Joran Van der Sloot Murder Trial Postponed ‎

Joran van der Sloot has asked for more time to decide how to plead in his trial for the 2010 murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores. The case has been postponed until January 11.

From the Associated Press:

When asked how he would plead, Van der Sloot answered in rudimentary Spanish, “I want to give a sincere confession, but I don’t agree with all the charges that has placed on me by the prosecutor. Can I have more time to think about this?”

Judge Victoria Montoya agreed to the postponement.

Van der Sloot entered the courtroom Friday morning in a blue blazer and faded blue jeans with a bulletproof vest beneath the jacket. He sported a crew cut and wore a long-sleeved gray shirt.

Defense attorney Jose Luis Jimenez told The Associated Press Friday that there was a 70 percent chance Van der Sloot will plead guilty, which could help him get a reduced sentence.

Joran van der Sloot Indicted in US

A federal grand jury has indicted Joran van der Sloot on charges of wire fraud and extortion in connection with a plot to sell details about the location of Natalee Holloway’s remains.

From CNN:

Wednesday’s indictment alleges that van der Sloot exploited “Beth Holloway’s fear that she would never find her daughter’s body or know what happened to her unless she paid him $250,000,” the Alabama U.S. Attorney’s office said.

The Dutchman is accused of making false promises that he would reveal the location of Natalee Holloway’s body if the money was transferred to him.

According to the indictment, Beth Holloway wired $15,000 to a bank account van der Sloot held in the Netherlands, and through an attorney gave him an additional $10,000 in person.

Once he had the initial $25,000, van der Sloot showed the attorney, John Kelly, where Natalee Holloway’s remains allegedly were hidden. It turned out to be false information, the indictment states.

Joran van der Sloot Files Appeal

As expected, Joran van der Sloot’s attorney filed an appeal earlier today to a ruling that upheld van der Sloot’s confession and detention in the death of Stephany Flores.

Van der Sloot claims that his incarceration is unlawful, and his attorney said that his client intends fight all the way to Peru’s highest court, and even internationally, if needed

From CNN:

For his part, van der Sloot is trying to slow down the legal process by appealing his incarceration and trying to nullify a confession he gave.

One judge already denied his claim, but van der Sloot’s attorney said his client will fight all the way to the Peruvian Supreme Court and international courts, if necessary.

Watch reporter who interviewed van der Sloot

Is Joran van der Sloot Mentally Ill?

I guess you’ll just have to ask his mother! She told a Dutch newspaper in an interview that he has “mental issues”.

You think????

Credit: Associated Press

From the Associated Press:

“My son is sick in his head,” De Telegraaf quotes Anita van der Sloot as saying.

She says he traveled to Peru to avoid being committed to a mental institution in Aruba, where the family lives.

De Telegraaf’s interview published Sunday is Anita van der Sloot’s first public comment since her 22-year-old son was arrested on suspicion of killing 21-year-old Stephany Flores.

From ABC News:

Anita van der Sloot was quoted today in a Dutch newspaper saying her 22-year-old son Joran van der Sloot “could have done something” to Stephany Flores, the Peruvian woman he is accused of murdering.

“He lied so much, that we became desperate. He said to me too, ‘Mom, I sometimes don’t know any more if something is a lie or the truth,’” the paper quoted her as saying. “Joran is sick in his head, but he didn’t want any help.”

She indicated that she feared that the pressures created by being the prime suspect in the death of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway five years ago in Aruba may have caused her son to snap.

“I now believe that Joran may indeed have done something to Stephany in Peru. Maybe in a burst of anger? I don’t know,” she said, according to the newspaper. “I think it is intensely sad that that businessman Flores has lost his daughter, and I my son. That’s how it feels.”

Joran van der Sloot Confession Released

According to newly released transcripts obtained by CNN, Joran van der Sloot has stated that he elbowed Stephany Flores in the face before he strangled her and then suffocated her with his own shirt.

From CNN:

The transcripts — provided to CNN by an anonymous police source — give shocking details of the murder van der Sloot is accused of and also give the public its first glimpse of why van der Sloot says the alleged murder took place. The source has not been named because he was not authorized to pass along the material.

“There was blood everywhere,” van der Sloot said in the transcripts. “What am I going to do now. I had blood on my shirt. There was also blood on the bed, so, I took my shirt and put it on her face, pressing hard, until I killed Stephany.”

Peruvian authorities charged van der Sloot with murder last week in the death of Flores, a 21-year-old student. Van der Sloot, a 22-year-old Dutch citizen, has also been considered the main suspect in the well-publicized 2005 disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway in Aruba.

