Natalee Holloway: June 2011

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Joran Van der Sloot

(Credit: AP Photo/Roberto Candia)

(CBS/WIAT) Joran van der Sloot is looking for a lawyer days before a murder hearing.

According to CBS affiliate WIAT, Max Altez, van der Sloot's Peruvian lawyer for the past year, has quit the case citing differences in defense strategy. Radio Netherlands Worldwide indicates there was also an issue of Altez not being paid.

CNN reports that Altez' made an official request to a judge to withdraw from the case Tuesday morning.

Altez's resignation comes at a particularly inopportune time for van der Sloot. A hearing in the murder of Stephany Flores is scheduled for June 8.

Van der Sloot reportedly confessed he killed Flores after she found material relating to Natalee Holloway on his laptop.

The body of the 21-year-old student was found in van der Sloot's Lima hotel room five years to the day after Natalee disappeared while on vacation in Aruba. Although van der Sloot is considered the prime suspect in the Holloway case, he was never charged by Aruban authorities.

According to WIAT, it is unclear who will represent van der Sloot at the June 8 hearing or whether Altez' resignation will be sufficient for van der Sloot to get a continuance. Altez has indicated he will continue to represent van der Sloot in a related case claiming human rights violations during his arrest in Chile and return to Peru. That case would be thrown out if van der Sloot's representation changes.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Joran van der Sloot to be a father: Chief suspect in Natalee Holloway case 'gets his girlfriend pregnant...while behind bars'

Van der Sloot's girlfriend visited for conjugal visits and to do 'chores'
He is awaiting murder trial over death of Peruvian woman last year
Remains main suspect in 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway

Father: Joran van der Sloot is believed to have impregnated his girlfriend during a conjugal visit

Joran van der Sloot, the Dutch man accused of bludgeoning and strangling to death a young Peruvian woman and the principal suspect in the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, is believed to have got his girlfriend pregnant - while behind bars.

Van der Sloot - son of a wealthy Dutch judge - is currently being held at Miguel Castro Castro Jail in Peru where he awaits the murder trial for the death and robbery of Stephany Flores in June 2010.

It is believed that his girlfriend - who has not been identified - has been visiting the 23-year-old frequently for conjugal visits at the jail, going to his cell to do 'chores' and bringing him candy.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, van der Sloot uses the candy to run a 'lucrative' snack bar from his cell.

It is also believed that the girl worked at the casino which Stefany Flores was in the night van der Sloot allegedly murdered her by strangling and suffocating her.

He has admitted to the murder but has pleaded 'violent emotion' - which is typically used in Peru for crimes of passion.

The victim’s father, Ricardo Flores, saw van der Sloot at a recent court hearing and said he expected to see a 'miserable person' but instead was was shocked to see a 'fatso'.

He has asked jail officials to investigate the conjugal visits.

It recently emerged that the 23-year-old was so desperate for money he allegedly told a friend he was going to work on the streets.

The National Enquirer said van der Sloot made the claims in a 44-minute exchange of emails between himself and a friend.

He told the friend he had unsuccessfully asked his wealthy family for a lend of money but they refused because they thought he would spend it on gambling.

Van der Sloot could spend just 20 months in jail if a judge accepts his defence of 'violent emotion', entered in March.

Victims: Stephany Flores, right was murdered in a hotel room exactly five years after Natalee Holloway, left, went missing on the island of Aruba. Her body has never been found

He is currently accused of first-degree murder, and faces a 15- to 35-year sentence if his plea is not accepted.

Van der Sloot signed a confession last year where he described slamming Miss Flores in the face with his right elbow, strangling her for a full minute then taking off his shirt and asphyxiating her.

He has said that it was Miss Flores that attacked him first.

He has several times confessed then recanted a role in the disappearance of Miss Holloway, an 18-year-old Alabama student who was visiting Aruba in 2005 on a high school graduation trip with classmates when she vanished.

Her body has never been found, and Van der Sloot, who she met on the island, was the last person to be seen with her.

Pain: Beth Twitty still hopes for information on her daughter, Natalee, five years after she disappeared. She was last seen leaving a club on the island of Aruba with van der Sloot

Miss Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, has been desperate to find information on her daughter's disappearance, and was given fresh hope last year when FBI agents travelled to Peru to examine van der Sloot's laptop.

But hiss attempt to plead 'violent emotion' in March angered Ms Twitty. At the time her lawyer, John Kelly, said she called Van der Sloot’s plea plan 'outrageous'.

She said she knows that the Flores family will never accept it and will ‘make whatever noise she has to’ to make sure it doesn't happen.

Whatever decision is ultimately made by the Peruvian court hearing the case, Van der Sloot still faces prosecution in the U.S. on wire fraud and extortion charges.

He was recently indicted by an Alabama grand jury for allegedly trying to extort $250,000 from Mrs Twitty in exchange for information on where she could find her daughter's body.

According to court papers, Van der Sloot received a total of $25,000 a few weeks before Miss Flores' death – which it is believed he used to travel to Peru.

Answers: Ricardo Flores, father of late Peruvian woman Stephany Flores, wants to know how van der Sloot was able to impregnate someone from behind bars

Held: The Miguel Castro Castro prison, where Joran Van der Sloot is said to have been allowed conjugal visits from his girlfriend and allegedly got her pregnant

The Dutch and Peruvian governments have recently signed an extradition treaty which allows a prisoner exchange pact that could allow Joran to serve out his time in Holland.

