A US man convicted of manslaughter in his wife’s honeymoon death was deported yesterday from Australia to the US, where he is likely to face murder charges for the 2003 drowning.
Gabe Watson, 33, boarded a flight from Melbourne accompanied by Australian Immigration Department staff and Queensland state police officers, Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said.
Watson had been in immigration custody since completing an 18-month prison sentence earlier this month. Australia delayed his deportation until it received a pledge from the US government that it would not seek the death penalty against Watson.
Prosecutors in Alabama, Watson’s home and a pro-death penalty state, want to try him again over his wife’s death, and are expected to seek murder charges.
Bowen said Watson returned voluntarily after both Alabama and US federal authorities guaranteed that he would not face the death penalty.
“The Australian government received assurances from the United States government that should Gabe Watson be returned to the US, the death penalty would not be sought, imposed or carried out in relation to this crime,” Bowen said.
Under Australia’s Extradition Act, a person cannot be deported to face prosecution on a capital charge unless there is an assurance the death penalty will not be imposed.
Watson’s lawyer, Adrian Braithwaite, said his client was happy to go: “He’s looking forward to returning home and successfully defending himself if there’s a trial there.”
Watson’s wife of 11 days, 26-year-old Tina Watson, drowned during a 2003 scuba diving trip on the Great Barrier Reef with her husband, an accomplished diver. Last year, Watson — who had remarried — traveled to Australia to face trial.
When Watson pleaded guilty to the lesser manslaughter charge last year, he was sentenced to 18 months — a punishment Tina Watson’s family and Alabama authorities slammed as far too lenient.
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