Joran van der Sloot Confesses to Murder of Stephany Flores

Police have confirmed that Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the disappearance of missing teenager Natalee Holloway, has confessed to murdering Stephany Flores.

From MSNBC:

A high-ranking Peruvian government official confirmed to NBC News Monday night that Joran van der Sloot confessed to the slaying of a 21-year-old Lima woman.

According to La Republica newspaper, he said that his anger exploded and he broke Stephany Flores’ neck after she grabbed his laptop without his permission, and found out that he was involved in the disappearance of an American woman.

The paper quoted Van der Sloot as saying, “I did not want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life.”

Joran van der Sloot Arrested in Chile

According to an Interpol spokesperson, Natalee Holloway case suspect Joran van der Sloot has been apprehended in Chile in connection with the recent murder of Stephany Flores in Peru.

From the Associated Press:

A Dutch man long suspected in the disappearance of an Alabama teen in Aruba was arrested Thursday in the murder of a young woman in Peru.

Stephany Flores, 21, was killed in a Lima hotel on Sunday, five years to the day after Holloway disappeared.

The suspect, Joran van der Sloot, was escorted by three police officers as he was taken from a dark vehicle into a police office in downtown Santiago, Chile. He made no comment as he entered, walking calmly and without handcuffs as journalists shouted his name. It was not immediately clear where he was picked up.

In Lima, police Gen. Cesar Guardia said the slain woman was found Wednesday in a room at a hotel where van der Sloot had been staying and that she had been seen with the suspect early Sunday, when she was killed.

The killing happened exactly five years after the May 30, 2005, disappearance of Holloway during a high school trip in Aruba, a Dutch Caribbean island where van der Sloot’s late father was a prominent judge.

Joran van der Sloot Accused of Murder in Peru

Joran van der Sloot, who was previously arrested in the 2005 disappearance of teenager Natalee Holloway, is the prime suspect in a weekend murder of a woman in Peru.

From the Associated Press:

Joran van der Sloot is being sought in the Sunday killing of 21-year-old Stephany Flores in a Lima hotel, Criminal police chief Gen. Cesar Guardia told a news conference. He said the suspect fled the country the next day by land to Chile.

The Dutch government said Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant for Van der Sloot.

Guardia said the 22-year-old Dutchman, who was in the country for a poker tournament, appears with the young woman in a video taken at a Lima casino early Sunday.

The victim’s father, Ricardo Flores, told reporters she was killed about 8 a.m. in a hotel room in the upscale Miraflores neighborhood that was splattered with blood, indicating a struggle.

The killing occurred exactly five years after the May 30, 2005, disappearance of Holloway in Aruba, a Dutch Caribbean island.

From Reuters:

Joran Van der Sloot was questioned after student Natalee Holloway went missing during a high school graduation trip in the Dutch Caribbean island five years ago, a case that attracted heavy media attention in the United States. He was not charged due to insufficient evidence.

Now he is wanted in Peru in connection with the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores, a Peruvian woman found dead on the floor of a hotel room in Lima on Monday.

“Homicide personnel are convinced, due to the incriminating evidence we’ve found, that this Dutch citizen is the person responsible for killing Stephany Flores,” said Cesar Guardia, head of the Peruvian police crimes unit.

From CBS News:

Aruban prosecutor Peter Blanken, who has been part of the investigation into the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, has learned that Joran van der Sloot is now a suspect in a new murder, that of a 21-year-old woman whose body was found in a hotel room in Lima, Peru. The prosecutor told CBS News that the allegation was a remarkable development and says that he is personally shocked by it.

Early Wednesday morning, Stephany Flores Ramirez was found dead, Peruvian newspaper El Comercio reports, in a hotel room registered under van der Sloot’s name. According to police reports, Ramirez had been brutally stabbed and was found wrapped in a blanket in a pool of blood.

Father of Joran Van der Sloot Dies

UPDATE (6/2/10): Joran van der Sloot is being implicated in a murder in Peru. Please follow this link for more information.

UPDATE: It is being reported that Joran van der Sloot has confessed to the murder of Natalee Holloway. More details can be found by following this link.

The father of Joran Van der Sloot, the chief suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, has died in Aruba. It appears that Van der Sloot’s father, Paul van der Sloot, died of a heart attack

From the Associated Press:

The Aruban newspaper Diario reported Thursday that Paul van der Sloot, 57, died of a heart attack on the Dutch island in the Caribbean. The paper’s Web site says he collapsed late Wednesday after playing tennis and was declared dead at a hospital.

Van der Sloot’s son Joran has been characterized by Aruban prosecutors as the only suspect in the case. No charges have been filed.