A US businessman was yesterday scheduled to leave jail in Aruba while prosecutors in the Dutch Caribbean island try to put him back behind bars as a suspect in the disappearance of his travelling companion.
Gary Giordano was due to be released into the custody of his lawyer after a judge ruled that prosecutors, after nearly four months of investigation, did not have enough evidence to continue holding him in pretrial detention.
Giordano, who denies any wrongdoing in the disappearance of Robyn Gardner, is free to leave the island. But prosecutors say they are still trying to build a case against him and will seek his extradition if an appeal’s court ruling expected yesterday issues a reversal and orders the 50-year-old businessman back to jail.
“The case does not end here. Mr Giordano will remain our prime suspect,” said Solicitor General Taco Stein.
Giordano has been a suspect since August 5, three days after reporting to police that Gardner was apparently pulled out to sea while they were snorkelling off the southern tip of the island. Her body has never been found despite extensive searches, leaving investigators with only a circumstantial case that a crime was even committed.
Aruban law allows for pretrial detention while authorities investigate a crime, but it is subject to a judge’s review and the threshold of evidence necessary to hold someone increases as times goes on. A judge ruled last week that prosecutors had not met the requirement and ordered release for Giordano, of Gaithersburg, Maryland.
