Suspect in Robyn Gardner Disappearance Tries to Cash Insurance Policy

Gary Giordano, who as of this moment is the only named suspect in Robyn Gardner’s disappearance in Aruba, reportedly took out a 1.5 million dollar insurance policy on Gardner a few days before the trip. In addition, according to ABC News, Giordano recently tried to redeem that policy, which named him as beneficiary, within two days of reporting Gardner missing.

On August 17th, Aruba Solicitor General Taco Stein stated, “we knew from Mr. Giordano himself that travel insurance was taken out and that’s what we are investigating. It was subpoenaed and we are investigating that material to see if it bears relevance to the investigation.”

This policy made many people question Giordano’s motives because it is unusual to take out a policy for a week-long rendezvous in Aruba. What’s even more unusual is that Gardner has a boyfriend, Robert Forester, whom she lived with in Maryland and had discussed marrying.

“To be honest, I was saddened to hear it. I can’t believe that Robyn would ever sign something like that voluntarily. Maybe if she was forced to, maybe if she was misinformed to what it was,” Forester said.

According to People magazine, new information came to light about the relationship between Giordano and Gardner, who were found posing together in photographs described as “beyond pornographic” on Giordano’s camera. People magazine reported that Stein revealed the information about the photos.

A former special agent for the FBI, Brad Garrett, mentioned that this latest revelation raises further questions about Giordano’s intention in bringing Gardner to Aruba.

“Was this premeditated? Had he planned all along to lure her to Aruba and kill her for the insurance money? It has that flavor to it, but we’ll have to see how evidence bears out,” Garrett said. “It becomes extremely important when you add all the other pieces to what we know about Mr. Giordano. By adding this piece it obviously takes on a completely different context than preventative insurance of two people.”

Garrett also noted that in domestic homicides, it is common for one spouse to take out an insurance policy on the other a short time before they die. He stated, “It’s not uncommon for people that have a mindset to kill another person to get life insurance,” he said.

He added that it will be important evidence in the building of a circumstantial case against Giordano if a body is never recovered.

“The key with this case, assuming you don’t find Robyn Gardner, is that you’re going to have to put together a very strong circumstantial case– that it was premeditated, that he used a ruse to get her there, for example,” he said. “When you add this to the apparent behavior of treating women in a certain fashion, stalking or potentially violent, it certainly adds to the case. Added to all the other things, it’s substantial.”

Details have also emerged about the hours leading up to Gardner’s disappearance. Blood was found not far from the beach where Gardner was supposedly snorkeling when she was swept out to sea.

A police source in Aruba stated that restaurant staff at the Rum Reef Bar & Grill noticed Gardner acting woozy while she and Giordano ate there on the afternoon of her disappearance. Giordano later stated that they’d been drinking vodka at the Marriot before dinner and that she’d taken sleeping pills earlier in the day.

Authorities also note that they found blood on a rock behind the dive shop at Rum Reef, which is the last place the two were seen together. On surveillance video from the restaurant, Giordano is seen in his rental car parked in the back of the bar and restaurant twice, which, according to the police source, he told police was because he wanted to park in the shade. No one else is visible through the car’s tinted windows.

Investigators have also stated that they had trouble identifying Giordano in surveillance videos due to the number of times he changed his toupees.

At 6:20 that night, on the day of her disappearance, police received the call, and 20 minutes later they began searching the area. Then, according to police, Giordano left the search so he could return to his hotel room and take a nap.

Three days later, Giordano returned his rental car and headed for the airport, where a ticket agent asked him about his travel companion, to which he responded, “she’s taking another flight,” police said.