A & E SPECIAL PRESENTATION: WHO IS THE REAL JORAN VAN DER SLOOT? TRANSCRIPT

[texasmom]

Who is the real Joran van der Sloot?

In the summer of 2010 he sat in a 6 x 11 cell.  He was held in a Peruvian prison after years of trading on his infamous reputation, living as a kind of dark celebrity.

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"He envisioned himself, I think, as some kind of international, wealthy, playboy, high stakes gambler that would romp all over the world...nothing could be further from the truth.  Wherever he goes he leaves a trail of human misery behind him, whether it's manipulation, or conning people out of money; or murder itself."

The story of Joran van der Sloot has been argued in the court of public opinion, here we'll take a different look.  We'll get to know van der Sloot through the eyes of forensic psychologists and criminal experts who have studied the public records and professional assessments of him.  We'll also hear from those who know him, a friend (shows John Ludwick) and a former girlfriend (shows Aline Hibbert) and we'll hear from van der Sloot himself, in his own words.
Video clip of Joran
Joran:  "So yeah at one point I told her, it's time to go back to your hotel."

Who is the real Joran van der Sloot?

For the family of Stephany Flores, Joran's latest alleged victim, the answers will come too late.

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"There's a component to his personality that involves rage, and he can be set off if the right trigger is ignited.  We saw in Stephany's case how he responded"

May 30th 2010, Stephany's family worried when she failed to return home from a night out on the town in Lima, Peru.  Eventually word got back to them that video surveillance at the Atlantic City Casino had captured her image with that of a young man.

Stephany's brother
"We saw the video in the casino...and we saw when he left with our sister.”

The casino owner showed them a copy of the man's passport, his name was Joran van der Sloot.

Stephany's sister in law
"I put the name of this person in Google.  And we got scared."

What the Flores family found were headlines from the five year nightmare of another family, the family of Natalee Holloway.

Both girls met Joran at a casino, went off with him, and were never seen alive again.

In Stephany Flores' case, her badly beaten body was eventually discovered in Joran's hotel room.  Natalee Holloway on the other hand, simply vanished.  Joran was the last person to see Natalee alive.  He since made a career of telling and recanting tales about what happened that night exactly five years to the day before the disappearance of Stephany Flores.

This is the only part of his story that hasn't changed.

Joran
"I remember when I first saw her, I remember her and her friends coming up to the table...they sat down...they wanted to play blackjack."

It was May 29th 2005, van der Sloot was then a 17 year old Dutch boy with his family on the Caribbean island of Aruba.  He met a group of sheltered Americans at a hotel casino there, one of them was Natalee.

Video of Joran
"They were telling me it was their last night and asked if I wanted to go to Carlos 'n Charlie's."

Joran went with two friends, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe.  The three arrived at local bar Carlos 'n Charlie's shortly before closing time in the early morning hours of May 30th.

Video of Joran
"Right when I walked in I saw Natalee was dancing and she screamed at me to go dance with her...and then she came down off the stage and grabbed me by my hand and said come with me and she took me to the bar.  And then I asked her what she wanted to drink and she said what do you suggest and I said Bacardi 151, that's a shot I normally take with my friends.  And we took a shot together."

Natalee ended up leaving the bar with Joran and his two friends. 

From there his story has changed many times.  The only thing that's known for certain is that the next morning Natalee did not show up in the hotel lobby to return home with her group.

Natalee's mother Beth flew to Aruba and quickly tracked down Joran.  He told her that he and his friends had dropped Natalee at her hotel and never saw her again.

Beth
"Those three suspects fabricated a story within the first three hours of meeting us on the island."

Peter R. DeVries
"It shows that he is a very trained liar, and I think he's done that all his life.  He was lying to his parents, to his teachers...anybody."

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"There's an arrogance about him.  He thinks he's superior to other people, that he thinks he's smarter than other people.  He can get others to do what he wants them to do."

Born in the Netherlands, Joran's family moved to Aruba a Dutch protectorate when he was a small child.  There they joined the Dutch colony that runs much of the island. 

Video of Jossy Mansur
"His father was a man that was working in the Ministry of Justice, he had a high position there.  Anita, his mother is a teacher in the school...an arts teacher.

Video of Anita van der Sloot
"Although we're Dutch, but...we consider ourselves as locals."

The van der Sloot family made a comfortable life in Aruba.  Joran was the oldest of their three sons.

