Key Natalee Holloway suspect’s extradition to US prompts big move.

Key Suspect in Natalee Holloway Case Transferred to New Prison Ahead of Extradition to US

The unsolved 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway has been a mystery that has captivated the world for years. Now, the chief suspect in her disappearance, Joran van der Sloot, is being transferred to a prison near Peru’s capital ahead of his pending extradition to the United States to face charges linked to her vanishing.

“Any prison in the United States is a five-star hotel” in comparison, said van der Sloot’s lawyer, Máximo Altez.

Background

Holloway was 18 when she was last seen during a trip with classmates to the Caribbean island of Aruba. She vanished after a night with friends at a nightclub, leaving a mystery that sparked years of news coverage and countless true-crime podcasts. She was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot, who was a student at an international school on the island.

Van der Sloot was identified as a suspect and detained weeks later, along with two Surinamese brothers. Holloway’s body was never found, and no charges were filed in the case. A judge later declared Holloway dead.

The federal charges filed in Alabama against van der Sloot stem from an accusation that he tried to extort the Holloway family in 2010, promising to lead them to her body in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars. A grand jury indicted him that year on one count each of wire fraud and extortion, each of which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Also in 2010, van der Sloot was arrested in Peru for the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores, who was killed five years to the day after Holloway’s disappearance.

Peruvian prosecutors accused van der Sloot of killing Flores, a business student from a prominent family, to rob her after learning she had won money at the casino where the two met. They said he killed her with “ferocity” and “cruelty,” beating then strangling her in his hotel room. He pleaded guilty in 2012.

Extradition to the US

The government of Peru authorized van der Sloot’s extradition to the U.S. in May. Van der Sloot has agreed to be sent to the United States where he faces trial for alleged extortion and wire fraud charges linked to the Holloway case, his lawyer said.

According to the treaty between Peru and the United States, van der Sloot is being extradited to the U.S. temporarily for one year to face legal proceedings and in the event of a delay, this period can be extended for another year. “At the end of this, he has to be returned to Peru,” Altez said. He will spend “at most two years in the United States.”

Conclusion

The transfer of van der Sloot to a new prison is a significant development in the Natalee Holloway case. While it remains to be seen what will happen in the upcoming trial, the world will be watching as justice is sought for Holloway and her family.

The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.

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