Peruvian criminal proceedings continue

Page 241

Chapter: thirty

Are there answers on laptop?

Are answers to Natalee's fate on Joran's computer?

March 13, 2011

Birmingham, Al (CBS42) Will almost six years of mystery about Natalee Holloway's fate be solved when FBI agents inspect the hard drive of Joran van der Sloot's computer?

FBI agents are due to meet with Peruvian justice officials in Lima Monday and are expected to get a copy of the contents of Joran van der Sloot's laptop. That could be a key break in the almost six years of wondering about the fate of Natalee Holloway, a Mountain Brook teen who disappeared on a school trip to Aruba in 2005. She was seen leaving a club with Joran van der Sloot..and never seen again.

The computer in question is a key element in two international crime stories...Natalee's disappearance and the murder of 21 year old college student Stephany Flores. Flores corpse was found in van der Sloot's Lima, Peru hotel room exactly five years after Natalee's disappearance in Aruba. Peruvian officials and even van der Sloot's attorney say he killed Flores in a rage after she found material relating to Natalee on his laptop.

That happened shortly after FBI officials say van der Sloot committed wire fraud and extortion by promising the Holloway family information about Natalee's fate but never coming across with real information.

It's possible there might be evidence pertaining to the fraud case on the laptop as well as information about Natalee's last hours.

The Birmingham FBI office would not confirm that local agents are making the trip to Lima.

Van der Sloot's Peruvian defense attorney Max Altez is expected to be at the meeting with FBI agents as will a representative of Stephany Flore's family.

Altez is seeking a 3-5 year sentence in Flores death claiming what amounts to temporary insanity. Peruvian justice officials and the Flores family have called her death a particularly violent crime and are asking for 30 years.

A Birmingham justice department spokesperson says the local feds are keeping a close eye on the process unfolding in Peru. Van der Sloot also faces possible extradition to Alabama to face the wire fraud and extortion charges.

NPI gave FBI copy of laptop disk

PNP gave the FBI a copy of the laptop hard drive Van der Sloot

This was announced by chief of the division of high-tech research of Police, Oscar González

Monday March 14, 2011

The National Police today gave the FBI a copy of the disk of the laptop the Dutchman Joran van der Sloot , confessed murderer of Stephany Flores and main suspect in the disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway .

This was announced by head of the research division of the police high-tech, Oscar Gonzalez, who noted that American agents seeking information relevant to the process followed by the Dutch in U.S. for the Holloway case.

He reiterated that the computer seized from Van der Sloot, held at the Castro Castro prison, "there is additional information that seems to be of interest."

Page 242

Chapter: thirty

FBI Given Joran's Laptop Contents

FBI gets van der Sloot laptop info

March 14, 2011

Birmingham, Al (CBS42) The FBI was given a copy of the files of Joran van der Sloot's laptop...but what clues will that hold to the fate of Natalee Holloway?

The Lima newspaper El Commercio reports that the Peruvian National Police (PNP) gave FBI agents a copy of the hard drive Monday afternoon. Oscar Gonzales, head of the PNP high tech division said the Americans are interested not only in Natalee's disappearance but also information about the alleged extortion of the Holloway family in 2010.

Gonzales said the computer held "additional information that seems to be of interest."

It's likely the FBI agents in question are from Birmingham although the local spokesperson from the Justice Department would not confirm that.

The laptop is a critical linchpin tying two murders that have made headlines on three continents.

Van der Sloot is the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Mountain Brook teen Natalee Holloway on a school trip to Aruba. She was last seen with van der Sloot. He was questioned repeatedly by Aruban authorities but never charged. The case remained high profile in the U.S. and in The Netherlands. Dutch crime reporters got a series of sensational "confessions" from van der Sloot...all of which were either later denied, disproved or dismissed as lies.

Last May van der Sloot was arrested in South America when the body of a 21 year old Peruvian student was found in his Lima hotel room. Security camera video show Stephany Flores and van der Sloot entering the room but only him leaving. He was arrested in Chile and returned to Peru where he subsequently confessed that he killed Flores in a rage when she found material relating to Natalee on his laptop.

He remains in the Castro Castro prison. Peruvian authorities are seeking a 30 year murder sentence citing the violent nature of the killing. Van der Sloot's defense lawyer, Maximo Altez, is arguing that very rage constitutes what amounts to temporary insanity and is asking for a 3 to 5 year sentence in exchange for a guilty plea.

American authorties are waiting for their crack at van der Sloot who was indicted by a federal grand jury here in Birmingham on charges of wire fraud and extortion. The FBI says he took money from the Holloway family in exchange for information about Natalee...but never delivered real information.

The exchange happened shortly before the Flores murder in Lima, hence the hope there's information about it on van der Sloot's laptop.

From Peru

click on above image for improved view

|< << < 238 239 240 [ 241 ] 242 243 > >> >|

<< Previous :: Next >>