BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Joran van der Sloot on Wednesday pleaded guilty to extortion and wire fraud linked to Natalee Holloway’s 2005 disappearance — in a deal that requires him to disclose all he knows about what happened to the Alabama teen.
Van der Sloot had previously pleaded not guilty before his legal about-face and admission to those federal crimes in front of U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco in Birmingham.
Manasco asked van der Sloot, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit over a white t-shirt, a series of questions to confirm that he understood the legal ramifications of pleading guilty.
The judge also asked van der Sloot if he’s agreeing to fully cooperate with authorities in the search for Holloway and even submit to polygraph examinations. He repeatedly answered: “Yes ma’am.”
After Manasco declared his guilt, Van der Sloot then told the court he’s embraced Christianity and said he’s a different person than he was nearly two decades ago.
“I would like to apologize to the Holloway family,” he said. “I am no longer that person back then than I am today. I gave my heart to Jesus Christ, he helped me through all of this.”
The apology didn’t move the victim’s mother, Beth Holloway, who blames van der Sloot for her daughter’s death.
“You are a killer and I want you to remember that every time that jail cell door slams,” Beth Holloway said from the courtroom lectern.
She later turned to face van der Sloot, who appears to have gained weight since arriving to the United States in June, and addressed him directly.
“You look like hell, Joran,” she said. “I don’t see how you’re going to make it.”
The charges he’d admitted to are only indirectly tied to Holloway’s disappearance and presumed slaying. A federal grand jury indicted van der Sloot in 2010 on two counts of wire fraud and extortion.
He was extradited to the U.S. in June to face allegations that he demanded $250,000 from Holloway’s family in exchange for information about what happened to the 18-year-old from Mountain Brook, Alabama, who was set to attend the University of Alabama on scholarship.
The missing teen had dreams of being a doctor, Beth Holloway said.
“Natalee would be 36 years old. I think of the doctor she would be,” her mother said. You terminated her potential, her dream, you terminated that when you bludgeoned her to death,” she said.
Holloway disappeared in Aruba 18 years ago during a vacation with classmates, celebrating their high school graduation.
She was last seen on May 30, 2005, at about 1:30 a.m. as she left Carlos ‘N Charlie’s Nightclub in Oranjestad with three young men, van der Sloot, Deepak Kalpoe, and Satish Kalpoe, the FBI has said.
A probate judge declared Holloway dead in 2012 and no one was ever tried for her presumed slaying.
The statute of limitations for homicide is 12 years in Aruba so any admission of guilt in Holloway’s death could not lead to any local prosecution.
Before van der Sloot arrived in Alabama this past summer, he had been locked up in Peru for the murder of college student Stephany Flores, 21.
Flores was killed in his hotel room in Lima on May 30, 2010, after she allegedly looked at his laptop computer and found out he was connected to Holloway’s disappearance.
A Peruvian court sentenced him to 28 years behind vars for Flores’ slaying.
With time served, that sentence could, in theory, kept him locked up until 2038. But he’s eligible for parole after having done half his sentenced time, in addition to other good behavior credits.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Sam Brock and Juliette Arcordia reported from Birmingham and David K. Li from New York City.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