Video of Anita van der Sloot
"He loves his sport...he plays soccer...he plays tennis on a high level.  He meets his coaches.  He works at school with young children, he helps the PE teacher with the younger ones at our school."

Video of Aline Hibbert
"At home, he's very social with his father...and with his mother...and we would always eat at the table when the mom cooks.  It was very like a family and very comfortable environment in his family.

Aline Hibbert is a friend and former girlfriend of Joran's who spent a lot of time with his family.

Video of Aline Hibbert
"People say that Joran was very spoiled and that his parent's let him do whatever he wanted but that's not true.  I see that as Anita, his mom supported him in whatever he wanted to do that was not bad or would hurt him or hurt other people."

But Joran did seem to be able to manipulate his parents.

Video of John Ludwick
"Joran was sometimes honest with his mother but you know he could con her pretty easily."

Video of Bryan Burrough
Special Correspondent, Vanity Fair
"This was a kid who was out most nights, well past midnight, in casino...with alcohol.  His parents had very little control over him."

Joran often snuck out of the house, it wasn't hard because his parents had given him an apartment with a separate entrance from the main house.  He spent his nights out working to make friends.

Video of John Ludwick
"Joran was always a nice, giving guy.  I mean he'd be at a blackjack table playing with five strangers and every few minutes he'd throw them all a few free chips...and he'd buy people free food if you were with him.

Video of Aline Hibbert
He liked the attention, he liked people to like him.  I think that comes from because when he was younger he was overweight and people used to really tease him alot when he was younger and I think when he grew up he saw that he lost weight and he looks better...he looks handsome and he maybe wanted to (can't understand this part, listened several times) and that created that he wanted to make people like him.

He didn't just draw people to him though, he often became their leader.


Video of Bryan Burrough
Special Correspondent, Vanity Fair
He had a group of pals, someone called the monontorrage (complete GUESS on the spelling of that, lol), because it was clear that Joran was the alpha male.  And that seemed to me largely the function of this confidence...this egotism...that he thought he was something and those of lesser stature, perhaps weaker mind were sometimes inclined to follow him.

His friends say they didn't witness any violent signs in Joran.

Video of John Ludwick
"I never saw him lash out in anger at anyone."

Video of Aline Hibbert
"I've never seen that side of him, his friends have never seen that side of him."

Stephen Diamond, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"There are individuals who are very good at masking their anger, at masking their rage.  They can be very sweet, very kind, very nice, very loving...but then they can suddenly fly into a rage or become very cruel in other situations.

Did something trigger that rage on May 30th 2005?

[texasmom]

In 2004, a year before Natalee Holloway disappeared Aline Hibbert met Joran van der Sloot at a party in Aruba.  She was 16.

Video of Aline Hibbert
"He's very enthusiastic (?) and he really likes to make you feel comfortable, that was my first impression of him.  Like...Hey I'm Joran...how are you...what do you want to drink?  And you know he was very...social."

Soon after they met they started dating in typical teenage fashion.

Video of Aline Hibbert
"Melody told me that Joran likes me and that he wanted to date me but we were young so Joran wouldn't tell me that personally.  So he told her to tell me."

Their romance blossomed.

Video of Aline Hibbert
"This is an email that Joran sent me, he wrote me a poem..and it says I'm here for you so please don't ever forget that no matter what ...blush...and always want you.  He's so tall and he's so big that you know it's like when he hugs you...you feel very protected."

How could someone accused of murdering at least one young woman have had normal relationships with others? 

Forensic Psychologist, Louis Schlesinger says that's not uncommon.

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"It depends if someone set him off in the right way, not everything is going to set him off.  It doesn't mean it wasn't there, obviously it was there."

In the end after dating for a year Aline decided she couldn't handle the competition for Joran, who used the email address loverboy.

Video of Aline Hibbert
"A lot of girls liked Joran like a lot of girls wanted to date him."

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"Van der Sloot's fairly charming, he's a big guy, he's a fairly handsome guy...he can speak well, he's articulate; and I would think that visitors to the island would find him fairly interesting...in terms of his background...something different."

Joran preferred to meet girls especially tourists at the islands hotels and casinos.

Video of Bryan Burrough
Special Correspondent, Vanity Fair
"It was always clear that this was a kid, whatever else you can say about him...chafed at life in that little town, on that little island.  He was out mingling with the international people, he was going to go to college internationally.  It was always clear that this was a kid who had his eyes beyond Aruba."

