Joran van der Sloot, the main suspect behind the disappearance of Natalee Holloway has accepted an agreement in court today.
He appeared in the Hugo L. Black Federal Courthouse in Birmingham, and pleaded guilty to extortion and wire fraud allegations, accepting money from the Holloway family in exchange for information on Natalee Holloway. He had previously denied these allegations.
Judge Anna Manasco accepted Joran’s declaration and posed a 240-month sentence (20 years), deducting the time he spent detained in America, and this incarceration is simultaneous with his Peruvian sentence. This sentencing means that Van der Sloot will remain in prison until the 9th of June, 2043.
Joran denied his right to appeal.
If he were granted an early release from Peru, he would have to go to The United States to sit the rest of his 20-year sentence. He must also repay Beth Holloway. In court, Van der Sloot took his chance to say: “I would like to take this chance to apologize to the Holloway family, to apologize to my own family. I would like to say I am no longer that person…I have given my heart over to Jesus Christ.”
According to the mother’s declaration afterwards, for her, the case is closed. “Joran is the murderer. He confessed. He is the murderer. In the agreement, he finally confessed to killing Natalee. Ge described the moment and how he killed her. He said that after killing her on the beach, he put her body in the ocean and that was the last time he ever saw her. This was verified with a lie0detector test.” Before this confession, they did not have sufficient evidence to charge him for her murder. I am satisfied that now I know that he killed her, himself, and disposed of the body himself.”
More details surrounding the confession are to follow.
