May 2009    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 24, No. 5   What's this?

Roatán Dive Guide Charged With Attempted Murder

from the May, 2009 issue of Undercurrent  

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On January 14, Waihuka Adventure Divers co-owner Maurilio Mirabella was following his routine: bringing a batch of divers to Cordelia Bank, three miles south of downtown Coxen Hole, to swim with sharks while he fed them. But on that day, Willy DeBeer, a dive guide with Sueño Del Mar, followed him there with his own group of divers. When Mirabella saw them after finishing his group’s dive, he was furious. He followed DeBeer’s group down, approached the diver he thought was DeBeer and tried to turn off his air. Turns out the diver was DeBeer’s girlfriend, Dana Cook. DeBeer swam over to rescue her and, as horrified divers from both parties watched, the two dive guides got into an underwater scuffle at 65 feet. Eventually, they stopped and everyone surfaced. DeBeer reported the incident to authorities (Cook says the fight was recorded on video), and the charge of attempted murder was filed against Mirabella. ...