Tourist from UK charged with trying to kill daughter-in-law in pool, FL cops say

A family from the United Kingdom engaged in a multi-generational brawl while vacationing in Florida, leading to the patriarch being charged with attempted murder, according to investigators.

The incident happened shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 3, at the Solterra Resort near Orlando, and began as a squabble over the grandchildren, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

Details of why it turned physical have not been released.

“According to the victim and witnesses, 62-year-old Mark Raymond Gibbon of Beaconsfield, England, tried to drown his 33-year-old daughter-in-law during the argument,” the sheriff’s office said.

“The victim told detectives that she and Gibbon began arguing about his grandchildren while they were in the vacation rental home swimming pool. Gibbon is accused of pushing and holding the victim’s head under water multiple times, preventing her from breathing.”

The victim’s 9-year-old daughter jumped into the water to try to save her mother, officials said.

“The victim stated that Gibbon only stopped after a pair of sisters from Ohio who were vacationing next door said that they called the sheriff’s office,” officials said.

Gibbon was arrested and charged with felony attempted second-degree murder and two counts of misdemeanor battery, the sheriff’s office said.

The Solterra Resort in Davenport is about 30-mile drive southwest from Orlando.

This story was originally published August 5, 2025 at 8:20 AM with the headline "Tourist from UK charged with trying to kill daughter-in-law in pool, FL cops say."