It was at one of the hotels that Joran met Natalee Holloway in 2005.  What happened that night was a mystery.  After giving a statement to police the next day, Joran returned home and reassured his family and friends.

Video of Aline Hibbert
"He was very relaxed, he said no, no, no, they just asked me a few questions...and but it's all good...it's all good now."

Video of Anita van der Sloot
"And he was like...everything will be fine mom, dad, don't worry...she will come forward.  So we kind of tried to continue our life."

But on June 9th, ten days after Natalee disappeared; authorities arrested Joran van der Sloot and his friends Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, who were with him that night.  Joran told police a new story...he said the Kalpoe's dropped him and Natalee at the beach.  After they made out for a while he told her it was time to leave.

Video of Joran
"I had to go to school the next day, I was close to my exams...I had to do my final exams...and I knew a bus was picking me up at 6:40am...I mean...I had to go home...so yeah at one point I told her...it's time to go back to your hotel.  And she was just like no, let's stay here...let's look at the stars."

Joran said he left her anyway catching a ride from Satish Kalpoe, but the Kalpoe's said that wasn't true...and the authorities couldn't get a straight answer as to what happened.  At the same time the police had to contend with the complete lack of physical evidence.  There was no body, or even a crime scene.  And Joran who remained in jail throughout the summer as the primary suspect seemed to know they had nothing.

Video
Lawrence Kobilinsky, Ph.D.
Criminologist
"I think he realized that they would have to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and as long as he could keep that going he had it made, and in fact he was very successful.

While he was in jail that summer Joran told police three stories. 
That the boys dropped Natalee at her hotel,
that he took her to the beach and left her there,
and that the Kalpoes took her and left him at his house.

Video of Gerald Dompig
Former Deputy Police Chief, Aruba
"The basic story he changed three times, but the little facts changed over 25 times so it was never the same.  He basically makes up his story every time you talk to him"


Video
Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"Each of the stories in isolation seems credible when you observe him but he's obviously not telling the entire truth.  There may be elements of truthfulness in each of these stories but I doubt very very much if any of these stories is accurate and truthful."

The Arubans brought in interrogators from the Netherlands to question Joran, FBI profilers watched the sessions as well; but none of them succeeded in getting the truth from him.

Video
Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"Many teenagers would break down start crying be unable to handle this type of stressful situation, but that wasn't Joran's manner at all.  He seemed as cool, calm, and relaxed...and in control of things as could possibly be.  There's an arrogance about him that slowly emerges."

The FBI experts watching the interrogations, made a diagnosis.

Video of Gerald Dompig
Former Deputy Police Chief, Aruba
"Their first impression that this seemed like a person who always got his way, and it was a manipulative person.  A person who was very intelligent, very smart.  They used the word sociopath."

That assessment makes sense to those that study the psychology of criminals.

Video
Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"Sociopath and psychopath are terms that are used interchangeably.  What is meant by a psychopath is really somebody who is devoid of human emotion.  When you look at Joran he seems really fairly normal, but when you examine his behavior what he did to other people you begin to see a pattern that he lacks empathy; he lacks interpersonal connectedness."

Despite the professional diagnosis of Joran, authorities still had little proof against him.  So after he was held and questioned for ninety days, a judge ruled there was not sufficient cause to hold him any longer.  He was free to go.  In Aruba, many people sided with Joran believing whatever happened to Natalee was an accident. 

I think a lot of people believed what had happened is something unfortunate...that she fell and hit her head...that there was some type of accident that he covered up.

Video of John Ludwick
"Joran would always tell me you know I have nothing to be ashamed of and I didn't do anything wrong."

But it's possible there was a more sinister explanation for her disappearance.

Video
Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"What usually happens in cases like this is there's something sexual that causes some type of rage.  Either the victim does not want to engage in sex or the offender himself can't perform sexually and feels humiliated in some way that is responded to in an outburst of rage and violence."

And if Joran did get away with a crime that summer, he may have been empowered by his experience.

Video
Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"I have seen time and time again, when an individual beats the justice system they become emboldened, they tend to become arrogant, they often repeat their crimes and they get a sense of superiority that they can manipulate just about everybody; and they base it on the fact that they had beat the system at least one time."

Through the years Joran van der Sloot would keep telling and recanting tales about what happened that fateful night.  But would his lies finally catch up with him?

[texasmom]

Who is the real Joran van der Sloot?

Video Peter R. DeVries
"He thinks that he is superior to other people, to the police to the justice system, to the girls he's dating with; he is superior to even his own parents.  Joran is a very great manipulator."

