<p>An interesting fact is also in the news…the casino where Van der Sloot met Flores (the woman he killed) is owned by Flores’ father.</p>
<p>Van der sloot’s new lawyer claims Flores struck Joran first.</p>
<p>[Peru</a> murder suspect van der Sloot taken to attorney general’s office - CNN.com](<a href=“Official: Van der Sloot says he knows location of Holloway's body - CNN.com”>Official: Van der Sloot says he knows location of Holloway's body - CNN.com)</p>
<p>Right…</p>
<p>But I think Joran said that she tried to leave the hotel room, and he prevented her…and then she hit him. </p>
<p>If that is the order of events, she had the right to hit him because of “false imprisonment.” You’re allowed to “use force” against someone who is preventing you from leaving.</p>
<p>Those like me, who struggle to imagine what it might be like to be the mother of this boy, may be interested in this from five years ago:</p>
<p>[Transcript:</a> Van der Sloots Speak - Greta Van Susteren | On The Record With Greta - FOXNews.com](<a href=“http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,160471,00.html]Transcript:”>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,160471,00.html)</p>
<p>an excerpt:
</p>
<p>It is just so very sad.</p>
<p>Totally clueless mom.</p>
<p>^^^It must be so hard to see bad things in your own child. The statement about alcohol and drug use is so far off from this boy’s reality. He apparently was drinking with Natalie Holloway. Then, in this latest incident, he states he used marijuana and also used amphetamines the morning of the murder.</p>
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<p>Even if she hit him just out of the blue, he’s 6’ 3" tall, completely capable of leaving the room to avoid a physical confrontation or picking her up and literally throwing her out of the room in order to end the physical violence. I find it sickening that his lawyer would attempt to justify his actions based on the claim that she “slapped him” first, even if true.</p>
<p>There’s no mention of her striking him in this passage from his confession, though it certainly seems conceivable that it may have happened when he tried to prevent her from leaving the room.</p>
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<p>Don’t really blame the lawyer. Isn’t it his obligation to present whatever facts are given to him in the manner that will benefit his client the most? I also heard his lawyer is trying to make this as an unpremeditated action so that his client will get less time.</p>
<p>Hopefully the jury is presented the other side as lucidly and are able to make the correct decision.</p>
<p>^^^^^^^From what I’ve read, there will be no “jury” to hear the case. It will be decided by 3 judges.</p>
<p>It sounds as though van der Sloot’s attorneys and George Huguely’s attorneys should get together and brainstorm. They can market themselves as the go to attorneys for men who get drunk, do drugs and “accidentally” beat women to death.</p>
<p>^^^^^^^cartera, I actually had that same fleeting thought yesterday.</p>
<p>more of the interview from '05</p>
<p>VAN SUSTEREN: Any trouble from him at all? I mean, have you ever any trouble with him?
ANITA VAN DER SLOOT: No. A little fight with a friend that got solved by talking to the parents.
VAN SUSTEREN: Never arrested?
ANITA VAN DER SLOOT: Never arrested, no. No.
VAN SUSTEREN: Girlfriends?
ANITA VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, of course. I mean, there were two girlfriends in his life that he had a longer relationship with. One was an American girl, who left, who was part of the school, and she just sent an e-mail totally upset because she finished the relationship and she thought that Joran was too sweet, she needed a stronger man. And another girl was an Aruban girl and — a very sweet girl, came here at home. And that ended about — it was a year ago, and he was really serious. He said, Well, Mom, you know, I’m going off-island to study, so I need to focus more. And there was no really strong relationship.</p>
<p>maybe its just me, but I find it odd that his mother states his former girlfriend “needed a stronger man”</p>
<p>There is talk that he’s afraid of Peruvian jails, so he’s considering telling them where Natalee’s body is so that he can be tried in Aruba first and serve his sentence there. I don’t know if Peru would give him up, though, even though that crime was first.</p>
<p>Cry me a river:</p>
<p>"Just after news broke that van der Sloot was wanted for the Flores murder, Dutch journalist Jaap Amesz interviewed a friend of van der Sloot’s who described him as broke, “completely desperate and pretty depressed.”</p>
<p>“I was in touch with Joran until right before May 30,” the friend told Amesz. “He was in Peru. That was known. In Aruba, he couldn’t deal with it anymore. His relationship with his mother was getting worse. He had gambled money away again. This is what preceded his flight to Peru. Right before the weekend, it was clear that Joran was in financial trouble, and he was pretty confused. Driven by hunger, the fear of not being able to pay for his hotel. He desperately needed money. I have never seen Joran so frustrated as in this period.”"</p>
