Joran van der Sloot has confessed to fatally bludgeoning 18-year-old Natalee Holloway on a beach in Aruba in 2005.
His confession came as part of a plea deal for an extortion and wire fraud case linked to Holloway’s case.
“I have considered the factual statements about extortion and wire fraud but also considered your confession to the brutal murder of Natalee Holloway,” U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco said.
Van der Sloot, now 36, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
As part of the plea deal, Van der Sloot, who had long been a suspect in the Alabama teen’s disappearance, detailed the events that led up to Holloway’s murder.
He recalled kissing Holloway on the beach after the two went on a date at a local bar. But after he started making sexual advances, she kneed him in the crotch.
Van der Sloot retaliated by kicking her “extremely hard” in the face.
While she was unconscious he took a cinderblock that he found nearby and used it to “smash her head in with it completely.” He dragged her body into the water and disposed of her.
“After that, I, I get out,” he said. “I walk home.”
WASHINGTON – JUNE 08: Beth Holloway fights back tears as she participates in the launch of the Natalee Holloway Resource Center on June 8, 2010 in Washington, DC. The non profit resource center was founded by Holloway and the National Museum of Crime & Punishment and was created to assist families of missing persons. Beth Holloway’s daughter Natalee is the Alabama teen who disappeared five years ago in Aruba. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
“You changed the course of our lives and you turned them upside down,” her mother, Beth Holloway, Natalee’s mother, said in court as part of a victim statement. “You are a killer and I want you to remember that every time that jail cell door slams.”
In this handout, Dutch convicted murderer Joran van der Sloot in a mug shot following his arrest in Lima, Peru, 11th June 2010. (Photo by Kypros/Getty Images)
“Joran van der Sloot is no longer the suspect in my daughter’s murder,” Beth Holloway, Natalee’s mother, said outside the courthouse. “He is the killer.”
Beth told reporters she was “satisfied” with Van der Sloot’s confession.
Beth Holloway says after van der Sloot killed her daughter he disposed of her in the water. She says a polygraph test verified his statement.
“This confession means we have finally reached the end of this never ending nightmare.” pic.twitter.com/ySQo3yjUI3
— Tristan Ruppert (@TristanRuppert) October 18, 2023
“This confession means we have finally reached the end of this never ending nightmare,” Beth said, per WBRC.
After nearly 20 years the case is finally closed. I hope the killer’s confession brings some closure to Natalee’s family and friends.