Natalee Holloway's mother Beth says she is proud of her daughter for fighting ‘like hell’ with her killer
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: Beth Holloway, the mother of Natalee Holloway, who went missing in Aruba in 2005, said she is proud of her daughter for fighting “like hell” against her killer, but hearing the gruesome details of her murder was “blistering to your soul”.
She told CBS News that the never-ending nightmare "was over" and for her, it was "better than closure."
Joran van der Sloot confesseed to killing Natalee Holloway
Beth Holloway told the Associated Press that she agreed to a plea deal that allowed Joran van der Sloot, the main suspect in Natalee’s disappearance, to confess what he did to her daughter in exchange for a reduced sentence on extortion charges.
Jordan van der Sloot, 36, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, October 18, to federal charges of attempting to extort money from Beth Holloway in 2010 in exchange for information about the location of her daughter’s body.
The plea agreement included an unusual provision for Joran van der Sloot to “provide all information and evidence” about what happened to Natalee Holloway and to let her family hear him in “real-time” give his account to federal investigators.
Natalee Holloway’s disappearance sparked international attention
Natalee Holloway, 18, went missing during a high school graduation trip to Aruba with classmates.
She was last seen May 30, 2005, leaving a bar with Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch citizen and student at an international school on the Caribbean island where he grew up.
Natalee Holloway’s disappearance quickly became an international sensation, filling evening newscasts with live reports from the island and photos of her smiling cherubic face.
Her disappearance also spawned countless books, podcasts, and movies.
Beth Holloway hears the horrific details of her daughter’s murder
Under the plea agreement's terms, Natalee Holloway’s parents listened and watched Joran van der Sloot describe what happened on the beach.
Prosecutors filed excerpts of the conversation with the court. He said Natalee Holloway was physically fighting his sexual advances and that he kicked her “extremely hard” in the face while she was still lying down.
Jordan van der Sloot said the teen was already unconscious, or even dead, when he picked up a nearby cinderblock and brought it down on her face.
“I smash her head in with it completely,” Joran van der Sloot said, according to an October 3 transcript of the meeting.
He then said he dragged her body until he was knee-deep in the waves and pushed her out to sea.
Beth Holloway said details of her daughter's murder 'hurt deeply'
She said in the interview, “It’s just blistering to your soul, and it hurts so deeply,” Beth Holloway said of hearing the details.
“But you know that you’re there in a functionality role because this is the moment where I’ve been searching for for 18 years," she said.
"Even as hard as it is to hear, it still not as torturous as the not knowing. It was time for me to know,” she continued.
Beth Holloway said she recognized her feisty daughter in Joran van der Sloot’s description of her kneeing him between the legs when she refused to stop his sexual advances.
“Yes, I said, ‘That’s her,’” Beth Holloway recalled, adding “She fought like hell. I think she fought like hell with her killer.”
“She was killed just by standing her ground,” Holloway told CBS News, adding “I was so proud of her.”
Dave Holloway, Natalee’s father, called Joran van der Sloot “evil personified” in a statement issued after the sentencing hearing.