Stephen Diamond, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
These individuals are extremely skilled at manipulating the world to get what they want, in fact they can even manipulate very experienced forensic psychologists and psychiatrists.

In September 2005, two days after being set free due to lack of evidence in the Holloway case; Joran returned to the Netherlands to study International Business in his hometown of Arnhem.  But Joran wasn't much of a student.  According to Overboord, a book about van der Sloot, Joran spent most of his time in college smoking marijuana, visiting the casinos, and hitting on women.

Video of Bryan Burrough
Special Correspondent, Vanity Fair
"This is a kid for whom priorities one, two, three, four, and five are me, me, me, me, and me."

Video
Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"Someone like van der Sloot wants sensation all the time, they want constant stimulation."

Video
Elizabeth E. Byars
Author, Overboord
"He really derives a great sense of power out of what he's doing.  Whether or not he committed the crime is immaterial, he's enjoying the fruits of what happened."

Joran continued to make conflicting confessions regarding the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.  On Fox News Channel he said he sold Natalee into white slavery to a fellow gambler.

Joran
"He would give me ten thousand dollars.  And he came and he just handed me a bag, grabbed the girl by the arm and he went to the boat that he had in the water."

But before the program aired, Joran retracted his confession.

Video of Bryan Burrough
Special Correspondent, Vanity Fair
"Well the question has always been...if he essentially got away with it then there's no sense that justice is anymore breathing on his back...why on earth would he keep talking about it?  He obviously likes the attention." 

Video
Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"Most people want to keep a low profile, want to just blend back into society; but you just can't hold Joran down...he's constantly on TV...constantly promoting himself in one way or another."

Among the many people who didn't buy Joran's various stories was a cagey ex-con named Patrick van der Eem.

Video
Elizabeth E. Byars
Author, Overboord
"Patrick is a former criminal.  He came across Joran at a casino one night and they're both from Aruba originally.  He started up a conversation and decided that he would be able to get Joran to talk and tell him what happened to Natalee.  He went to the police, the police couldn't help him and they suggested he go see Peter R. DeVries."

Peter R. DeVries is an experienced and respected investigative reporter.  He's the host of a very popular television show in Holland.

Peter R. DeVries
Dutch Investigative Reporter
"Patrick van der Eem contacted me and said well I'm very close to Joran van der Sloot and when he's ever going to confess in the Natalee Holloway case, he will do it to me."

Their plan was to secretly rig Van der Eem's Range Rover with hidden audio and video equipment, and hopefully get a confession from Joran.  Patrick van der Eem and Peter R. DeVries are convinced that during one of their conversations, Joran told the only true story he's ever told of what happened on the beach.

Video of Joran In Range Rover (In Dutch,translated on screen)
"So I walked her down to the beach.  We started kissing, she looked pretty unhealthy.  She was really pale."

Peter R. DeVries
Dutch Investigative Reporter
"He is describing Natalee in her last moments and he's showing with his body language what happened at that moment and he's saying well Patrick you don't believe it but she started to shake like this."

Video of Joran In Range Rover (In Dutch,translated on screen)
"And then suddenly, Patrick...I don't know what happened precisely.  I thought, what is happening here?   (Patrick says) What did you do next Joran?  I stayed with her, there was no one there.  Patrick, it was really deserted.  (Patrick says) Naturally, it was in the night, Joran.  So I talked to her, I was talking, talking and she said nothing, nothing."

In the taped confession Joran admitted that Natalee died in his arms.  But when Dutch authorities examined the tapes, they deemed the evidence insufficient to arrest Joran.

Peter R. DeVries
Dutch Investigative Reporter
"He didn't admit that he killed her.  He didn't say he murdered her, he only said well she died in my arms and I panicked and well I was thinking to dispose of the body; and well that's not a serious crime in our legal system...that was a problem. 

When Joran's bombshell confession was aired on Peter's television program in 2008, it attracted 7 million viewers.  Just days later Joran checked himself into a psychiatric hospital in Holland.

Peter R. DeVries
Dutch Investigative Reporter
"It was part of his plan to neutralize the confession so it wasn't because he was really interested in medication or things like that, it was his way out."

Video
Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"He wasn't psychotic, he didn't need medication, and he didn't want to change.  Van der Sloot is quite pleased with himself." 

