Who is Beth Holloway? Natalee Holloway's mother confronts Joran van der Sloot in court, says 'you murdered her'
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: The mother of Natalee Holloway squared up to Joran van der Sloot in court on Wednesday, October 18, after he was found guilty of extortion and wire fraud charges.
He pleaded guilty to the crimes following his confession to the victim's mother and law enforcement that he killed her daughter, a lawyer for Natalee's family said.
According to WBRC, Beth Halloway said in her victim statement, "You have finally admitted that, in fact, you murdered her. You terminated her dreams, her potential, her possibilities, when you bludgeoned her to death in 2005."
Joran van der Sloot plea hearing thread pic.twitter.com/vymPJWfijC
— Tristan Ruppert (@TristanRuppert) October 18, 2023
Joran van der Sloot watched pornography after killing Natalee Holloway
“You didn’t get what you wanted from Natalee, your sexual satisfaction, so you brutally killed her," the devastated mother said.
Noting that if her daughter had lived, Beth said, “I have no doubt she would have made all her dreams come true. She really would have."
According to Beth, Joran van der Sloot admitted that after he killed Natalee, he went home and watched pornography.
Beth, while referencing to Joran van der Sloot's extortion of her, said "I paid my daughter’s killer money. That’s shocking. I don’t think anyone can really wrap their mind around what that means."
She added, "By the way you look like hell Joran. I do not see how you’re gonna make it...You are a killer and I want you to remember that every time that jail door slams.”
In 2005, Natalee disappeared during a high school graduation trip in Aruba.
What charges does Joran van der Sloot face now?
As part of Wednesday’s plea deal, October 18, Joran van der Sloot, who pleaded guilty to one count of extortion and one count of wire fraud and was sentenced to 20 years for the crimes, agreed to finally give Natalee’s mother, and the public, in general, some answers.
An insight into the two-decade long cold murder case
Wednesday’s extortion and fraud case originates from a 2010 grand jury indictment in which prosecutors claimed Joran van der Sloot had promised Beth “the location of Natalee Holloway’s remains and the circumstances of her death” for $25,000, which the grieving mother paid.
He also tried to get another $225,000 “upon positive identification of the remains” but he never actually led Beth to Natalee’s body.
The victim was last seen leaving a bar with Joran van der Sloot during a high school graduation trip to Aruba on May 30, 2005.
The defendant, who was 17 at the time, was arrested several times in connection to the 18-year-old’s disappearance but was never charged.
Natalee was legally declared dead in 2012, but her body was never found.
Joran van der Sloot already served prison time for a different crime
Jordan van der Sloot, until this June, had been in a Peruvian prison for a 28-year murder sentence in the brutal 2010 killing of Stephany Flores Ramirez, a 21-year-old student, who he later reportedly told investigators discovered his identity as the person of interest in Natalee’s disappearance while sharing a hotel room together in Lima.
The duo fought and Joran van der Sloot, who was 22 at the time, later admitted to beating, choking and smothering her to death, just five years to the day of Natalee's disappearance.
In a statement this summer, US federal prosecutors said that Peru granted the “temporary surrender” of Joran van der Sloot to stand trial in Alabama before returning to Peru to finish his sentence.
The perpetrator's sentence in the US will run concurrently with his sentence in Peru, but if he is released from prison in Peru early, he would then serve the remainder of his 20-year sentence in the country, AL.com reports.
Jordan van der Sloot will be in prison until 2043 and also must pay Beth Holloway $250,100 in restitution.