Way cleared for Gabe Watson's deportation and trial in the US

THE way has been cleared for honeymoon killer Gabe Watson to face trial in the US after Australia accepted assurances he won't face execution there.

THE way has been cleared for honeymoon killer Gabe Watson to face trial in the US after Australia accepted assurances he won't face the death penalty if convicted.

The Australian government had sought  assurances from Washington that Mr Watson would be spared the death penalty if convicted after being deported to his home state of Alabama, where he is expected to be charged with murder.

Mr Watson has been held in immigration detention in Melbourne since being released from a Queensland prison last week, having served 18 months' jail for the manslaughter of wife Tina Thomas during a 2003 scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef.

A spokesman for the Department of Immigration said it was now satisfied Australia could meet its international treaty obligations not to repatriate anyone to a place where they faced capital punishment.

Mr Watson is now expected to be deported “as soon as possible”.

“The Australian government has received assurances from the US government that should Mr Watson be removed to the US, the death penalty would not be sought, imposed or carried out,” the immigration spokesman said.

“We have informed Mr Watson and his legal representative of this assurance. We are now satisfied that our international obligations have been met and are commencing plans for Mr Watson's removal.

“For operational reasons the department does not discuss the detail and timing of removals, except to say he will be removed as soon as possible.”

The former bubblewrap salesman had pleaded guilty to failing to render assistance to Ms Thomas, 26, after her oxygen supply failed and she sank to the sea floor while diving off Townsville. They had been married only 11 days.

Prosecutors in Alabama are expected to allege that Mr Watson plotted to kill his new wife for an insurance payout.

He has always maintained he did nothing to cause her death, and his offence was in effect to have been a bad “dive buddy”.

Mr Watson's lawyer, Adrian Braithwaite, told The Australian Online that the US Department of Justice had backed an assurance to the Queensland government by Alabama's outgoing attorney-general, Troy King, that the death penalty was off the table should Mr Watson be indicted for murder and convicted at trial.

But Mr Braithwaite said he had not seen the wording of the guarantee to the Department of Immigration.

“I was told at 4.22 yesterday afternoon after immigration officials went out to see my client,” Mr Braithwaite said.

“I've requested a copy of the actual assurance.

“There were previous undertakings by the Alabama attorney-general and the Queensland attorney-general, but in the circumstances of the last two weeks I want to satisfy myself of these undertakings and assurances.”

Mr Braithwaite said an ironclad assurance would pave the way for Mr Watson's deportation, but that remained several days away.