Not long after Joran left the mental facility, he also disavowed his confession.  Joran moved to Thailand where he enrolled in a university but he had other things on his mind.
Peter R. DeVries
Dutch Investigative Reporter
Joran moved to Thailand and then one day I was contacted by a Dutch guy, and he said Joran is trying to set up a gang in women trafficking; so that's the moment we decided to do another hidden camera operation on Joran but this time in Thailand.

Joran had no idea that Peter's cameras were once again secretly recording him.

Video from Peter R. DeVries Hidden Camera Operation in Thailand
Girl says:  I like dancing, and (something about) fifteen thousand dollars.
Joran:  But look at what you have to do for that...for here you have to shake your ass...that's all you have to do.  If I could shake my ass for fifteen thousand dollars, I would shake my ass.

Peter R. DeVries
Dutch Investigative Reporter
"Joran was acting like a pimp there and he said I have a job for you for modeling and singing and dancing in clubs."

Video from Peter R. DeVries Hidden Camera Operation in Thailand
Joran:  You talk to the guys, you make them feel good.

Peter R. DeVries
Dutch Investigative Reporter
"And when they got interested then he was telling them...well you will have to work in brothels and you will have to go to Amsterdam."

In November 2008 DeVries aired the Thailand tapes of Joran.  The next day Thai authorities asked for a transcript of the program.

Peter R. DeVries
Dutch Investigative Reporter
"I think I might be the third person he's going to...to kill."

[texasmom]

Things were going downhill for Joran.  He dropped out of school, bought a coffeeshop, but he was still at loose ends.  He decided to contact Jaap Amesz, a larger than life Dutch reality show champion.

Jaap Amesz
Dutch Television Personality
"Joran emailed me, so I felt hey here's this weird guy who is a fan of me, so maybe I can get him to talk...and to like tell me more about the Holloway case so the police can solve it; because the whole world is waiting for that case to be solved."

Jaap helped Joran by paying off some of his debts.  He and Joran became closer.

Jaap Amesz
Dutch Television Personality
"I have seen two sides of Joran, I have seen like a regular young guy...I also have seen a Joran who can switch within one conversation from a relaxed guy to someone who is very angry.  He's like a little child and wants his way right now."

Joran came up with another one of his countless stories.  He told Jaap that while intoxicated Natalee Holloway fell to her death from a balcony.  It was an accident.  He said he and a friend took the body to a local bird sanctuary and left it in the swamp there.  Jaap convinced Joran to appear on his television program "Terror Jaap" and to take a lie detector test to prove his story.

Jaap Amesz
Dutch Television Personality
"Joran's objectives with the polygraph test were clear you know.  He thought he was so smart, so sophisticated he could bend and twist the test in his favor like he was superior you know."

Aad Schalke, an experienced private investigator, and polygraph expert Annette Heldens administered the test.

Annette Heldens
Polygraph Expert
"I asked him, did you search on the internet how to beat a polygraph?  He told us, no I didn't...but he did.  (While administering the test) Regarding the disappearance of Natalee Holloway do you intend to answer all questions truthfully?"

Joran:  yes

Aad Schalke
Private Investigator, Schalke & Partners
"Two big questions we asked to Joran were...Are you involved in the death of Natalee Holloway?

Joran:  no

Aad Schalke
Private Investigator, Schalke & Partners
"And secondly...Are you involved in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway?

Joran:  no

Aad Schalke
Private Investigator, Schalke & Partners
"And he said no to those questions."

Jaap Amesz
Dutch Television Personality
"So we confronted Joran like well here we have like some tables and it's all very specific and you're cheating the test...you're trying to cheat it...you're trying to manipulate it you know.

Annette Heldens
Polygraph Expert
"But still we had enough results to conclude that Joran was lying."

Jaap Amesz
Dutch Television Personality
"I confronted him with like deep emotions and (can't understand this part...listened several times)"

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"Unfortunately there's a component to his personality that involves rage, and he could be set off if the right or correct trigger is ignited."

And that's exactly what happened when the polygraph proved that Joran was lying.  When his facade of control was shattered Joran exploded in a revealing outburst.

Aad Schalke
Private Investigator, Schalke & Partners
"I was not really surprised when I heard that he'd probably killed another girl, because when he's out of control he can be dangerous."
No matter what corner of the globe Joran van der Sloot traveled to he found his personal demons soon followed.  When his father died unexpectedly in February, 2010, Joran sold his failing coffeeshop in Thailand, flew back to Aruba and moved in with his mother.  A few days after he arrived Joran met John Ludwick.

