joran van der sloot

Authorities have re-arrested three men in connection with the disappearance of an Alabama teenager in Aruba in 2005, based on new evidence in the case, prosecutors announced Wednesday.


Natalee Holloway disappeared while on an Aruba vacation in 2005.

1 of 4 Brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe were arrested in Aruba at the same time authorities in the Netherlands picked up Joran Van der Sloot at the request of the Aruban government, the statement said. Van der Sloot is attending school in Holland.

The three had previously been arrested in 2005, Aruban prosecutors noted in a statement, but a court released them, citing insufficient evidence.

They are now charged with "involvement in the voluntary manslaughter of Natalee Holloway or causing serious bodily harm to Natalee Holloway, resulting in her death," the statement said. Watch interview with Holloway's father »

Van der Sloot, now 20, and the Kalpoes, now ages 24 and 21, were the last people seen with Holloway, 18, as she left Carlos n' Charlie's nightclub in Oranjestad, Aruba, about 1:30 a.m. on May 30, 2005. All three men have maintained their innocence in her disappearance. View a timeline of the case »

No information was immediately available about what the new evidence was that led to the arrests.

Aruban prosecutors said a team of detectives from the Netherlands has been reviewing the Holloway case at the request of authorities in Aruba, and had been on the island as late as last month to complete the investigation.

The Kalpoe brothers were being interrogated by Aruban police Wednesday, Aruba prosecutor Dop Kruimel told CNN. They will appear before a judge Friday for a preliminary arrest hearing, in which the judge determines whether the arrest was credible, she said.

The judge can then authorize their being detained for eight more days, meaning police have that much time to produce evidence. The suspects then go before a judge again, she said.

Van der Sloot was arrested in Arnhem, the Netherlands, by Dutch police, Kruimel said. Aruban authorities have asked for him to be extradited to Aruba within eight days.

Because they were not familiar with the case, Dutch police were not questioning Van der Sloot, she said. He will be questioned when he is brought back to Aruba, she said. However, he will appear before a judge Thursday in Arnhem.

When CNN called the Kalpoe household, the person who answered the phone hung up.

Earlier, Van der Sloot's mother, Anita Van der Sloot, told CNN her son had not been arrested, but had only reported to a police station in the Netherlands for questioning Wednesday after receiving a letter asking him to do so.

Anita Van der Sloot said she had spoken to her son briefly from her home in Aruba. She said a Dutch attorney was with him, and she expected him to appear before a judge and be released Thursday.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway, said in a statement, "The family is always hopeful when a step in the right direction is made in the case."

Beth Holloway was refusing interviews for now, said spokeswoman Sunny Tillman. She previously was known as Beth Holloway-Twitty, but has returned to using Holloway after a divorce earlier this year.

Natalee Holloway was visiting Aruba with a group of about 100 classmates celebrating their graduation from Mountain Brook High School in suburban Birmingham, Alabama, when she went to Carlos n' Charlie's that night in 2005.

The group had planned to leave for home the following day, and Holloway's packed bags and passport were found in her hotel room after she failed to show up for her flight.

Her disappearance triggered an exhaustive search and investigation and a media sensation in the United States, Aruba, the Netherlands and beyond, but Holloway has never been found.

Aruban authorities have been criticized for their handling of the case. At least 10 men, including Van der Sloot and the Kalpoes, have been arrested and identified as suspects either in Holloway's disappearance or in an alleged cover-up. All were questioned and released.

Legal experts, however, have said differences in the U.S. and Aruban systems should be taken into account. Aruba's criminal justice system is based on Dutch law and a descendant of the Napoleonic code. In Aruba, authorities' reasonable suspicion that someone knows about or is involved in a crime is enough to make an arrest, while magistrates investigate and judges determine a suspect's guilt or innocence. There are no jury trials.

Aruban authorities, meanwhile, have suggested that Holloway may have overdosed on drugs or died of alcohol poisoning.


