Portrait of a Monster: Joran Van Der Sloot, a Murder in Peru, and the Natalee Holloway Mystery (39 page)

“So I said to the cabbie, please take me to a police station because I have just seen that the police are looking for me because of a homicide. So we found a police station in Vasco da Gama, and I spoke with the personnel there, and I said I have just seen in the paper that the Peruvian police want me for a homicide. So they looked at me really strangely and they told me to wait a minute and the policewoman said ‘You’d better go to another police station because we know nothing about this.’

“So I started talking with a cabbie and I said I have to surrender and he said, ‘I have a cousin that is chief of police in Santiago, if you want I can call him.’

“So I said, ‘Okay call him.’ And so the cabbie was on the phone for five minutes and then he gave me the phone. With my command of the Spanish language, I spoke with him and I explained that I had seen in the newspaper that I was wanted in Peru. He asked me where I was from and I said, ‘I am from Holland.’

“Then he said, ‘I will call you back’ and he called back. And he told me to go to the central police station in Santiago. During the whole trip, he called on the phone. The taxi driver told me that his cousin, the police chief, told him that he was going to come over for the sake of my security.

“An hour went by, and the police came to the cab in a regular vehicle, not a police car, where I got in and was driven to the immigration office in Santiago, where they told me that I
wasn’t
being apprehended, that I could do what I wanted.

“So I used the computer. I ate, and one of the people from immigration told me that Peru has put in an extradition request to which I responded that I didn’t agree with that; that I needed to speak with a lawyer.

“They said that it was out of their control; that it was a decision from the government. I asked if there was a possibility that I could be extradited to Holland and they told me they were going to look into it. They kept telling me that I wasn’t being detained, that it was above them, and they had to give me back to the country through which I came in, meaning Peru, and that is the way I arrived in Peru.”

Callan took in the fantastic story without expression. He knew some of the pieces were different from the evidence, but he made no challenges. After a pause in the narrative, Callan changed the subject to the murder weapon. “Did you use any type of blunt object to kill Stephany?” he asked.

“No,” Joran replied.

“Can you tell me, in which areas of the face and body did you strike her, and how many times?”

“I only struck her above the nose with my right elbow.”

“We found a Prince racquet at the scene of the crime,” Callan said, showing Joran a photograph of the tennis racquet officers had collected from Room 309. “Is it the same one that was used to victimize Stephany?”

“I did not hit her with the racquet that you are showing.”

Callan again pulled the long-sleeved beige shirt that was soiled in blood from the evidence bag. “Please indicate if the garment that we are showing you, name brand One Star Converse, is the same garment that you were wearing on May 30 and the one you used to asphyxiate Stephany.”

“Yes, it’s the same shirt I had on at the casino, and the one that I used to smother Stephany until she was dead.” Joran was unable to maintain eye contact for more than a few seconds.

“Can you look at me, please?” Callan directed. “Tell me what happened.”

Joran claimed that he first elbowed Stephany in the nose, hard, and then he climbed on top of her. He struck her head, wrestled her to the ground and smothered her with his shirt.

“Could she have been alive after that?”

Joran said it was conceivable, admitting she may have agonized for a while. He was unable to elaborate, remembering the time after the attack as a blur.

Callan noted that Joran’s demeanor had become more relaxed now that he was confessing. Sometimes he smiled, and occasionally he showed remorse. At moments, he was even charming.

Callan next showed Joran a photograph of a white-and-turquoise purse that had been found in Room 309. “Whose pocketbook is this?” he asked.

“The bag belongs to Stephany. She was carrying it on May 30.”

“What was inside the bag?”

“Three cards; one was a Visa, another one from a bank and her ID, as well as 850 nuevos soles [about U.S.$300].”

“So what happened to the contents of the bag after Stephany was dead?”

“I realized that Stephany had money, but I didn’t know about the credit cards or how much money. But I knew that she had exchanged the chips for cash before leaving the casino. So after killing her, I took the cards and the money.”

