Politician Involved in Travolta Extortion Plot Speaks Up

Last week, it became public that actor John Travolta was caught in the middle of an alleged extortion plot based on a picture snapped as his 16-year-old son Jett was dying on an ambulance trolley. Over the weekend, several arrests in the case were made, including Obie Wilchcombe, former minister of tourism and friend of the Travoltas, who was detained for further questioning. Now, Wilchcombe says he only acted to protect Travolta and not to get money off him.

Three suspects were detained in the case brought to the attention of the Bahamian police by Travolta’s attorneys: Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater, an active political figure in Bahamas and current member of the Parliament, Tarino Lightbourne, the driver of the ambulance, and Wilchcombe himself. However, now Wilchcombe says that not only is Bridgewater not involved, but that the two of them acted in Travolta’s best interest, blackmailed as he was for the whopping amount of $25 million.

Wilchcombe has told Us Magazine that he got wind of the entire sordid affair and went to Travolta’s attorneys to have them call the police. The tip, he claims, he got from none other than Bridgewater, who had been contacted by Lightbourne in the view or arranging a call to Travolta asking for money. Bridgewater, in turn, called Wilchcombe who called Travolta’s attorney, he says.

Meanwhile, Bridgewater resigned from her position, after being charged with conspiracy, whereas Lightbourne is supposedly still in police custody pending further questions. Wilchcombe was first detained as he willingly went to the police headquarters to offer further insight into the investigation, but was revealed to be somehow involved in the whole scheme.

The extortion plot revolved, as noted above, around a photo of Jett Travolta, taken as he was being rushed to the hospital on the night of his death, January 2. Whether Wilchcombe is indeed right to protest against the accusations brought still remains to be seen – and will be so once the tapes the Bahamian police has with the alleged extortionists will be made public.