Inside the Mind of Joran van der Sloot
The Noose Tightens
In keeping with his apparent strategy of making a disposable confession as a confusion-sowing means of gaining publicity without legal consequence, van der Sloot admitted to killing Flores on May 30, 2010, the fifth anniversary of Holloway's disappearance. Peruvian authorities made the signed confession public on June 7 and said van der Sloot had described killing Flores after she had found information relating to his involvement in Natalee's disappearance on his laptop. He told Peruvian police he had then flown into a rage, under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, and had begun beating Flores. Even though her neck had been broken, van der Sloot claimed he had not intended to kill her.
Van der Sloot, true to form, recanted his confession days later, telling De Telegraaf that he had been "tricked." He also claimed that the Peruvian incident was a setup by FBI agents who were in collusion with Peruvian authorities to frame him.
Van der Sloot may still feel he is invincible, even as he sleeps on the cement floor at night in his cell and shares a TV with an alleged Columbian hit man in the cell next to his. As he mulls over this latest poker hand, though, he may find his options are limited. Many people, though, are willing to offer advice to the other players:
"The Peruvian justice system should just go and [sentence him] to 25 to 33 years, and if he wants a reduction of five or six years, he actually needs to lead them to find the body," Harold Copus told truTV. "If they don't find the body, then van der Sloot's lips are moving, which means he's lying."