Joran van der Sloot can apologize all he wants for the death of Natalee Holloway, but her mother isn’t buying it.
In an interview with NBC News, Beth Holloway says she does not believe van der Sloot is a changed man, despite what he said in court.
Van der Sloot confessed to the 2005 killing in court Wednesday, when he pleaded guilty to extortion and fraud in connection with the teen’s case.
Although he’d been a suspect in her disappearance for decade, it was the first time he admitted to bludgeoning Holloway to death on a beach in Aruba, where she had been travelling on a class graduation trip.
She was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot. He was questioned about the disappearance but was never prosecuted. A judge declared Holloway dead, but her body has never been found.
This week, however, van der Sloot told investigators that he was walking her back to her hotel that night, hoping he “might still get a chance to be with her,” when she kneed him in the groin for trying to initiate sexual contact.
Van der Sloot admitted to police that he responded by kicking her in the face and then attacking her with a cinderblock he found on the beach. When he was certain Holloway was dead, he pulled her body into the ocean.
“I walk up to about my knees into the ocean — and I push her off into the sea,” he said, according to Today.
He also addressed Holloway’s family in court, saying he’s a changed person.
“I would like to apologize to the Holloway family,” van der Sloot said. “I am no longer that person … today. I gave my heart to Jesus Christ, he helped me through all of this.”
Beth responded to the apology in the courtroom.
“You are a killer and I want you to remember that every time that jail cell door slams,” she said in court.
She also told him he “looks like hell,” from the courtroom lectern, reported Today.
“I don’t see how you’re going to make it.”
Following court on Wednesday, she told NBC’s Sam Brock that she doesn’t accept the apology. “He doesn’t have that in his existence. Just to say the words? It’s fine. It didn’t mean anything.”
“Even with this confession, though, he can’t be tried here for Natalee’s murder,” Beth continued. “But I am satisfied knowing that he did it, he did it alone and he disposed of her alone.”
She added: “I have what I need. Her case is solved.”
Van der Sloot is not charged in Holloway’s death. The Dutch citizen was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison for extortion and wire fraud, but as part of his plea agreement, that sentence will run concurrently with his sentence in Peru, where he’s serving a 28-year prison sentence for killing Stephany Flores in 2010.
The case has captivated the public’s attention for nearly two decades, spawning extensive news coverage, books, movies and podcasts. A heavy media presence assembled outside the federal courthouse nearly three hours before Wednesday’s hearing.
Holloway’s family has long sought answers about her disappearance. Van der Sloot gave different accounts over the years. Federal investigators in the Alabama case said van der Sloot gave a false location of Holloway’s body during a recorded 2010 FBI sting that captured the extortion attempt.
Prosecutors in the Alabama case said van der Sloot asked for $250,000 from Beth to reveal the location of her daughter’s remains. Van der Sloot agreed to accept $25,000 to disclose the location, and asked for the other $225,000 once the remains were recovered, prosecutors said. Van der Sloot said Holloway was buried in the gravel under the foundation of a house, but later admitted that was untrue, FBI Agent William K. Bryan wrote in a 2010 sworn statement filed in the case.
Van der Sloot moved from Aruba to Peru before he could be arrested in the extortion case.
The government of Peru agreed to temporarily extradite van der Sloot so he could face trial on the extortion charge in the United States. U.S. authorities agreed to return him to Peruvian custody after his case is concluded, according to a resolution published in Peru’s federal register.
“The wheels of justice have finally begun to turn for our family,” Beth said in June after van der Sloot arrived in Alabama. “It has been a very long and painful journey.”
Dave Holloway, Natalee’s father, called van der Sloot “evil personified” in a statement issued after Wednesday’s sentencing hearing.
He said that after witnessing the confession he believes van der Sloot worked alone in killing his daughter but that he suspects others may have helped dispose of the body or covered up the crime. Natalee Holloway’s body was never found during land and sea searches.
“While it may not be in a court of law, I believe their judgment is still to come,” Dave Holloway said. “We are living every parent’s nightmare. Today and every day, please hug your children in honour and loving memory of our daughter, Natalee Ann Holloway.”
— With files from The Associated Press
Comments