Beth Holloway and Natalee Holloway's father, Dave Holloway, filed a lawsuit last year against Van der Sloot and his father, Aruban judge Paulus Van der Sloot, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York. The Van der Sloots were served with the suit while on a trip to New York.

However, a judge in August 2006 dismissed the suit, saying New York was an inconvenient forum in which to consider it. It was unclear whether Holloway's parents have pursued legal action
ORANJESTAD, Aruba - Authorities in Aruba and in the Netherlands have arrested three young men who had earlier been detained as suspects in the disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway.

The prosecutor's office in Aruba says Joran van der Sloot of the Netherlands and two brothers from Suriname have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in manslaughter and causing serious bodily harm resulting in Holloway's death.

Van der Sloot was arrested in the Netherlands, where he is attending a university. The others -- Satish and Deepak Kalpoe -- were arrested in Aruba. Van der Sloot is expected to be extradited to the Dutch Caribbean island.

Holloway disappeared in May of 2005, hours before she was scheduled to fly home to Alabama with her high school classmates. She was last seen leaving a bar with the three young men who are now back in custody.



© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Updated: November 21, 2007, 8:03 pm

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CHICAGO -- Defense attorney Joseph Tacopina knows what Drew Peterson is trying to do by going on television time and again to proclaim his innocence in the disappearance of his wife and death of his ex-wife.

He knows the 53-year-old former Bolingbrook police sergeant is trying to battle growing suspicions being fed in the media by angry relatives, neighbors, an ex-wife and scathing words from the likes of John Walsh and Geraldo Rivera.

» Click to enlarge image

Drew Peterson
(The Associated Press)
And he knows this: óíºHe really couldn't have done anything worse short of saying, 'Yeah, I killed her, so what?'" said Tacopina, whose clients have included a one-time suspect in the 2005 disappearance of an American teenager in Aruba.

It has been weeks since Stacy Peterson vanished in late October. Since then, as reports surfaced that Peterson's third wife, Kathleen Savio, drowned in her bathtub three years ago, Peterson has found himself at the center of a media storm.

Peterson went from explaining to reporters that his 23-year-old wife left on her own to be with another man to leaving his home or staying behind his door to escape the growing crush of television news trucks camped outside.

When he did show himself, it apparently was to bait the press, from the day he wore a bandanna over much of his face to the time he came outside to tell a joke in which he compared the media unfavorably to a pig.

Recently, though, he's decided to talk. And talk. He invited Rivera into his house. He flew to New York to sit across from Matt Lauer on the Today show and he appeared on Good Morning America .

óíºHe said ... I want to get my message out to the world," said Steve Carcerano, a friend who also has been a much sought-after interview subject because he found Savio's body in 2004.

Peterson repeatedly has said he had nothing to do with his wife's disappearance or Savio's death, whose body was exhumed last week after prosecutors said they believed her death was a homicide staged to look like an accident.

Authorities have not identified Peterson as a suspect in Savio's death -- but authorities do say he's suspected in Stacy Peterson's disappearance.

So when Peterson talks, the public is listening.

They are listening both to what he says and how he says it. They are listening to what Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted , has called on television Peterson's óíºawful cold-blooded responses."

Prosecutors are doing the same, waiting for Peterson to slip up, make a statement that doesn't jibe with what he's said before.

óíºYou should be very careful (because) the next time you watch, you could be sitting in the defendant's chair," said Mark Geragos, who represented Scott Peterson, the California man convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 2004 in the slaying of his pregnant wife, Laci.

Geragos saw that first hand when three interviews Scott Peterson gave -- before he retained Geragos -- were played in open court.

It was Scott Peterson's own words, in those taped interviews and taped conversations that did him in, said Geragos -- a conclusion famed defense attorney Gerry Spence agrees with.