Joran’s response supported Callan’s theory: Stephany’s murder was motivated by robbery alone. Joran was a consummate gambler, strapped for cash, who opportunely selected Stephany. He knew she had been a winner that evening, and lured her to his hotel room to rob her of her winnings and her credit cards. Her jewelry, a ring, a pair of gold earrings and watch, did not interest him. Joran had no cuts or scratches on his body, yet he claimed that Stephany had, without warning, punched him in the face. He was at a loss to explain the violence that followed, but appeared to be setting up a self-defense scenario.

After the murder, Callan surmised, Joran stole the Jeep hoping to find money in the vehicle. Joran’s explanation for abandoning the Jeep was that he did not know the city.

Callan was hoping Joran would reveal his motive in his own words.

“So, what motive did you have when you killed Stephany that morning?”

“I don’t know, but the moment that she struck me in the head I just lost control. I didn’t know what I was doing. Uh, I remember what I was doing, but not the motive. It was an impulsive act, a reaction to her striking me on the head.”

“Why after killing Stephany, did you flee to Chile? And why in that country did you decide to turn yourself in when you could have done it in Peru?”

“I wasn’t thinking clearly. I only wanted to the leave the scene of the crime as quickly as possible and leave the country. But when I arrived in Chile, and I saw my picture in the papers, I decided to turn myself in to the authorities in Chile.”

Callan reworked the time line back to the murder scene. “Why after killing Stephany on May 30, did you leave the hotel room only to return with two cups of coffee in your hands?”

Joran didn’t know the answer.

Callan’s investigators had interviewed the barista at Holly’s Coffee Shop about Joran’s physical appearance the morning of the murder. She had indicated that he had patronized the shop before and seemed no different, calm and relaxed as usual.

“Did you ever think of hiding the body of the victim after killing Stephany in the hotel?”

“Yes, it crossed my mind at one point to hide the body, but I couldn’t take the sight anymore, there was too much blood in the room.”

“How do you explain the lesions that are on her face and several parts of her body, as well as the cranial fracture that was found during the autopsy?”

Joran shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know because there wasn’t much of a struggle.”

“Keeping in mind what you previously said, that you took Stephany by the throat using both hands to strangle her, can you tell us where the victim was, and what position you adopted?”

“She was on the bed when I struck her with my right elbow hard, and I think her head went backwards and hit the wall, then she started bleeding so I immediately positioned myself on top of her and with both hands I started to strangle her, keeping her like that for a minute.

“After that, I threw her to the ground because she was still bleeding and it was then that I took my shirt off and put it over her face and kept pressing, I don’t know for how long, and in this manner I think I killed her.”

“Is it true that after killing Stephany you undressed her? If so, what was your motive in undressing the cadaver?”

“Honestly, I don’t remember, but I think so. It was after killing her. It was her pants and her shoes but nothing else. I don’t know why I did it.”

“As you indicated before, did you think about hiding the body and if so, where would you have hidden it?”

“I have no idea. It just crossed my mind for a second.”

“What did you put on, keeping in mind the shirt that you had on was bloody, what did you put on after killing Stephany?”

“I wore a V-neck T-shirt colored red with black and red stripes.”

“You said that after killing Stephany, you observed a great deal of blood in the room. Can you indicate if you cleaned the floor and if so, what did you use to clean it?”

“Yes, it’s true,” Joran affirmed matter-of-factly. “I used a bedspread and the sheets to clean the blood off the floor. And I only wiped the floor.”

Next came questions about the flight through Peru to Chile. “Describe the physical characteristics of the people that facilitated your escape to the city of Arica and if they solicited money and goods in exchange for leaving the country after they knew that you had killed Stephany?”

“They were three individuals who took me to Arica. The first person was thin, had a lot of hair, short, he wasn’t black, but dark skinned and he took me from Ica up to Nazca.

“The second person was heavy, had dark-colored hair, tall and he took me from Nazca to Arica. And again he was dark skinned but not black. And the third person, he was the first one’s brother, and they looked alike but his face was fuller. And he was the owner of the vehicle.

