American in Dominican Republic Fears Extradition

An American detained in the Dominican Republic and sought for extradition by Honduras, where he is accused of murdering three women, asked to be sent to the United States, alleging he has received death threats.

Gilbert Reyes, arrested in March, is the main suspect in the January triple homicide of María Antonia Cruz, Nikendra McCoy and Dione Solórzano on Honduras' Roatan island. One was his ex-partner.

The victims went out with Reyes one night in early January. The next day, the accused fled Honduras and hours later the women's bullet-riddled bodies were found in a vehicle, according to local press.

"My life and my family's life have been under constant threats. Phone calls to my family saying that once I arrive in the country, they are going to kill me," Reyes said during a hearing in Santo Domingo on his potential extradition to Honduras.

"I would like to be sent back to my country, the United States, and they can decide what to do with me and preserve my rights," he added in English via an interpreter.

The extradition ruling was postponed indefinitely. Reyes' lawyer Juan Ramón Báez cited "the danger of prisons" in Honduras and questioned whether a fair trial was possible given the case's media attention.

Honduras' ambassador said a plane was ready and there were "maximum guarantees" Reyes would get due process and rights respected. She called the death threat claim an "argument they were going to wield" requiring proof.

Reyes, a California resident, frequently visited Roatan island.

Honduras' Observatory of Violence recorded 380 femicides in 2023 versus 308 in 2022 in the country of 10 million, with 95% unpunished, its director Migdonia Ayestas said.