Natalee Holloway confession called ‘fantasy’
Suspect claims he dumped missing Ala. teen’s body in swamp on Aruba

Tues., Feb. 23, 2010

LONDON - The suspect in the disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway has confessed to disposing of her body in a marsh on the Caribbean island of Aruba, a Dutch tabloid newspaper reported Tuesday.
 
Joran van der Sloot made the statement in a sit-down interview with a television journalist, according to De Telegraaf.
 
However, Aruba's chief prosecutor Peter Blanken told NBC News that the suspect's story was "very unbelievable."
 
Holloway, from Mountain Brook, Ala., was 18 when she was last seen leaving a bar in the Aruban capital on the final night of a high school graduation trip in May 2005. Her body has never been recovered.
 
Authorities reportedly reopened the investigation after the alleged confession came to light following the interview, which occurred in August.
 
"It quickly became clear that this statement is held together by lies and fantasy," the Dutch newspaper quoted Blanken as saying. "Times did not fit and named witnesses mentioned are denying his claims."
 
The interview was not aired by German broadcaster RTL because of doubts about whether van der Sloot was telling the truth.
 
Van der Sloot claimed that Holloway had died accidentally and insisted that he did not kill her.
 
He previously told another journalist that he had dumped her body in the sea.

 
Joran van der Sloot, a suspect in the case of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway on the island of Aruba in 2005, has again revised his statements about his role in the case. Aruban public prosecutor Peter Blanken confirmed this to De Telegraaf newspaper on Tuesday.
 
In his most recent 'confession' - made to the German-language service of broadcaster RTL - Joran van der Sloot claims he did not dump the American teenager's body into the Caribbean off Aruba, but hid her remains in a swamp.
 
The Aruban public prosecutor's department has followed up on his statements and concluded that his latest version of events is false. The timeline is reportedly inconsistent and witnesses have contradicted Joran van der Sloot's statements. Furthermore, public prosecutor Blanken believes that if Joran van der Sloot had really wanted to tell the truth, he would have mentioned an exact location.
 
Joran van der Sloot recently returned to the Netherlands to attend his father's cremation. Ex-judge Paul van der Sloot collapsed earlier this month while playing tennis on Aruba, where he lived. Paul van der Sloot had played a controversial role in the investigation, and always firmly denied his son was involved in the disappearance of Ms Holloway.
 
RTL television has a follow-up interview with Joran van der Sloot planned this week. The broadcaster hopes the death of his father has moved him to tell the truth.
 
Several Dutch media have a more sceptical attitude towards his motives. They believe the RTL interview is a conscious attempt to alter his image to that of a psychologically-unstable fabulist.