Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic - An American man accused of murdering three women on a Caribbean island said Wednesday he feared for his life and asked not to be extradited to Honduras, where the alleged crimes took place.

Gilbert Reyes has been held since March in the Dominican Republic, where he was detained after an Interpol Red Notice was issued over the deaths of Maria Antonia Cruz, Nikendra McCoy, and Dione Solorzano on the Honduran island of Roatan.

"My life has been under constant threat, my family's life has been under constant threat," Reyes told a Santo Domingo court, which will decide whether to extradite him to Honduras.

"Phone calls to my family [are] saying that once I arrive in the country, they are going to kill me," Reyes, who lived in California, said in English through an interpreter.

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"I would like to be sent back to my country, the United States, and they can decide what to do with me and preserve my rights," he added.

Reyes's defense lawyer, Juan Ramon Baez, also cited the "danger" of Honduran prisons.

Sonia Cruz de Aspra, Honduras's ambassador in Santo Domingo, told reporters there were "maximum guarantees" for Reyes' safe extradition and "respect for his human rights."

The case was adjourned, with a date not yet set for a next hearing.

The Honduran government said in March that crime scene evidence and witness testimony linked Reyes to the triple murder.

According to relatives, the young women had gone out with Reyes on January 6, the day before he left the country.

The women were reported missing and later found dead in a vehicle with gunshot wounds.

According to UN data, Honduras has the world's fifth-highest femicide rate – 6.47 per 100,000 women – and is the most dangerous Latin American country for women.