<p>[Joran</a> Van Der Sloot: From Paradise to Prison - ABC News](<a href=“Joran Van Der Sloot: From Paradise to Prison - ABC News”>Joran Van Der Sloot: From Paradise to Prison - ABC News)</p>
<p>"Van Der Sloot is currently being held in the Miguel Castro Castro prison and he will most likely remain there until the investigation in to Flores’ death is complete. This maximum security prison (as seen from above) was the scene of an attack in 1992 when about 135 female prison inmates and about 450 male prison inmates were attacked by guards over the course of three days. </p>
<p>Many of these prisoners were beaten and humiliated and held in solitary confinement without medical care. They could not contact their families or attorneys. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights investigated the incident and found that Peru had violated articles 4, 5(1), 5(2), 8(1) and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights. "</p>
<p>As of last year there were 44,800 inmates (2,794 women) locked up in Peruvian prisons and conditions are described as ‘harsh’. If a prisoner has money they can purchase luxuries such as cell phones, meals from outside and drugs. For a prisoner who is poor these small luxuries are not possible. </p>
<p>All prisons are considered overcrowded with poor sanitation, lack of nutrition from the food with unsanitary kitchen conditions and epidemic levels of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. There is also unreliable running water, kitchen facilities and some prisoners having to sleep in hallways due to lack of space. …"</p>
<p>[Peru</a> Prison Conditions: What Joran Van Der Sloot Could Face | NowPublic News Coverage](<a href=“http://www.nowpublic.com/world/peru-prison-conditions-what-joran-van-der-sloot-could-face-2626465.html]Peru”>http://www.nowpublic.com/world/peru-prison-conditions-what-joran-van-der-sloot-could-face-2626465.html)</p>
<p>Hey, Lori Berenson, an American citizen, toughed it out in several Peruvian prisons for 15 years. She was originally tried in a military court by a judge with a hood over his head. She was given a life sentence by the Peruvian justice system even though she never hurt anyone, never procured weapons or participated in any violence.</p>
<p>Van der Sloot is being treated with kid gloves compared to Lori. And even though it is clear that he brutally murdered a young Peruvian women, he will probably be given a lighter sentence than Lori!!! But I am sure a big tough guy like Van der Sloot will manage in Peru’s prisons just fine; after all, Lori survived.</p>
<p>The male prisons might be different in Peru. </p>
<p>It has been predicted that he will be killed in a Peruvian prison - sort of street justice for killing one of their own. </p>
<p>As you said, Lori didn’t hurt anyone, so likely her fellow female inmates didn’t have a big grudge against her.</p>
<p>I wonder how much money the Van der Sloot family has and if it is enough to buy his safety in the jail? Is it enough to “persuade” Peru to give him up to Aruba? How much of a factor is money when it comes to justice in Peru?</p>
<p>I would imagine that there would be general outrage in Peru if the justice system were corrupted by VdS family money. And the victim’s family is influential. </p>
<p>On another topic - presumably the offer to reveal the location of NH’s remains implies a confession of at least being an accomplice to murder (or is he claiming that she died by accident and he only watched someone dispose of the body)?</p>
<p>CNN is reporting that he’s also charged with robbery:</p>
<p>[Van</a> der Sloot charged with murder in Peru - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/06/11/peru.murder.case/index.html?hpt=Sbin]Van”>http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/06/11/peru.murder.case/index.html?hpt=Sbin) </p>
<p>“Van der Sloot also was charged with robbery in last week’s slaying of Stephany Flores Ramirez, according to a release from the Lima Superior Court of Justice.”</p>
<p>And that his dad helped him get rid of Natalie Holloway:</p>
<p>"According to the affidavit, van der Sloot said his father helped him conceal Holloway’s body and buried it under the house a few days later while van der Sloot waited in a car.</p>
<p>“Van der Sloot added that he had not actually seen his father inter the remains but was told and shown by his father where the body was buried,” the affidavit states.</p>
<p>Van der Sloot’s father, Paulus, died in February while playing tennis in Aruba. He was an attorney and judge and had been involved in his son’s defense in the Holloway case."</p>
<p>Interesting…</p>
<p>I wonder how much money the Van der Sloot family has</p>
<p>Since the dad died in February, it’s unknown how that has negatively affected the family’s financial situation. If the dad only had modest life insurance, the mom may have to reserve that money for her own future.</p>