Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway and then extorting Holloway’s mother, has arrived in the United States from Peru. Following his transfer from a Peruvian prison to a facility near Holloway’s hometown of Mountain Brook in Birmingham, van der Sloot is set to face arraignment in federal court on Friday, CNN reported Monday, citing court records.
The charges against van der Sloot date back to 2010 when he was indicted on federal counts of extortion and wire fraud. Allegedly, he orchestrated a scheme to sell false information about Holloway’s remains for a hefty sum of $250,000. Holloway’s mother, Beth Holloway, wired $15,000 to van der Sloot’s Netherlands bank account and provided an additional $10,000 through an attorney. However, the information provided by van der Sloot turned out to be a deceitful fabrication.
Despite tireless efforts, Natalee Holloway’s remains have never been discovered. Consequently, a judge in Alabama legally declared her dead in 2012. Van der Sloot, currently imprisoned in Peru for the murder of another woman, was apprehended by US agents dispatched to Peru on Wednesday. The FBI orchestrated his transfer to the US utilizing one of their aircraft in a carefully executed foreign custody operation.
Throughout the six-and-a-half-hour flight from Lima to Birmingham, van der Sloot was meticulously monitored and restrained. Upon departure from Lima’s Ancón 1 prison, he was escorted by law enforcement personnel and whisked away in a black van. He was later handed over to the FBI at Peru’s Air Force Base Grupo, where further legal proceedings are expected to unfold.
Initially, Peru agreed to extradite van der Sloot to the US only after he had served his murder sentence. However, the country’s stance shifted last month, leading to his temporary transfer for the purpose of facing the US charges. Following the conclusion of the trial, van der Sloot is anticipated to be returned to Peru.
The decision to expedite van der Sloot’s transfer to the US was prompted by concerns that the case might collapse due to the advanced age of the witnesses if he was not expeditiously brought to trial. The superior court in Lima issued an order for van der Sloot’s handover to FBI agents, as stated in a social media announcement.
The latest developments followed a habeas corpus petition filed by van der Sloot’s attorney against his temporary transfer. The attorney argued that proper notification was not provided for the transfer. Nevertheless, earlier statements by the attorney indicated van der Sloot’s consent to the transfer.
Van der Sloot has been serving his sentence at Peru’s Ancón 1 prison since 2012 when he was convicted of the murder of Stephany Flores, for which he received a 28-year prison term. In connection with the 18-year-old disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba, van der Sloot and two other men were arrested and subsequently released multiple times in 2005 and 2007. However, the Aruban Public Prosecutor’s Office dropped the cases against them due to insufficient evidence in December 2007.
