Natalee Holloway “fought like hell” in the moments before Joran van der Sloot brutally killed her and dragged her body into the sea nearly 20 years ago, the American teenager’s mother has said in a new interview.
“Yes, I said, ‘That’s it. He fought like hell,” Beth Holloway recalled of the moment van der Sloot confessed to lashing out at Natalee after he kneed her between the legs while resisting her sexual urges.
“I think he fought with his killer. He stood his ground,” Beth told CBS news.
Natalee Holloway was 18 when she disappeared on the last night of her senior class trip to Aruba on May 30, 2005.
The Alabama native was last seen leaving the bar with van der Sloot, who later became the prime suspect in her disappearance.
Earlier this month, van der Sloot – who is now 36 and serving a 28-year sentence in Peru for murdering another young woman in 2010 – finally admitted that he kicked Natalee in the head and then smashed her face with a cinder block after she pushed him in the beach is not far from the hotel.
Natalee Holloway disappeared on May 30, 2005.
“It just blisters your soul, and it hurts so much,” Beth said listening to van der Sloot describe how she dragged her daughter’s mutilated body into the ocean.
“But you know you’re there in a functional role because this is the moment I’ve been looking for for 18 years. As hard as it is to hear, it’s still not as painful as not knowing. It’s time for me to find out,” he explained.
“He was killed just by standing his ground,” Beth added to CBS.
“I’m very proud of him.”
Van der Sloot’s dramatic confession was part of a plea deal he struck with US prosecutors in connection with the case for trying to extort $250,000 from Natalee’s family in exchange for information on the location of her body.
Eventually, he leads family investigators on a wild goose chase before going to Peru to avoid the authorities, where he kills Stephany Flores five years to the day Natalee disappeared.
As part of a plea deal in Holloway’s case, van der Sloot agreed to allow the teenager’s family to hear his account of Natalee’s death in “real time”.
Beth Holloway spoke to reporters after Joran van der Sloot’s guilty plea on Wednesday.AP
The family accepted the deal to “finally get the answers we’ve been looking for,” Beth said.
Van der Sloot formally pleaded guilty to extortion charges on Wednesday – three days before Natalee’s 37th birthday, and just a few miles from the high school she graduated from days before her death.
“You’re a murderer!” Beth told van der Sloot in her victim impact statement.
“Remember every time the prison door is closed. You are a killer. You didn’t get what you wanted from Natalee — sexual satisfaction — so you brutally killed her.”
Joran van der Sloot admitted to beating Natalee Holloway to death almost 20 years ago.REUTERS
Natalee’s father, Dave Holloway, called his daughter’s killer “evil personified,” CBS reported.
Van der Sloot’s 20-year racketeering sentence will now run concurrently with his existing murder rap in Peru, where he will return to serve the remainder of his time in prison.
Despite his confession, van der Sloot will not face charges in Aruba for Natalee’s murder, as the statute of limitations for murder charges on the island expires after just 12 years, CBS said.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office in Aruba said the investigation into Holloway’s case remains open, and authorities “will follow up on any serious leads.”
Beth Holloway poses with Natalee just days before her murder.AP Joran van der Sloot is already serving 28 years in a Peruvian prison for killing a woman in 2010.Getty Images
During his official appeal, van der Sloot offered an apology to Natalee’s family, and claimed that he had changed since becoming a born-again Christian.
But Natalee’s half-sister, Kaitlyn Holloway, told The Post that she thought the killer’s words were “a bit of BS.”
“I don’t think it’s a sincere apology given all the damage he’s done,” the 20-year-old scoffed.
Speaking to CBS News after the court proceedings, Beth Holloway appeared sad but optimistic now that she can consider her daughter’s case over.
“I have peace,” he said.
“It feels very winning.”
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