Video of John Ludwick
"I told him I recognized him and he gave me his phone number and asked if I wanted to hang out, and we ended up hanging out.  About two days after I'd first met Joran is when his dad's memorial was being held in Aruba and he invited me to go so I went and I was actually his only friend his age there.  That's when right from the beginning he knew I was a real friend because I showed up at his dad's memorial and I just had met him."

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"Interestingly many other individuals will attach themselves to psychopaths.  So they can often be charming, they can be somewhat charismatic, and they can find that a lot of people want to associate with them."

Joran soon slipped into his old habits.

Video of John Ludwick
"When we'd go out to bars and stuff some girls would recognize him you know and want to talk to him, and be attracted to the celebrity if you call it...I mean he kind of liked the notoriety, you know he'd get them drinks, they'd hug on him and stuff; and they'd want to hang out with him later on.  I remember one time like probably two days after I met him, we're hanging out at the Excelsior casino at the Holiday Inn...the same place he met Natalee...and later that night we'd walked along the beach back behind the Marriott which is the area he said he was with Natalee...and you know we met some girls there and we picked them up.  That was just weird in my head like man I was just in the same casino and just the same spot that all this stuff happened with Natalee...and I'm with Joran doing the same stuff like...this is crazy."

Around this time the relationship became very tense between Joran and his mother.

Video of John Ludwick
"He had got home at like 6 in the morning from at the casino with me and she was sitting on his bed waiting for him.  And she got in a big fuss you know...you lied to me...all this stuff."

After being confronted by his mother, Joran moved in with Ludwick and soon van der Sloot started talking about what had happened to Natalee Holloway.  Some of this came as they watched a television movie about her disappearance.

Video of John Ludwick
"Yeah it was kinda weird the night we watched the Natalee Holloway movie together.  You know I'm sitting next to on the couch the guy that the movie's about.  And he told me what parts of the movie were true and not and stuff like when they said they were going up to the lighthouse to look for sharks, he said that wasn't true, you can't see sharks from up there."

Joran never revealed the specifics of what happened to Natalee Holloway but he implied that her death was an accident.

Video of John Ludwick
"I don't get the sense of regret you know I never got a sense of there was an intentional causing of anything.  I got more of a sense of you know the situation happened and there was nothing I could do about it."

But in the world of Joran van der Sloot the lines between fact and fiction had become so blurred that it was impossible to tell what was true and what wasn't.

Video of John Ludwick
"But I'd be like Joran you know you said you dumped her in the swamp...there's no way, that swamp is dry and stuff...and he'd laugh.  He knew it was a lie you know and he knew that I knew it was.  And he said I can't change the past, I can't change what happened, I am who I am and I might as well make money off of it."

[texasmom]

Joran's next move would be one of his most audacious.  He made contact with Natalee's mom, Beth Holloway.

Video of John Ludwick
"He said he wanted to clear his conscience to Beth and I was kind of aware when he was trying to make contact to come clean as he would say."

Over a series of emails Joran told Beth that because his father had just died he was finally ready to come clean and reveal the location of Natalee's body, but it would come at a price...two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"He's using his father's death to help himself as an explanation for now why he's now gonna tell the truth and why Beth Holloway should now give him two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to tell the truth.  He wants to portray himself always as a victim.  What does this have to do with his father's death?  Nothing."


Video of Bryan Burrough
Special Correspondent, Vanity Fair
"I was stunned, both that he would be so stupid and so desperate.  He clearly believed that there was no way that he was going to be brought to justice for what had happened to Natalee.  I mean he'd already told what six, seven, eight...different stories...what's a ninth if I can get some money?" 

The plan was to send Beth's lawyer John Q. Kelley to Aruba to handle the actual transaction with Joran.  Kelley contacted the FBI which assigned a dozen agents to the operation in Aruba.

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"Van der Sloot knew that Misses Holloway wanted to know really where her daughter's body was to gain some sense of closure, to be able to put this behind her in some way.  Van der Sloot was astute enough to enough to recognize that and he played on her emotion."

Meanwhile the FBI had placed audio bugs and hidden cameras throughout a hotel room in the Marriott and in Kelley's car to record the extortion attempt.  Once in room 443, van der Sloot signed an agreement after which Kelley gave him a twenty five thousand dollar down payment with the remainder of the money to be paid when Natalee's body was recovered.  Then van der Sloot and Kelley got into the rental car and drove to a location near the Aruba Racquet Club.  Van der Sloot pointed to a house and said it was his father who buried Natalee's body under the building.