óíºThey never even proved a murder in that case," Spence said of Scott Peterson. óíºThe thing he did do was cheat on his wife. He got the death penalty for proof that he cheated on his wife."

Geragos said such interviews pose another hazard.

óíºIf they find (Stacy Peterson) and she's dead and she was dead at the time the interview was done ... those things look awful. Whether (Drew Peterson) had anything to do with it, it looks awful."

On Monday, it seemed that Drew Peterson, or at least the attorney he retained last Friday, recognized that interviews are, as Geragos said, óíºfraught with danger." During a brief interview on Today , Joel Brodsky would not let his client respond to most questions put to him.

Tacopina said he would not let Joran Van der Sloot -- a one-time suspect in Natalee Holloway's disappearance -- talk to the media for nine months after he was retained. He said the damage already may have been done in the case of Drew Peterson, who might pay for his words -- whether or not he committed a crime.

óíºNot for a second do I judge this guy, but his standup routine in front of his house while his wife is missing is in bad taste and people cannot reconcile that with someone who is grieving," he said.

Add that to referring to his wife in the past tense, talk about how his wife's behavior was tied to her menstrual cycle and how he paid for all sorts of cosmetic surgery, and Peterson has hurt himself if his fate ever is put in the hands of a jury.

óíºThings like that, when there is maybe a gap in the evidence, the jury's disdain for the defendant will often fill that gap where the evidence should be," he said.

óíºHe's going to be someone a jury's going to want to convict and if I (as a prosecutor) can put even a marginal case together a jury is going to want to take this guy down."
Joran van der Sloot
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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. He was placed under arrest by Dutch police on November 21, 2007 in connection with Holloway's disappearance.

In the early hours of the morning that Holloway (18) disappeared, she left with Van der Sloot (then aged 17) and two friends [1], 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 acknowledges 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 due to lack of evidence[2]. 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.

Van der Sloot and approximately nine other people remain as suspects in the disappearance. However, due to papers produced in a lawsuit filed by the Kalpoes in Los Angeles against media organizations and others for slander and other torts, it is expected that he will either be charged or cleared by December 31, 2007. On November 21st, Dutch police arrested Joran van der Sloot on suspicion of involvement in the killing of Natalee Holloway in Aruba.

Contents
1 Alleged admission
2 Joran's father
3 Civil lawsuit
4 Book
5 April 2007 search
6 November 2007 arrest
7 Notes and references
8 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 that he had 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. [2] This allegation has been denied by Gerald Dompig, Aruban deputy chief of police, as well as by a former attorney for the Twitty family.[3].

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. [4] 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 alone on the beach, even though it was by her own request.


[edit] Joran's father
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 programme, but still retains his licence to practice law and continued to receive a government salary. Paulus van der Sloot 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. A separate action for damages for himself and his family was initially successful, but was reversed on appeal. 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,[3] saying 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 [5], 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.


[edit] Book
A book by Van der Sloot and reporter Zvezdana Vukojevic, "De Zaak Natalee Holloway" ("The Case of Natalee Holloway") was published, in Dutch, in April 2007. ISBN 978-90-218-0014-1


[edit] April 2007 search
On April 27, 2007, a new search involving some twenty investigators was launched at the parental home of Joran van der Sloot on Aruba.[4][5] [6] Dutch authorities searched the yard and surrounding area, using shovels and thin metal rods to penetrate the dirt.[5] A spokesman for the prosecutor's office, Vivian van der Biezen stated "The investigation has never stopped and the Dutch authorities are completely reviewing the case for new indications". [5] A statement released directly from the prosecutor's office stated: "The team has indications that justify a more thorough search."[5] Investigators did not comment on what prompted the new search[5], except that it was not related to Van der Sloot's book

[edit] November 2007 arrest
On November 21, 2007 Van der Sloot was re-arrested in Amsterdam, along with the Kalpoe brothers on Aruba, because of what the prosecutor's office called "new incriminating evidence" relating to the Holloway case. [6]