14 DAY TRIAL // A Bahamas court recently convened in the case of the extortion plot involving actor John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston over the death of their 16-year-old son Jett, which occurred in January this year. First testimonies show the actor refused medical help for Jett on the spot, asking that he be taken to the airport instead for reasons yet unknown, the Mirror informs.
When the paramedics arrived at the scene, Jett was unresponsive and not breathing, the Bahamas court also heard. However, a distraught Travolta insisted that they didn’t take his son to the island’s hospital – a 45-minute drive, they say –, but rather to the airport. He signed a “refusal of medical attention” form, which paramedic Tarino Lightbourne is said to have hidden and used afterwards to extort the actor. Lightbourne asked for no less than $25 million to keep the document out of the media.
“The controversial document was later used in a bizarre extortion plot, Nassau supreme court was told. Paramedic Tarino Lightbourne is alleged to have threatened to make it public unless heartbroken Travolta, a high-profile scientologist, paid up. Also on trial is Lightbourne’s attorney, Pleasant Bridgewater. The form was allegedly signed amid chaotic scenes at Travolta’s luxury villa at Old Bahama Bay on Grand Bahama. Police Inspector Andrew Wells said it was the first time in 27 years he had encountered a request to transport a patient to the island’s airport, instead of its hospital.” the Mirror says.
Eventually, en route to the airport, Travolta changed his mind and agreed to have his son taken to the island’s hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, Wells also said in his testimony. Lightbourne and Bridgewater stand accusations of attempting to extort and conspiring to extort by means of threats, charges they have both denied by pleading not guilty. The lawsuit against the two is set to continue with testimonies from Travolta and Preston themselves, who are listed as witnesses for the prosecution.
According to People magazine, the two stars have accepted to take the stand, but their decision was a very difficult one, as the thought of returning to the Bahamas alone, the place where they lost their son, was incredibly painful.