“And these people were the ones who asked me for money and they robbed me, they took my cellular phone, clothing, my $7,000 Ferrari watch, and two bottles of cologne, I don’t remember the brand. And they told me that if I didn’t give them the money, they were going to report me to the police.”

Callan showed Joran a photo lineup that included mug shots of the three Peruvian taxi drivers who had transported him from Nazca to Tacna.

“Do you recognize anyone?” the investigator asked.

Studying the photographs, Joran pointed to the one of Carlos Euribe Pretil. “That’s the guy,” he remarked.

The questioning returned to incidents in Room 309. “When you left the hotel, Room 309, after killing Stephany, what did you take along with you?”

“I took a backpack with documents, my laptop, some clothing, a beige bag with some clothing, books. The money that I took from her wallet, I put together with my money.”

“Did Stephany win any money during the time that you were playing in the Atlantic City Casino?”

“I don’t think she did,” Joran replied, looking down at the floor.

“Why did you go to room number 309 with Stephany?”

“To keep playing poker on the Internet.”

“What did Stephany say when she struck you on the head?”

“I was explaining to her that five years ago I was accused in a case where a girl disappeared because at that moment I had received a message through Facebook. One moment she was listening to me, and the next moment she hit me in the head and I don’t know why.”

“Why did you kill Stephany?” Callan again demanded.

“After I struck her, I was afraid that she was going to go to the police and I was going to be detained. It was an impulsive act. I think, I wanted to kill her, but I wasn’t thinking.”

“The autopsy shows the presence of amphetamines in her body. Did you give her anything to drink that contained amphetamines?”

“No,” Joran said, shaking his head.

“What kind of alcoholic beverages did you drink during the time that you were playing in the casino?”

“I had Pepsi Cola, pisco sour, and whiskey cola and I think that Stephany was drinking wine. From 6:00
P.M.
to 1:00
A.M.
, I drank about ten glasses.”

“How did you obtain the money that you used to leave the country?”

“I arrived in this country with $25,000, but I didn’t declare what I had on me. In Chile, I withdrew $500 from the ATM on June 2, from the Banco Santander, I believe. My account is called ‘Click to Pay.’ It’s an organization that makes money online available. I have a card, but it’s in Chile with my belongings.”

“What is the origin of the money that you brought to Peru, the $25,000, and why didn’t you declare the money?”

Joran claimed he had been working with an Israeli mentalist, Uri Geller. For $25,000 he was going to expose an online gambing fraud for Geller’s live TV program
The New Uri Geller,
which aired in Holland. He claimed he had been advanced $25,000; $10,000 in cash and $15,000 in a wire transfer to his Holland SNS bank account.

What Joran failed to tell the police were the significant details of the Uri Geller connection. To begin, what a remarkable coincidence that Joran’s story had Uri Geller advancing him $10,000 in cash and $15,000 in a wire transfer, the exact transactions as in the extortion of Beth Twitty two weeks earlier.

Saying a deal with Uri Geller was being negotiated was not a total fabrication. Joran
had
been in contact with the TV host, but not until after he had arrived in Peru. They did discuss Joran going undercover to investigate online gambing fraud, but no advancement had been secured. The offer was not for $25,000 but for $600 and a one-way ticket for Joran to travel back to Aruba, and this ticket was available before the brutal attack on Stephany Flores.

Geller had a plan to obtain a confession from Joran. His lure was the Internet gambling fraud story. However, he really was hoping to hypnotize the Dutchman to find out what really happened to Natalee Holloway. He admitted to sending him $600 and a plane ticket, but that was all.

Remarkably, Joran acknowledged that $9,000 of the $25,000 in cash was from Beth Twitty via John Quincy Kelly, although he shortchanged the amount and misrepresented the circumstances.

The final $6,000 cash to bring the total to $25,000 was ascribed to his winnings in Aruban casinos before his trip to Peru to play in the big tournament. He was annoyed by the concept of declaring cash.

“I fly around the world playing poker for a lot of money,” he boasted. “It takes longer to declare it than to make it.”

Natalee Holloway was briefly mentioned in a line of questioning about previous involvements in serious crimes.