A 59-year-old Jamaican farmer who had been on the run for 21 years after he reportedly slashed his common-law wife’s throat has signed the consent form to be extradited to the United States.
Arnold Gabbidon, who was captured in Clarendon on August 5, after fleeing the USA in 1994, waived his rights to an extradition hearing and signed the consent form when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on Thursday before Magistrate Simone Wolf-Reece.
Gabbidon first appeared in court last week Friday, but was given time by Senior Magistrate Judith Pusey to obtain legal representation after he asked the magistrate if it was a good thing or not for him to sign the extradition consent form.
But Thursday when he returned to court, Gabbidon advised Magistrate Wolf-Reece that he has decided to sign the form.
The fugitive is wanted in the United States for assault with intent to murder; burglary with an assault on a lawful occupant; mayhem; assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and threat to commit the crime of murder.
Reports are that in 1994, Gabbidon attempted to kill his common-law wife by using a knife to cut her throat and stabbing her several times. He then allegedly left her in the house to die; however, she survived the ordeal.
A warrant was then issued for his arrest on January 14, 1994, by the Superior Court for Middlesex County, within the jurisdiction of the USA. Gabbidon, however, fled to Jamaica where he was hiding until his capture.
He was interviewed and a warrant of arrest executed under the Extradition Act of 1991.