According to the confession, Van der Sloot, now 36 years old, admitted to killing Natalee Holloway with a cinder block on an Aruban beach after she resisted his sexual advances.
In a shocking turn of events almost two decades after Natalee Holloway’s mysterious disappearance in Aruba, the prime suspect, Joran van der Sloot, has confessed to her grisly murder. This confession came shortly after his guilty plea in federal court, where he was charged with extorting and defrauding the Holloway family. Van der Sloot attempted to sell information regarding the location of Natalee’s remains to her mother, Beth Holloway, in exchange for $250,000.
Beth Holloway expressed relief, stating, “It’s over. Joran van der Sloot is no longer the suspect in my daughter’s murder. He is the killer.” After 18 years of uncertainty, Natalee’s case appears to be finally resolved through Van der Sloot’s proffer, a formal admission of his involvement in the crime.
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According to the confession, Van der Sloot, now 36 years old, admitted to killing Natalee Holloway with a cinder block on an Aruban beach after she resisted his sexual advances. He revealed that after she kneed him when he attempted to make sexual advances, he responded violently by kicking her in the face and ultimately bludgeoning her with the cinder block. He then pushed her into the ocean.
Natalee Holloway’s body has never been found, and in 2012, an Alabama judge declared her legally dead. The judge, in the wake of Van der Sloot’s confession, believes that her remains will never be recovered.
Van der Sloot has a history of arrests and had previously admitted to the killing of Stephany Flores, a Peruvian woman, in 2010. This led to his sentencing to 20 years on federal charges. His extensive criminal history includes multiple arrests in connection with Natalee Holloway’s case. However, he was released by Aruban authorities due to a lack of direct evidence.
Currently, Van der Sloot is serving a 28-year prison sentence in Peru for the murder of Flores. He also faced additional convictions related to trafficking cocaine into his prison, resulting in an 18-year sentence. Due to Peruvian law, which restricts prison sentences to a maximum of 35 years, he is scheduled for release around June 10, 2045.
Van der Sloot was temporarily released to the United States in June to face extortion and wire fraud charges. However, a recent plea agreement indicates that his 20-year federal sentence will be served concurrently with his Peruvian sentence, making it unlikely for him to return to the U.S. to serve prison time.
Natalee Holloway’s disappearance in 2005 during a high school graduation trip to Aruba led to 18 years of mystery and anguish. She was last seen leaving a nightclub with Joran van der Sloot and two other men, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. Although the three men were arrested in 2005, they were released due to insufficient evidence.
Later, in 2007, they were re-arrested and charged with involvement in Natalee Holloway’s death, but they were released again due to a lack of direct evidence proving violent foul play.
The reason Van der Sloot was charged in the United States is that federal officials lack jurisdiction over the criminal investigation in Aruba. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in Alabama for attempting to sell information about Holloway’s remains to her family between March and May 2010. This indictment was followed by his involvement in the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores in Peru, leading to the complex legal situation surrounding his extradition and sentencing.