Joran van der Sloot news: Panel considers murder confession by suspect in Natalee Holloway case
Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager, Natalee Holloway, confessed in June to killing Peruvian woman Stefany Flores, 21. An appeals panel is now considering whether to uphold the confession.
Van der Sloot’s attorney, Maximo Altez Navarro, said “We believe we did a good job demonstrating that there wasn’t an official translator and that his attorney [at the time of the confession] did not have a document accrediting her as his attorney.”
Stefany met van der Sloot, 22, at a Lima casino and the two were captured on surveillance video as they entered the hotel where he was staying. Stephany was found on May 30 in the room in pool of blood. She appeared to have been stabbed and severely beaten in van der Sloot's hotel room.
Van der Sloot reportedly told police during his confession, “I did not want to do it… The girl saw private things. She had no right. I approached her and she was scared.” The Dutchman was alluding to information on his computer regarding his relation to the Natalee Holloway case.
He said, “We discussed it and she tried to escape, and I took her neck and hit her.”
Stefany’s murder took place five years to the day that Natalee, 18, disappeared in Aruba after leaving a nightclub with van der Sloot. She was on a high school graduation trip with classmates and was never heard from again after her encounter with van der Sloot.
He now claims his confession was illegal and sued attorney Luz Marina Romero in July. Van der Sloot claims Romero, who was appointed to represent him, was in a relationship with a police officer, an allegation Romero denies.
Nonetheless, in June a Peruvian judge upheld van der Sloot’s confession and incarceration, finding his claims were “unfounded.” The judge also determined that a translator had been provided to van der Sloot during three depostions.
The three-judge appellate panel now reviewing the confession should hand down its decision sometime next week, according to CNN.
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Comments
If Joran is innocent of hurting Natalee, as the American police concluded, insanity may very well be responsible for the event in Peru. No one could have withstood the attack on Joran and his family by the media. I seems Miss Halloway's family began and continues the attack to avoid looking inward for a reason for her death. I hope Joran receives a fair trial in Peru. Can a psychologist from Aruba and the Netherlands go to Peru and conduct a fair examination?
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