Natalee Holloway case suspect Joran van der Sloot has been moved to another Peruvian prison ahead of transfer to US, officials say
Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, has been moved to a different prison in Peru early Saturday, officials said – a step in what is expected be his eventual temporary transfer to face charges in the United States.
Van der Sloot was involved in a fight inside his prison ward during visiting hours last week and suffered a cut to his fingers and some bruising, Altez said, adding that van der Sloot was placed in the prison’s medical section.
Van der Sloot, a Dutch national, was convicted in 2012 of murdering Stephany Flores, 21, in his Lima hotel room and sentenced to 28 years in prison.
He faces charges in connection with an alleged plot to sell false information about the whereabouts of 18-year-old Holloway’s remains in exchange for $250,000. Holloway’s mother, Beth Holloway, wired $15,000 to a bank account van der Sloot held in the Netherlands and through her attorney gave him another $10,000 in person, according to a 2010 US federal indictment.
Once he had the initial $25,000, van der Sloot said he would show John Kelly, the Holloway family attorney, where Natalee Holloway’s remains were hidden, but the information turned out to be false, the indictment states.
Natalee Holloway was last seen alive with van der Sloot and two other men 18 years ago leaving a nightclub in Aruba.
Police in Aruba arrested and released the three men – van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe – multiple times in 2005 and 2007 in connection with Holloway’s disappearance. Attorneys for the men maintained the men’s innocence throughout the investigation.
In December 2007, the Aruban Public Prosecutor’s Office said none of the three would be charged and dropped the cases against them, citing insufficient evidence.
Holloway’s body has not been found. An Alabama judge signed an order in 2012 declaring her legally dead. No one is currently charged in her death.