Joran Van Der Sloot, the Dutchman charged in the 2005 disappearance of US student Natalee Holloway, pleaded not guilty to fraud and extortion today in his first court appearance on US soil.
Dutch national Van der Sloot, now 35, was a 17-year-old international student on the island of Aruba when Natalee, 18, disappeared in May 2005 on a school trip.
He was offered a translator in court today, but he told the judge: ‘It’s really not necessary.’
Natalee’s mother, Beth, sat in the third row as he pleaded not guilty.
Beth Holloway, mother of Natalee, enters the Alabama courthouse today to face
Joran Van Der Sloot, the Dutchman currently charged in the 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway, will appear in court today in Alabama after being extradited from Peru. He is shown yesterday arriving in Alabama after being extradited from Peru
Holloway disappeared at the age of 18 on a school trip to Aruba. She was last seen with Van der Sloot
He was immediately identified as a suspect, after he was seen leaving a bar with her, and was taken into custody because he was repeatedly suspected of her murder, but always released without charge.
In 2010, he was charged with extortion and wire fraud after he allegedly offered Natalee’s mother the location of her body in exchange for $250,000.
Before federal authorities could arrest him, he left town, fleeing to Peru, where he later murdered Stephany Flores. He pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
It wasn’t until May this year that his extradition to the United States to face charges of Natalee’s disappearance began.
Van der Sloot was extradited yesterday from Peru, where he is serving a 28-year sentence for the murder of another woman.
In March 2010, Beth and her attorney agreed to pay Van der Sloot off in an undercover operation. He was able to flee Aruba again before being caught
Joran van der Sloot is at the federal courthouse in Birmingham, Alabama this morning. He is shown arriving in a blacked-out Ford. Van der Sloot pleaded not guilty to fraud and extortion
Today he appeared before a judge at the Hugo Black Federal Courthouse in Birmingham, Alabama at 11am today.
Prior to this appearance, Holloway family attorney John Q. Kelly appeared on NBC’s Today show.
“She is overwhelmed by the whole situation, she had a whole range of emotions.
“On the one hand, she was thrilled he was on American soil, but it’s still like picking a scab from an old wound.” You will always hurt there. He’s a painful reminder of what she’s been through,’ he said of Natalee’s mother, Beth.
Kelly met Van der Sloot twice in 2010 when he tried to extort Beth.
‘[He is] big guy, kind of an ominous presence, all about money. That’s all he cares about, that’s all he wants to talk about.
‘[He is] cold, heartless and has absolutely no sympathy, empathy, or feelings for Beth or her family or what they’ve been through.
“He just wants the money,” he said.
He added that Van der Sloot is the only key to finding Natalee’s body.
“He’s going to have to decide at some point whether he wants to get a breath of fresh air outside the prison, on the road, or not.”
When he was charged this week, Van der Sloot was already serving a 28-year sentence in a Peruvian prison for the murder of another woman. His attorney says he had planned to fight extradition.
DailyMail.com previously revealed plans to claim Holloway’s mother approached him offering money in return for information on the whereabouts of his body.
Prior to this appearance, Holloway family attorney John Q. Kelly appeared on NBC’s Today show.
John Q. Kelly, longtime attorney for Natalee Holloway’s family, joins @craigmelvin to share how the family feels amid news that Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in Holloway’s disappearance, will face a US judge for the first time. pic.twitter.com/UmdU7kuYWl
– TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 9, 2023
Van der Sloot was a 17-year-old international student on the island when Natalee went missing. He was identified as a suspect weeks after his disappearance in 2005 (above)
Natalee’s mother, Beth, says Van der Sloot demanded $250,000 from her in exchange for the location of Natalee’s body
Today’s hearing will be the first time the Holloway family has come face to face with him in court.
Yesterday Holloway’s mum Beth said she was ‘overwhelmed with mixed emotions’.
“As a mother who has tirelessly sought justice for the kidnapping and murder of my precious daughter, I stand before you today with a heart that is both heavy with grief and yet lifted with a glimmer of hope.
For 18 years I lived with the unbearable pain of losing Natalee.
“Each day has been filled with unanswered questions and a desire for justice that has eluded us at every turn.
“But today…hopefully a little semblance of justice can finally be achieved.”
Holloway was last seen alive leaving a bar with Van der Sloot, who was a student at an international school on the island.
In 2012, van der Sloot pleaded guilty in Peru to the murder of Stephany Flores, 21, a business student from a prominent Peruvian family. She was killed in 2010 five years to the day after Holloway disappeared.
Van der Sloot married a Peruvian in July 2014 in a ceremony in a maximum security prison.
He was transferred between Peruvian prisons in response to reports that he had privileges such as television, internet access and a cellphone, and accusations that he threatened to kill a guard.
Now 35, Van der Sloot was extradited from Peru to the United States last night
