JAMESTOWN, R.I. - An accusation of murder and the recent arrest of a local dive shop owner have shaken anew this small wealthy island community near Newport.
Many residents know both the accused, former Town Council member David Swain, and the victim's parents, his former in-laws, Richard and Lisa Tyre, who say that Swain killed their daughter, Shelley, while scuba diving in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands in 1999.
Swain was arrested Wednesday at the request of Virgin Island authorities. He remains in custody at an undisclosed federal detention facility, pending an extradition hearing in Rhode Island Federal Court next week.
Yesterday several local business owners declined to comment, other than to say that the case has polarized the town of about 6,000 people, and that they did not want to alienate customers. Several explained their dilemma similarly: "This is a small island," they said.
Jamestown is now full of the kind of controversy to which it is completely unaccustomed. And while some townspeople are uneasy about saying whose side they are on, others are not.
Steven Moreau, a former business partner with Swain in a boating venture, was at his boat shop yesterday and said Swain seemed in good spirits earlier this week when he came to the shop to return rental equipment. Moreau said that Swain could at times come off as arrogant, but that the two never had any problems.
"It seems like kind of a dirty trick to pop in on the guy and take him away like that," Moreau said.
Catheryn Jamieson, a beauty salon owner in town, said she hopes the arrest brings closure.
"If he's guilty, what a sociopath and a liar to be walking around," Jamieson said.
Of the Tyres, she said, "Their courage is amazing."
Skip Walls, getting his hair cut at a local barber shop, said he knows both parties. He used to sail with Swain and supported his run for town office several years ago. He said he approached Swain after Tyre's parents sued their former son-in-law, to learn his side of the story, but he declined to say what Swain told him, calling it private.
He said he and his wife also belonged to a book club with the Tyres.
"Here you've got a small town," he said. "We're a small-knit group. It's sort of our Peyton Place."
Shelley Tyre died on the last day of a trip to Tortola with her husband and another couple. She and Swain had been exploring two wrecks, but only Swain surfaced from their dive.
A friend on the boat with the couple found Tyre's body on the ocean floor. Her death was initially ruled a tragic accident, but plagued by questions about Swain's reaction to the loss, the Tyres filed a wrongful death suit in 2002.
Last year a civil jury in Providence found Swain liable and awarded the Tyres $4.8 million, said J. Renn Olenn, the family's lawyer. Swain did not face criminal charges until this week, when he was taken into custody.
Prompted by the civil verdict, authorities in the British Virgin Islands said they would take a fresh look at the case.
Swain has maintained his innocence He has also declared bankruptcy and appealed the civil verdict.
The Tyres, who live a few miles from Swain, said they often saw him out and about in this one-stoplight town, with its mansion-lined waterfront and at least one former governor as a resident.
Richard Tyre, 80, said the difficulty of living locally was magnified, because as a member of the Conservation Commission, he had to work with his former son-in-law for years after his daughter's death.
The Tyres held hands yesterday as they spoke to reporters during a press conference at their lawyer's office. They said the case has taken such a toll that they have put their house up for sale.
"It's very hard to be constantly reminded," Lisa Tyre, 79, said. "Everything on the island has some hint of her. It's very painful."
The couple said they are relieved by the arrest.
"We're walking on clouds," Richard Tyre said. "It doesn't bring Shelley back, but it does feel awfully good that there is justice in the world."
Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse@globe.com.
