A federal public defender has been appointed for Joran van der Sloot — the man suspected in Natalee Holloway’s 2005 disappearance and suspected slaying in Aruba — who is awaiting extradition to Alabama to face extortion charges as he remains jailed in Peru for murder.
On Monday, federal magistrate judge Gray Borden assigned Alabama public defender Kevin Butler to van der Sloot’s extortion case. Borden wrote that van der Sloot is “indigent” as he has been imprisoned since 2010, according to Fox News.
In 2012, van der Sloot was sentenced to 28 years for Stephany Flores’ slaying — which he said occurred after she learned of his connection to Holloway’s presumed murder. In 2005, Holloway, 18, was reportedly last seen leaving a bar in Aruba with van der Sloot, who was also 18 at the time.
Earlier this month, Peruvian officials approved van der Sloot’s extradition to Alabama, where he was indicted for wire fraud and extortion in 2010. There, he is accused of telling Holloway’s family that he would reveal where Holloway’s remains were located.
Van der Sloot, a Dutch national, was reportedly paid $25,000 for this information and demanded $225,000 more. Afterward, he allegedly provided a link to a website that he claimed detailed where Holloway’s remains were buried, but that was not the case.
Holloway’s remains have not been found.
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[Featured image: Joran van der Sloot Peruvian mug shot/Left; Natalee Holloway via FBI/right]
