Joran Van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the infamous disappearance of American teen Natalee Halloway, could soon be heading to the United States to face the U.S. justice system.
Van der Sloot, a Dutchman who was suspected in Halloway’s disappearance and death, but never charged, is currently serving a 28-year sentence in Peru for the murder of Stephany Flores. Van der Sloot met Flores at a poker tournament, before suffocating her to death when he discovered her reading emails on his computer related to the Natalee Halloway case.
Now, CNN reports, Peru has agreed to the first step in the extradition process that would send Van der Sloot to the U.S. to face criminal charges of extortion and wire fraud in the Natalee Holloway case. The charges stem from 2010 allegations that Van der Sloot promised Halloway’s mother, Beth Halloway, information that would lead to her remains in exchange for $250,000. The information he gave her turned out to be bogus, which was determined after he accepted $25,000 he used to travel to a poker tournament.
“I think he will be extradited within the next three months,” said Maximo Altez, Van der Sloot’s Peruvian attorney. “He will go to trial in the United States. Once he is sentenced, he will return to Peru to finish serving his 28 years, and then go back to the States to serve whatever sentence he gets there.”
Halloway went missing in May of 2005 during a class trip to Aruba. Van der Sloot was one of the last people seen with her before her disappearance. Her body was never found, but she was declared legally dead by a judge about six and a half years later.