But his case received another set back on May 31 after his defence lawyer quit after he received death threats and fell out with his client over something in the case.

Last year Mrs Twitty sneaked into the Peruvian jail with a hidden microphone to confront van der Sloot face to face over her daughter's disappearance.

At the time she said: ' I wanted to see him, I wanted to get face to face with him. I wanted to peel the skin off his face. I'm thinking this is it, this is my one chance and I'll never get this chance again.'

But the meeting did little to give her the answers she craved. After four minutes of silence he spoke only briefly, saying: 'I hope you can understand it's very hard for me to talk to you. It's really not easy, I'm really doing my best.

I know you have a very good heart, I know that for a fact. It is the least I owe you for sure. I've made so many bad decisions and all for the wrong reasons.'

creditdailmail.co.uk

About Natalee

Natalee Ann Holloway (born October 21, 1986) disappeared on May 30, 2005, during a high school graduation trip to Aruba, a Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. An American student from Mountain Brook, Alabama, Holloway graduated from Mountain Brook High School on May 24, 2005, shortly before the trip. Her disappearance caused a media sensation in the United StatesHolloway was scheduled to fly home later on May 30, but failed to appear for her flight. She was last seen by her classmates outside Carlos'n Charlie's, a Caribbean chain restaurant and nightclub in Oranjestad, in a car with locals Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. When questioned, the three men said they dropped her off at her hotel and denied knowing what became of Holloway. Upon further investigation by authorities, Van der Sloot was arrested twice on suspicion of involvement in her disappearance and the Kalpoes were each arrested three times. Due to lack of evidence the three men were released without charge after each arrest.With the help of hundreds of volunteers, Aruban investigators conducted an extensive search for Holloway. Special Agents from the FBI, fifty Dutch soldiers and three specially equipped Dutch Air Force F-16 aircraft participated in the search. In addition to the ground search, divers examined the ocean floor for evidence of Holloway's body. The searches were unsuccessful, and according to Aruban authorities she is most likely dead. On December 18, 2007, Aruban prosecutors announced that the case would be closed without any charges sought against the former suspects. The Aruban prosecutor's office reopened the case on February 1, 2008, after receiving video footage of Joran van der Sloot, under the influence of marijuana, making statements that Holloway died on the morning of May 30, 2005, and that he disposed of her body. Van der Sloot later denied that what he said was true, and subsequently gave Greta Van Susteren an interview (the contents of which he later retracted) in which he stated that he sold Holloway into sexual slavery.

Holloway's family has criticized Aruban investigators throughout the search for a perceived lack of progress in finding her. The family also called for a boycott of Aruba, which gained Alabama Governor Bob Riley's support but failed to gain widespread backing
Natalee Ann Holloway was the first of two children born to David Edward ("Dave") and Elizabeth Ann Reynolds ("Beth") Holloway in Clinton, Mississippi.[1] Her parents divorced in 1993, and she and her younger brother Matthew were raised by their mother. In 2000, Elizabeth Holloway married George "Jug" Twitty, a prominent Alabama businessman, and Natalee moved to Mountain Brook, Alabama. Holloway graduated with honors from Mountain Brook High School. She was a member of the National Honor Society, her school dance squad, and was a participant in other extracurricular activities. According to her family, Holloway was to attend the University of Alabama on a full scholarship, where she planned to pursue a pre-med track. At the time of the disappearance, Dave Holloway was an insurance broker in Meridian, Mississippi, while Beth Twitty was employed by the Mountain Brook School System. Jug Twitty began divorce proceedings on December 29, 2006, stating the two have "such a complete incompatibility of temperament that the parties can no longer live together".

natalee Dissapearence

On Thursday, May 26, 2005, Holloway and 124 fellow graduates of Mountain Brook High School, located in a wealthy suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, arrived in Aruba for a five-day, unofficial graduation trip.[The graduates were accompanied by seven chaperones. According to teacher and chaperone Bob Plummer, the chaperones met with the students each day to ensure nothing was wrong. However, Jodi Bearman—the chaperone who organized the trip, stated, "the chaperones were not supposed to keep up with their every move".[Police Commissioner Gerold Dompig, who would head the investigation from mid-2005 until 2006, described the behavior of the Mountain Brook students, stating there was "wild partying, a lot of drinking, lots of room switching every night. We know the Holiday Inn told them they weren't welcome next year. Natalee, we know, she drank all day every day. We have statements she started every morning with cocktails—so much drinking that Natalee didn't show up for breakfast two mornings".Two of Holloway's classmates, Liz Cain and Claire Fierman, "agreed that the drinking was kind of excessive".

Holloway was last seen by her classmates leaving the Aruban bar and night club Carlos'n Charlie's around 1:30 a.m. on Monday, May 30.Holloway left with 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch honors student living in Aruba and attending the Aruba International School,[and his two Surinamese friends, 21-year-old Deepak Kalpoe and 18-year-old Satish Kalpoe,in Deepak Kalpoe's car. Holloway, who had been scheduled to fly home later on May 30, did not appear for her return flight, and her packed luggage and passport were found in her Holiday Inn room.Aruban authorities initiated searches for Holloway throughout the island and surrounding waters but did not find her

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Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Monday, June 20, 2011

Joran van der Sloot to be a father: Chief suspect in Natalee Holloway case 'gets his girlfriend pregnant...while behind bars'

Joran van der Sloot to be a father: Chief suspect in Natalee Holloway case 'gets his girlfriend pregnant...while behind bars'