Natalee Holloway Murder Suspect Gets 20 Years For Extorting Her Family, Admits To Killing Her

The mystery of Natalee Holloway’s death has finally come to with the man long suspected of killing her, finally detailing what happened during that fateful trip to Aruba.

On Wednesday, Joran van der Sloot received 20 years in prison, though the sentence was not for Holloway’s murder directly. Instead, Sloot was convicted of extorting her family. He was given $25,000 to tell the Holloways where their daughter’s remains were and demanded an additional $225,000 once her remains were located and identified. His scheme took place between March 2010 and May 2010. However, Sloot knew all along that the family would not find the missing teen since he pushed her dead body into the ocean back in May 2005. Instead, he took the upfront payment and fled Aruba.

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Though Sloot was not convicted of Holloway’s killing, as part of his plea deal, he told her family that he bludgeoned her to death after she refused to have sex with him after meeting at a bar. After he’d beaten her, Sloot placed her body in the water and walked home. He was also given a polygraph test to verify his story, which he reportedly passed. The 20-year prison term in the United States will run concurrently with the 28-year sentence he is now serving in Peru for the murder of Stephany Flores, whom he also killed because she refused his sexual advances, Fox News confirms.

Sloot apologized to the Holloway family in court, who have spent years seeking justice for the 18-year-old. Holloway was declared legally dead in 2012. While this does not bring their daughter back, missing persons advocate Beth Holloway said she is “satisfied” knowing what finally happened to her daughter after years of speculation and searching. family