Global Courant 2023-05-12 01:50:14
Birmingham, Alaska– A former Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal profiler says she is surprised it took so long for Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama’s Natalee Holloway, to be extradited from Peru to the United States to face prosecution to become.
Officials in Peru said late Wednesday that Van der Sloot would be temporarily extradited to the United States to face charges of racketeering and telephony fraud. He is in Peruvian prison after being sentenced to 28 years for the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores.
The 36-year-old Dutchman was charged with racketeering and wire fraud in 2010 after Van der Sloot allegedly tried to sell information about the location of Natalee Holloway’s body.
He requested a total of $250,000 with $25,000 upfront for the information, with the rest of the money to be paid out when Natalee Holloway’s remains were positively identified in Aruba, where she went missing.
NATALEE HOLLOWAY, SUSPECTED JORAN VAN DER SLOT: TIMELINE OF ALABAMA TEEN’S DEATH
On Wednesday it was announced that Joran Van Der Sloot from Peru would be extradited. (Getty, AP Images)
Prosecutors allege that he led John Q. Kelly, the family’s attorney, to where Holloway’s remains are said to be. Van der Sloot lied about the location of the remains, prosecutors said in the July 2018 indictment.
Former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole told Fox News she was surprised to learn that van der Sloot is finally being extradited to the United States, nearly 18 years after Natalee Holloway went missing.
“I was really surprised because it’s been so long, and I didn’t know they were going to prosecute these charges. I think it’s good, but yeah, I was surprised to hear, surprised it took this long too,” O Toole said.
O’Toole said she was on scene in Aruba when authorities interviewed Van der Sloot and brothers Satish and Deepak Kalpoe were interviewed, but said she could not participate in the trial.
NATALEE HOLLOWAY SUSPECTS JORAN VAN DER SLOT TO BE SUPPLIED TO US, SAYS BETH HOLLOWAY
Dutch Joran Van der Sloot walks into the courtroom during the reading of his sentence in Lima’s Lurigancho prison on January 13, 2012. Van der Sloot was sentenced to 28 years in prison by a Peruvian court on Friday for the murder of Stephany Flores in Lima in 2010, exactly five years after 18-year-old Alabama native Natalee Holloway disappeared on the island of Aruba after spending time with him. (Reuters/Pilar Olivares)
“I really wanted to get a sense of what that was like to see what the dynamics were within that venue,” she said.
She said Van der Sloot was a “very eloquent and charming young man” based on observations from the interview, but did not necessarily mean that as a compliment.
“He seemed very comfortable with law enforcement. Unlike a lot of people in a case like this. Outwardly, he didn’t seem particularly upset,” said O’Toole.
Beth Holloway fights back tears as she participates in the launch of the Natalee Holloway Resource Center on June 8, 2010 in Washington, DC. Founded by Holloway and the National Museum of Crime & Punishment, the non-profit information center was created to assist families of missing persons. Natalee, the daughter of Beth Holloway, is the Alabama teenager who disappeared five years ago in Aruba. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
The former FBI profiler said Aruban authorities showed her around the island to “see different parts of the water and which currents would return a human body to the water” and which currents would not.
EXCLUSIVE: JORAN VAN DER SLOT REJECTS NEW WITNESS: ‘HE PLAYS WITH (FAMILY) PAIN’
Edward Alvarez, attorney for Stephany Flores’ family, speaks during an audience at the prosecution’s headquarters in Lima on September 12, 2011. Alvarez discussed the charges against Joran Van der Sloot, a Dutch man who has been linked to the disappearance of American Natalee Holloway in Aruba in 2005 and who is now the prime suspect in the 2010 murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores in Peru. (REUTERS/Pilar Olivares)
“It’s all very technical, and you really had to know what the water currents were like if you wanted to throw a body in the water,” she said. And the people in Aruba following the case really rallied to try and find her. I think the predominant thought at the time was that the perpetrator could have taken her in a boat and then dumped the body in deeper waters and that might have made a difference in the sense that we couldn’t find her but the water is a dumping ground seems to make the most sense to people who really understand the Caribbean and the water and currents.”
Van der Sloot pleaded guilty to Flores’ murder in January 2012 and Natalee Holloway was declared legally dead the same month.
Natalie Holloway’s mother, Beth, said in a statement Wednesday that justice has finally been served.
“I was blessed to have had Natalee in my life for 18 years, and as of this month I have been exactly 18 years without her. She would be 36 years old now. It has been a very long and painful journey, but the perseverance of many will pay off. Together we will finally get justice for Natalee,” said Beth Holloway.
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Beth Holloway also said she is grateful to everyone involved in the rendition.
“While I have much more to say later about what is happening, for now I would like to express my sincere gratitude to President Dina Boluarte, the President of Peru, the warm people of Peru, the family of Stephany Flores, the FBI in Miami. , Florida and in Birmingham, Alabama, the US Attorney’s Office in Birmingham, the US Embassy in Peru and the Peruvian Embassy in the US, my old attorney John Q. Kelly who worked tirelessly on this case, and George Seymore and Marc Wachtenheim of Patriot strategies,” said Beth Holloway.
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and Louis Casiano contributed to this report
Adam Sabes is a writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Adam.Sabes@fox.com and on Twitter @asabes10.