Most of us should remember Joran van der Sloot’s name from the 2005 case of the missing Alabama girl, Natalee Holloway. She went to Aruba, where van der Sloot and his family lived, and disappeared the night before she was to return home. Van der sloot was arrested but never charged. Fast forward five years to the day after Natalee’s disappearance and another young woman, Stephany Flores, disappears, later to be found murdered in van der Sloot’s Lima, Peru hotel room.
Guilty Plea in the Murder of Flores
Unlike the Holloway case, van der Sloot, did not get away from authorities in Peru. He was found in Chile and extradited back to Peru where he was immediately arrested. Facing up to 30 years in prison for killing Flores, van der Sloot plead guilty and sincerely confessed his regret for what happened.
A sincere confession under Peruvian law generally enables a person to receive a much lighter sentence than just a regular guilty plea. Some reports have said that he could receive less than 10 years behind bars.
28 years in Jail for the Flores Murder
Despite hopes of a lenient sentence, van der Sloot was given 28 years behind bars and a $75,000 fine to be paid to the victim’s family. It appears that the sincere guilty plea did not work as well as the defense had hoped.
The prosecution initially asked for a 30 year sentence and received a 28 year sentence, though it is possible for van der Sloot to be out in 14 years for good behavior.
Holloway Declared Dead Last Thursday
Natalie Holloway was officially declared dead. Van der Sloot is still the main suspect in her disappearance. Her body was never found. Tying the two cases together, van der Sloot’s defense argued that he suffered from post-traumatic stress due to the anniversary of Holloway’s disappearance and Flores sparked a fit of rage in him when she discovered information regarding the disappearance on his laptop.
Was Joran van der Sloot’s sentence fair? Would he have gotten a harsher sentence in the U.S.?
To learn about U.S. Criminal Law, click here.
