Robyn Gardner Also Bought Insurance Policy: Suspect's Lawyer
Gary Giordano's attorney, Jose Baez, says both parties took out insurance policies before Robyn Gardner disappeared on August 2. Joe Burbank-Pool/Getty Images(MIAMI) -- The attorney for Gary Giordano says the now-missing U.S. woman his client traveled to Aruba with last month, Robyn Gardner, also took out her own insurance policy for the trip.
"Yes, the two of them had policies on each other," Jose Baez, the newly hired defense attorney for Giordano said on ABC's Good Morning America. "Now, of course, since Gary was paying for the trip, Gary was the beneficiary of Robyn's policy."
Giordano submitted an insurance policy on Gardner July 30, one day before the pair, who met on an online swingers' website, left for a weeklong trip to Aruba.
Gardner, 35, has been missing since Aug. 2. Giordano, 50, has told authorities that the two went snorkeling and that the Maryland woman was swept out to sea by a strong current.
Baez told ABC News it was not uncommon for his client to take out insurance before going on a trip.
"Every time Mr. Giordano has traveled this year, whether it's been with Robyn Gardner or other individuals, he, in fact, had another companion that he traveled with, he got the same insurance," said Baez, the same attorney who represented Casey Anthony in her recent murder trial.
He also fought back against claims from the prosecution and Gardner's family and friends that Giordano was eager to cash in on the $1.5 million insurance policy on Gardner.
Giordano contacted the insurance company four times in the days after Gardner vanished.
"They're not life insurance policies," Baez said. "What they are basically are travel insurance, so what this covers is medical, dental, car rental and a whole slew of other things, including accidental death."
Giordano, of Gaithersburg, Md., has denied any wrongdoing in connection with Gardner's disappearance. He was arrested Aug. 5 and is being held by police in Aruba as the investigation into Gardner's presumed death continues.
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