According to the convicted murderer's lawyer, Jaime Giménez Arbe, alias 'The Loner', is "very sorry" that he tried to end his life by slashing his wrists on August 26th in his cell at Monsantos high security jail outside Lisbon, adding that "he considers it to have been a mistake, and is now feeling much better."

Arbe was extradited back to Portugal last July after being handed down a 47 year sentence for murdering two Guardia Civil officers in Navarra in 2004.

After opening his veins "from wrist to elbow," the notorious serial bank robber's life was saved by prison guards, who administered basic first aid at the scene before rushing the prisoner to hospital.

Arbe is waiting for the start of his next trial at the end of next month in Figueiras da Foz, where he was arrested last summer in a joint operation involving Portuguese police and the Spanish Guardia Civil. At this trial, he faces charges of illegal arms possession, forgery, planning to rob a bank and resisting arrest.

Dressed in his habitual disguise and wearing a bulletproof vest, Arbe was arrested on July 23rd, 2007 as he was about to raid a small local bank in Figueiras armed with handguns and a submachine gun.

Having spoken to her client last Tuesday, Ms Borbinha also divulged that Arbe laments the fact that Spain has become a "police state," alleging that there are torture chambers in many Spanish jails, and insisting, despite his recent suicide attempt, that "the situation in Portuguese jails is incomparably better."

Spanish authorities hand 'Loner' back to Portuguese
By: thinkSPAIN
Thursday, July 31, 2008

Jaime Giménez Arbe, alias 'The Loner' has been handed over to Portuguese police at the shared Hispano-Portuguese border facility in Caya-Elvas, near Badajoz.

Arbe was handed over by his Guardia Civil escort at 1pm ahead of his trial for the bungled bank robbery on July 23rd last year in Figueira da Foz that led to his arrest.

Last Tuesday, Arbe was handed down a 47 year sentence for the murder of two Guardia Civil officers in Castejón (Navarra) in June, 2004.

'Loner' gets 47 years for double Guardia murders
By: thinkSPAIN
Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Jaime Giménez Arbe, alias 'The Loner', has been handed down a 47 year custodial term after being found guilty of murdering Guardia Civil officers, Antonio Palmero Benítez and José Antonio Vidal Fernández.

The two men died in a hail of 21 bullets at around 6pm on June 9th, 2004 when an all-terrain vehicle allegedly driven by Arbe was intercepted by a Guardia Civil patrol car on the N-113 Los Abertos-Madrid freeway in Castejón.

At his trial, which was held at Navarra Provincial Court in Pamplona between July 15-18th, Arbe pled innocent, blaming the shootings on a Corsican anarchist on his way to deliver the 4x4, which Arbe claims not to have picked up until later the same evening.

'Loner' blames Corsican anarchist for Guardia Civil murders
By: thinkSPAIN
Wednesday, July 16, 2008

At his trial for the murders of two Guardia Civil officers in Castejón on June 9th 2004, Jaime Giménez Arbe, alias 'The Loner', continues to insist that he had no part in the drive-by shooting that led to the deaths of Juan Antonio Palmero and José Antonio Vidal.

Arbe claims to have been waiting to take delivery of the vehicle involved in the shooting on an industrial estate in Zaragoza at the time of the attack.

Inside the vehicle, which he claims not to have picked up until 10pm on the night of the attack, was the weapon used - with which he was caught in possession at the time of his arrest in Portugal on July 23rd, 2007.

Arbe insists that the man responsible for the attack was the person who dropped off the van - a Corsican anarchist Arbe first met in the late sixties. "I'm not a murderer and I've never killed anyone. I'm a very honourable expropriater of banks," Arbe told the court yesterday, going on to explain that he defines himself as a "capitalist anarchist," which, he said, "is why I rob banks."

'Loner' trial suspended after defence lawyer fails to turn up
By: thinkSPAIN
Monday, June 30, 2008

The trial of Jaime Giménez Arbe, alias 'The Loner', for the murders of two Guardia Civil officers in Castejón four years ago, has had to be suspended after defence counsel Marcos García Montes failed to turn up at Navarra Provincial Court this morning, citing previous commitments in Gijón and the Canary Islands.

The trial must start before July 31st according to the terms of the exisiting extradition treaty with Portugal.

As well as the murders of Juan Antonio Palmero  and José Antonio Vidal, who were shot dead on June 9th, 2004, Arbe is also accused of killing a Local Police officer in Vall d'Uxo (Castellón) on May 10th, 2000.

In total, Arbe is believed to have been responsible for a total of 36 bank robberies in Spain, the last of which was committed on the 18th May 2007 on a bank in Toro (Zamora) when a bank cashier was shot in the leg.

He was arrested by Portuguese police during a failed raid on a bank in Figueira da Foz last July and extradited to Spain last January.

Related news:

'Loner' claims he robbed banks 'to liberate Spanish people'
By: thinkSPAIN
Friday, August 10, 2007

http://www.thinkspain.com/news/noticia.asp?CodNoticia=13452