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"Joran described himself as a pathological liar.  You can't believe anything he said because somebody like him lies when they don't have to lie, that's what a pathological liar is...they're not necessarily lying only to escape wrongdoing...they lie when they don't have to lie; because they feel a sense of control over other people."

No body was ever found and in an email exchange with Kelley dated May 17th...just a week after the alleged extortion Joran admitted to lying about the location of Natalee Holloway's remains.

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"He did it in a sadistic and cruel fashion which I think speaks volumes as to really what's inside of van der Sloot, which is nothing human; it's machine-like."

After getting his money Joran collected his things and got ready to leave Aruba.

Video of John Ludwick
"Joran told me he was going to Peru, just to get away from his mom and all the stress.  He told me he was just going to get an apartment and live down there for a year until he went back to Thailand."

Tipped off that he might be trying to leave the Country, Aruban investigators consulted with FBI officials who in a fateful decision decided not to arrest Joran for extortion while he was still in Aruba.

Peter Blanken
Chief Public Prosecutor, Aruba
"The FBI was not ready with their arrest warrant.  And they approved...the American authorities approved that he was going to go to another country...go to Colombia and to Peru and that when they were ready with their proceedings, he could be arrested in another country."

Van der Sloot left Aruba and by May 14th, he had checked into Room 309 at the Hotel Tac in Lima, Peru.  A week later van der Sloot met Stephany Flores, and in the early morning of May 30th...five years to the day that Natalee Holloway disappeared...the two were seen playing Poker together at the Atlantic City Casino in Lima.  At about five in the morning surveillance cameras show that they return to Joran's room at the Hotel Tac.  Less than four hours later, Joran left the room alone and fled Peru. 

Stephany Flores was never seen alive again.

About sixteen hundred miles from Aruba in Peru another family grieved for a lost daughter.  The battered body of 21 year old Stephany Flores was found in a Lima hotel room on June 2nd 2010.  The room was in the name of Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba five years earlier.

Video of Stephany Flores' father, Ricardo Flores on TV holding a picture of Joran; the translated text says:
This is a photo of the murderer of my daughter.

The Lima police moved quickly on the Flores case.  They issued an International Alert for van der Sloot, he didn't remain a fugitive for long.  Arrested in Santiago Chile on June 3rd, the day after Flores' body was found; van der Sloot was extradited back to Lima to face first degree murder and robbery charges.  His arrival in the Peruvian capital sparked a media frenzy and a much closer look at the young man who seemed to bask in his ability to dodge justice for so long.  But in Lima, unlike Aruba, there was a body, one that suffered severe trauma and signs of asphyxiation.  Criminologist, Lawrence Kobilinsky says all the evidence suggests that Stephany Flores was the victim of a rage killer.

Lawrence Kobilinsky, Ph.D.
Criminologist
"Well the crime scene indicates that there was a struggle...a strong struggle.  She had a skull fracture, bruises all over her body, some defensive wounds on her body.  There was blood around the scene, (at?) the mattress, on clothing.  She defended herself and it just got out of hand back and forth; and the over reaction that we see is just typical of a sociopath."

On June 7th while in custody van der Sloot confessed to Peruvian police that he had killed Stephany Flores and linked his actions to Natalee Holloway's disappearance.

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"Van der Sloot said in Peru that Stephany recognized through an Internet conversation or email that it was van der Sloot who was involved with Natalee Holloway and that set van der Sloot off.  That's ridiculous."

Lawrence Kobilinsky, Ph.D.
Criminologist
"He's probably all over the Internet.  If Stephany found out that he was the one implicated in the Natalee Holloway case, why would that trigger such an interaction between the two?  It just doesn't make sense."

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"What usually sets people off like this is some sort of sexual insult or some sort of sexual humiliation."

As with the Holloway case, van der Sloot quickly retracted his confession.  He claimed it was forced.

Lawrence Kobilinsky, Ph.D.
Criminologist
"Remember, he's still a young person with sociopathic tendencies and a mind that say's...I'm smarter than you are...I can trick you...I can outlast you.  And he has."

But there was one crucial difference between the Natalee Holloway and Stephany Flores cases for van der Sloot; a crime scene with a body.  His changing stories counted for little in the face of compelling evidence against him.

