Image Source: Fox News
BY AUSTIN ALONZO
ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN
A Peruvian court sentenced Joran van der Sloot to 28 years in jail on Friday for killing a Peruvian national. Van der Sloot is the prime suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
Van der Sloot pleaded guilty to murdering Stephanie Flores after meeting her at a casino in Lima in May 2010. ABC explains his lawyer’s defense.
“His lawyer argued he killed 21 year old Stephanie Flores during a fit of rage he blamed on psychological trauma from being hounded as the prime suspect in the Holloway case.”
The prosecution said van der Sloot killed Flores after she found items on his laptop linking him to the disappearance of Holloway. Van der Sloot, one of the last men to see Holloway alive, was tried for the disappearance but not convicted. Bloomberg explains.
“Van der Sloot said in a 2008 video he disposed of the body of Holloway on Aruba. He later denied he had anything to do with the disappearance of the 18-year-old. Dutch prosecutors dropped a case against him.”
Van der Sloot still faces federal wire fraud charges and extradition to the U.S. for giving false information to Holloway’s mother for $25,000. Fox News explains the charges.
“[Van der Sloot] faces federal charges accusing him of extorting $25,000 from Beth Holloway to reveal the location of her daughter’s body. Prosecutors said the money was paid, but nothing was disclosed about the missing woman’s whereabouts. Authorities said they believe the tall, garrulous Dutchman used the money to travel to Peru on May 14, 2010, where Flores was killed two weeks later.”
Barring an extradition to the US, van der Sloot will return to Lima’s maximum security Miguel Castro Castro prison where has been held since June 2010. TIME describes the prison.
“The prison houses some of the country's major drug traffickers and long-imprisoned members of the Shining Path terrorist group. The young Dutchman is imprisoned is a special section of Castro Castro with only a handful of individual cells. He has asked to be transferred to the general population of the prison where he would have much greater freedom of movement — and also greater opportunity to work and study, things he will have to do to qualify for parole.”
But the victim’s attorneys say van der Sloot is receiving “5 star treatment” at Castro Castro prision. Reports from Peru’s El Comercio says van der Sloot has access to the internet, a cell phone, and a flat-screen television in his cell. On Friday Flores’ father said in a press conference...
“Prison is something that should make you reflect, complete a sentence. Prison is not a five-star hotel. I hope the authorities understand that and exercise the same rigidity in every case, not just this one. …
“It is pointless to put a person in jail … if the jail is better than the street.”
According to the AP -- Peruvian prison officials deny allegations of excessive comforts. Still -- if the conviction stands, under Peruvian law, van der Sloot will be eligible for conditional parole after nine years. He said he reserves the right to appeal the conviction and the sentence.
