The prime suspect in the disappearance of Alabama student Natalee Holloway was spotted grinning in Peru just before FBI agents took him into custody for extradition to the US
Joran van der Sloot is accused of killing the American student on the Caribbean island of Aruba and is wanted for racketeering and wire fraud.
The crimes are the only charges that have ever linked the Dutch national to Holloway’s disappearance in May 2005.
Van der Sloot grinned in the back seat of a police car and before boarding a plane with Interpol officers after exiting a Lima jail before being taken into US custody.
The 35-year-old was serving a 28-year sentence for the 2010 murder of a Peruvian woman, who was killed exactly five years after Holloway’s disappearance.
Joran van der Sloot smiled before boarding a plane back to the US and is accused of killing Natalee Holloway
Natalee disappeared in 2005 and her body was never found, leading authorities to declare her dead in 2012
Van der Sloot appeared to have no physical injuries, although earlier this week his lawyer claimed he was “severely beaten” by other inmates at his Peru prison.
Authorities got him out of a maximum-security prison in the Andes over the weekend before he was taken to Lima and then to the airport this morning.
It is currently unclear when he will first appear in court on US soil, but he is expected to be flown out to Birmingham, Alabama.
The accused killer filed a last-ditch attempt two days ago to avoid his extradition to the US, but a Peruvian judge rejected the request.
The petition appears to conflict with previous statements by his lawyer, Maximo Altez, who have claimed van der Sloot wants to clear his name and welcomes the extradition.
Holloway, who lived in Birmingham, Alabama, was 18 when she disappeared while on a trip to Aruba with classmates.
She was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot, who was a student at an international school on the island.
Van der Sloot was identified as a suspect and arrested weeks later along with two Surinamese brothers.
Joran van der Sloot is accused of killing Natalee Holloway on the Caribbean island of Aruba and is wanted on one count each of racketeering and wire fraud
Van der Sloot appeared to have no physical injuries, although earlier this week his lawyer claimed he was “severely beaten” by other inmates at a Peruvian prison
Natalee was 18 when she disappeared from the Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005 while traveling with school friends
In 2010, a grand jury indicted him on one count each of wire fraud and racketeering, each of which carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors allege he contacted the teen’s mother and demanded $25,000 to reveal the location of her daughter’s body.
He then allegedly demanded an additional $225,000 if the body was found, and in an undercover operation, van der Sloot first singled out a house where he claimed her body was buried.
In later emails, the suspect admitted to lying about the location, an FBI agent claimed in an affidavit.
An investigation by revealed he is expected to plead his innocence and make the extraordinary allegation that it was in fact Natalee’s mother, Beth, who approached him and offered him money if he took her to her daughter’s body would.
Altez said, “He was living his life in Aruba and received a call from Beth Holloway who was cheating on him.”
Natalee was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot, who was a student at an international school on the island.
The 35-year-old was serving a 28-year sentence for the 2010 murder of a Peruvian woman, who was killed exactly five years after Holloway’s disappearance
“She said, ‘Joran, tell me where the body is and I’ll give you $250,000.’ He never asked for money, she’s the one who offered it.
“She even gave him a promotion and he never asked for the rest.” He only got $25,000.’
Altez explained his client was a “sick person” and “compulsive gambler” who “needed the money to play at the casino.” However, he claimed Ms Holloway “exploited” him.
In his 2007 book The Case of Natalee Holloway: My Own Story about her Disappearance on Aruba, van der Sloot admitted lying to the police and apologized to the Holloways.
“I understand that my lies in the past have seriously damaged my credibility,” he wrote.
The 35-year-old was serving a 28-year sentence for the 2010 murder of a Peruvian woman, who was killed exactly five years after Holloway’s disappearance
Footage showed the moment 35-year-old van der Sloot left the Lima prison and was transferred into the custody of US officials
Prosecutors allege he contacted the teen’s mother and demanded $25,000 to reveal the location of her daughter’s body
Throughout the book, he maintained his innocence, explaining that he had left a drunk Natalee on the beach where he said she was “going to watch the stars.”
Van der Sloot was found guilty of the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores, 21 – who was killed exactly five years to the day after Natalee’s disappearance.
Peruvian prosecutors said van der Sloot killed Flores, an economics student from a prominent family, when he tried to rob her after learning she had won money at the casino where the two met.
They said he killed her with “cruelty” and “cruelty,” beat her in his hotel room, and then strangled her. He pleaded guilty in 2012.