[texasmom]

Lawrence Kobilinsky, Ph.D.
Criminologist
"There was no way he could deny his being there.  There was tissue found under her fingernails.  I think it was clear especially from the video surveillance that he was there."

Claudia Cisneros
Peruvian Television Reporter
"You can see in that video when she comes into the casino and she's looking to a table and she finds him and they say Hi and she sits right next to him."

Video surveillance also showed the couple leaving the casino, then security cameras at the Hotel Tac show them entering Joran's room together.

Claudia Cisneros
Peruvian Television Reporter
"There's a lot of evidence that incriminates him, especially all the video that puts him at the crime scene."

Lawrence Kobilinsky, Ph.D.
Criminologist
"The fact of the matter is that he was under video surveillance."

Investigators believe van der Sloot tried to use the surveillance cameras to help build an alibi.  They surmise that with Stephany Flores already dead, he left the room knowing he was being filmed, he carried two cups to get coffee but didn't have his room key.  A few minutes later he returned with a hotel employee who let him into the room but didn't enter himself.  Fifteen minutes later at 8:45am van der Sloot left the hotel without checking out and fled to Chile.

Lawrence Kobilinsky, Ph.D.
Criminologist
"I think perhaps in Joran's mind, by leaving the room and going out to get coffee that that would rule him out as a suspect.  This was a way to cover up what he had done."

But the evidence has not convinced everyone that Joran is a rage killer.

Aline Hibbert
Joran's former girlfriend
"He had no reason to go and hurt someone, he would never do that...he was very caring.  So that's why I strongly believe that he didn't do anything to those people."

Still, in the summer of 2010 van der Sloot sat in Lima's Castro Castro Prison, facing a trial for first degree murder and in Peru police felt they had an ironclad case against van der Sloot.

Peruvian Police Official (?)
(Translations on screen)
The evidence speaks.
The physical and criminological evidence speaks.
So that demonstrates his participation.

The parallels between Natalee Holloway's disappearance and the murder of Stephany Flores serve to strengthen the theory that van der Sloot could be a two time rage killer.

Lawrence Kobilinsky, Ph.D.
Criminologist
"Looking at the similarities in the Natalee Holloway case, you start to draw associations between the two."

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"There certainly is a pattern that van der Sloot met both in casinos, they were gambling together, and he got both gals to leave with him.  But what happened with Stephany is probably in my judgement pretty close to what happened with Natalee."

Faced with a lengthy spell in a Peruvian jail, van der Sloot wanted to return to Aruba.  His means was manipulating the Natalee Holloway case yet again.

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"Now I'm going to tell you what really happened to Natalee Holloway, take me back to Aruba.  He is constantly working you...van der sloot...he is never gonna tell what really happened to Natalee and he's never really gonna explain what happened to Stephany.  He just won't do it.  People like this just never tell the truth."

For the Flores family, they have the closure of a final resting place for their daughter, and a strong case against her accused rage killer.  For Natalee Holloway's family, there's empathy for others sharing their ordeal.

Video of Beth Holloway
"Let's all remind ourselves, and keep the Flores family...in our hearts...and in our prayers."

And Joran van der Sloot remains the only link between Natalee Holloway and Stephany Flores.

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"It's a disturbing picture, from being involved in Natalee Holloway's death, to Stephany Flores, to all of the family and friends of the victims...to his own family...it's just nothing but human misery that van der Sloot leaves behind him."

Lawrence Kobilinsky, Ph.D.
Criminologist
"I think that when you are a sociopath, it's a characteristic that one develops over time.  I don't think that we can say he is safe for the public.  I don't think we will ever be able to know that for sure."

Louis B. Schlesinger, Ph.D.
Forensic Psychologist
"He's right where he belongs...van der Sloot is right where he belongs."

STATEMENTS DURING THE CREDITS:

Joran van der Sloot is currently in prison in Lima, Peru, awaiting trial for the first-degree murder of Stephany Flores.

In June 2010, Joran van der Sloot was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of wire fraud and extortion, for soliciting money from Natalee Holloway's mother.

He is presumed innocent on all counts until proven guilty.

No one is currently charged in the disappearance or murder of Natalee Holloway, although the case remains open.

END OF THE SHOW


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NOTE:  All enlarged text was my way of emphasizing certain statements that I alone wished to place emphasis on.

I apologize for any errors I made in this transcription, I did not spend any time proofreading it so I'm sure there will be some spelling errors or possible misunderstanding of the spoken words.

I encourage everyone to watch the A & E show if at all possible.

TM