Joran van der Sloot has admitted to bludgeoning Natalee Holloway to death after they met at a bar in Aruba—ending a near two-decade mystery about her case.
Van der Sloot, 36, was jailed for 20 years in federal prison on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to attempting to extort $250,000 from her family in exchange for information about her death. The sentence will run concurrently with his 28-year sentence in Peru for the murder of his former girlfriend, Stephany Flores.
'You terminated her dreams, her potential, her possibilities, when you bludgeoned her to death in 2005," Holloway's mother Beth told an Alabama courtroom, noting that van der Sloot said he went home after the murder to watch pornography. 'You didn't get what you wanted from Natalee, your sexual satisfaction, so you brutally killed her.
'I paid my daughter's killer money. That's shocking. I don't think anyone can really wrap their mind around what that means... I have no doubt she would have made all her dreams come true. She really would have," she said.
Beth Holloway was allowed to hear van der Sloot's confession to police and was able to reveal the contents to the Alabama courtroom as van der Sloot listened.
District Judge Anna M. Manasco told the court that the Holloway family "will not find" her body, which appeared to confirm van der Sloot's claims that he had buried Holloway at sea.
Holloway was 18 when she disappeared from the Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005 during a trip with school friends. She was last seen with van der Sloot.
As part of his plea agreement, Van der Sloot, 36, agreed to tell detectives everything he knows about Natalee's disappearance, and her parents were allowed to hear his confession.
Van der Sloot addressed the court before his sentencing and apologized to the Holloway family.
'I would like to take this chance to apologize to the Holloway family, to apologize to my own family, to say I hope the statement I provided brings some kind of closure to everyone involved,' the killer said in court. 'I am no longer that person I was back then.'
He was extradited to Birmingham, Alabama in June from Peru, where he was serving a 28-year sentence after confessing to killing Stephany Flores in 2010.
Judge Manasco told van der Sloot: 'You have brutally murdered two women who refused your sexual advances... You knew the information you were selling was an absolute lie.'
Manasco indicated in a court order that she will hear victim impact statements, either submitted in writing or given in court, from Holloway's mother, father and brother before sentencing van der Sloot.
In emails seen by news site The Messenger and allegedly sent by Van der Sloot to Holloway family lawyer in 2010, he wrote: "I want this monkey off my back just as much as I know Natalees parents want to bring her home.
"If you have someone come meet me in Aruba, I will do the right thing... this situation hurts everyone involved and will continue to do so until it's over. I will take you to Natalee but I do not want it to be known the information came from me.
"In return I want to receive 250,000$. If you are interested I will give you more details and we can arrange it."
Holloway was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot, who was a student at an international school on Aruba at the time.
Uncommon Knowledge
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About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more
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