Joran van der Sloot

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Joran van der Sloot during a Current Affair interview

Joran Andreas Petrus van der Sloot (b. August 6, 1987 in Arnhem, Netherlands) is a Dutch college student who lived in Aruba. He was held in the Aruba prison for three months on suspicion of involvement in the disappearance of American Natalee Holloway on May 30, 2005.

In the early hours of the morning that Holloway (18) disappeared, she left with Van der Sloot(then aged 17) and two of his friends, brothers Deepak Kalpoe (21) and Satish Kalpoe (18), in Deepak Kalpoe's car following bar closing time.

The three young men were arrested on June 9, 2005. They first told police that they dropped off Holloway at the Holiday Inn, where she was staying with classmates on a graduation trip. However, Van der Sloot now admits that this was a lie he and the brothers initially agreed to tell to the authorities.

Van der Sloot also states he was alone with Holloway on the beach near the Marriott Hotel (about 1 km from the Holiday Inn), where the three say the two were dropped off. However, he insists that he did not harm her, and that she was fine when he left her on the beach (he says she wanted to stay, while he wanted to go home because he had to go to school later that morning). Accounts differ on how Van der Sloot got back home from the beach: Van der Sloot says that Satish Kalpoe picked him up with the car. Satish Kalpoe denies this.

The Kalpoes were released from custody on July 14, 2005, but were re-arrested on August 26, 2005 on suspicion of rape and murder.

Van der Sloot and the Kalpoes were released on September 4, 2005 and have never been charged with any crime in connection with the disappearance. Since September 6, 2005, Van der Sloot has resided in the Netherlands while attending college. When he was released, he was required to stay within Dutch territory pending the investigation. On September 14, 2005 however, a higher court removed any restriction on him.

1 Alleged admission
2 Joran's father
3 Civil lawsuit
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Alleged admission

According to Beth Twitty, Holloway's mother, in a September 10, 2005 interview in the Aruban newspaper Bon Dia, police reports indicated that Van der Sloot stated had sexual relations with Natalee while she was going in and out of consciousness. She repeated this allegation in a September 11, 2005 interview with Fox News. [1] This allegation has been denied by Gerald Dompig, Aruban deputy chief of police, as well as by a former attorney for the Twitty family.[2].

On September 26, 2005, an interview with Van der Sloot was shown on the American television show A Current Affair. Van der Sloot also says during the interview that neither he nor either of the Kalpoe brothers had sex with Natalee, but he does admit that he and the brothers initially agreed to lie to the authorities. [3]. Van der Sloot and the brothers first told police they dropped Holloway off alone at her hotel. They later said that Van der Sloot was dropped off with the teen at the beach. In the interview, Van der Sloot stated that he left Holloway alone at the beach, at her request, and that he regretted that. Some have criticized the interview for being edited by the producers to present Van der Sloot in an unfavorable light. On Dutch national television Van der Sloot said the reason why he initially lied was out of embarrassment over leaving Holloway behind alone on the beach, even though it was by her own request.

[edit] Joran's father

Paul van der Sloot as he appeared on FOX News after being released from custody

Joran's father, Paulus (Paul) van der Sloot, was a judge in training who was studying for a full-time position in Aruba; he had (prior to the Holloway incident) been terminated from the Dutch judge-in-training program, but still retains his license to practice law and continues to receive a government salary. Paul was arrested June 22, 2005 on suspicion of conspiring during or after the alleged crime with his then 17-year-old son. He was freed from jail on June 26, 2005. After his release, Paulus van der Sloot remained a suspect. In November, 2005, he won an unjust detention action against the Aruban government, and is no longer legally considered a suspect. This victory enables him to retain his government contract, which otherwise would not have been renewed. In January 2006, he qualified to practice law in Aruba (he was previously qualified in the Netherlands). On February 6, 2006, the Van der Sloots broke their silence on Good Morning America^[1], claiming that their son has been unfairly singled out and that the investigation has left them devastated.

[edit] Civil lawsuit

On February 16, 2006 Joran and his father were each served with a lawsuit filed by Natalee's parents Beth Twitty and Dave Holloway in New York, where he was scheduled to make a television appearance [4], alleging personal injury by Joran van der Sloot against Holloway and alleging that the father created a permissive environment. However, the case was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds on August 3, 2006.