12 diving fatalities there since 1981. Murley died on July 21, 1999. Crowell has argued that Murley's demise should not be considered a diving death because Murley was not underwater at the time, merely proceeding to the rope that descended to the wreck when he experienced an unknown physical problem. A Coast Guard investigation released a year ago concluded that Murley's instructors should not have allowed him to dive because of poor health. Joe Jackson, Murley's instructor and a defendant in the current lawsuit, said in response that Murley had supplied him with a letter from a cardiologist clearing him for the activity. Jackson, reached in Cincinnati, declined to comment on the lawsuit, as did Turbeville. Crowell could not be reached. Copyright (c) 2002, Newsday, Inc. -------------------- This article originally appeared at: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lidive062577225feb06.story Michael C. Barnette Association of Underwater Explorers Because it's there...somewhere...maybe. http://www.mikey.net/aue _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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