Eighteen years after her daughter’s disappearance, Natalee Holloway’s mother received news Wednesday that the tragic case has been resolved, following Dutch national Joran van der Sloot’s confession to murder.
According to reports, van der Sloot told police he and Natalee kissed at the beach after meeting at a bar in Aruba in May 2005. When he tried to take things further, he said Natalee refused and kicked him in the groin. He said he responded by kicking her so hard in the face that it knocked her unconscious.
He also admitted to grabbing a nearby cinder block and smashing Natalee in the head before carrying her body into water. He walked until knee-deep and pushed her remains out to sea, according to court documents obtained by The Docket.
Natalee was 18 years old at the time of her death.
At the Hugo L. Black Federal Courthouse in Birmingham, Natalee’s mother, Beth, addressed the killer directly Wednesday, saying he looked like hell and brandishing him a “black mark on the island.”
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‘You have finally admitted’: Joran van der Sloot confesses to Natalee Holloway’s Death
Afterward, she addressed reporters outside the federal courthouse, CBS News reports.
“Joran van der Sloot is no longer the suspect in my daughter’s murder. He is the killer,” Beth Holloway told reporters.
“He said that after killing her on the beach in Aruba, he put her into the water and that was the last that he ever saw her. I’m satisfied knowing that he did it, he did it alone and he disposed of her alone.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, van der Sloot arrived from Peru in Birmingham in July to face charges related to the extortion of Natalee’s family. The extradition stems from claims that van der Sloot bilked Beth out of $25,100.
As part of the plea deal in the extortion case, van der Sloot agreed to reveal what happened to Natalee. He has long been suspected of killing her, but has never been charged with her murder.
van der Sloot Court Binding… by Leigh Egan
Beth paid van der Sloot in 2010 for details about the location of her daughter’s remains, but van der Sloot gave false information and failed to honor his promise, which led to a U.S. grand jury indicting him on extortion and wire fraud charges.
“I paid my daughter’s killer money. That’s shocking. I don’t think anyone can really wrap their mind around what that means,” Beth Holloway said Wednesday morning while addressing the court.
“By the way you look like hell Joran. I do not see how you’re gonna make it….You are a killer and I want you to remember that every time that jail door slams.”
Holloway family attorney, John Q. Kelly, told Today that part of the plea deal entailed “details of how Natalee died and how her body was disposed of,” and that following the confession, there won’t be “any further investigation or search…for Natalee’s remains.
Holloway vanished while vacationing in Aruba days after graduating high school. Her remains have never been found, but friends previously said several students visited a nightclub, Carlos’n Charlie’s, in Aruba, on May 30, 2005.
A friend of Natalee’s, Jessica Caoila, told Oxygen that she stopped to get some street food and when she happened to look up, she saw Natalee leaving in a white car.
“We decided that we were going to leave and wait for the shuttle and then while waiting for the shuttle grab some street food,” Caoila said.
“While we were waiting for street food I remember seeing Natalee in a white car driving away, the window was down so we could see it was her in the back of the car. My impression was “Oh, great, she found a ride back to the hotel.’”
Caoila thought back to the last time she saw Natalee and remembered seeing van der Sloot in a casino close to the hotel Natalee was staying at. Caoila admitted that other than thinking van der Sloot was cute, she didn’t think much else about him.
Natalee’s remains have never been found.
“Protecting herself enraged an aggressive predator to the point of murder. He murdered Natalee, and then tortured and extorted those who loved her most,” Natalee’s father said in a victim impact statement Wednesday. “He is evil personified.”
Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Joran van der Sloot/Peruvian mug shot, left, Natalee Holloway/FBI]
