A Dutch citizen who grew up in Aruba, he pleaded guilty in Peru to the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores Ramírez and is serving his sentence there. In a 2023 federal plea in Alabama for extorting Natalee Holloway's mother, he admitted killing Holloway in Aruba in 2005, a death for which he has never been tried.
Taken: Natalee Holloway, a three-part Netflix documentary series directed by Dani Sloane and Matthew Galkin, premieres Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026.678 Parade reported that it was unclear whether the series would offer new information about where her remains are.6 Netflix announced the series in December 2025 and said it would give Holloway's mother's account, with access to investigators and previously unreleased footage and audio.9 The trailer was released in October 2026; NL Times reported that the series follows her mother through the disappearance and through van der Sloot's 2023 confession.8 Separately, on Aug. 5, 2026, van der Sloot filed a habeas corpus petition in Peru saying that other inmates at Challapalca prison threaten to kill him, and asking to be moved.1011
Natalee Holloway, 18, of Mountain Brook, Alabama, was last seen alive in Aruba on May 30, 2005, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.3 She was on the last night of a high school graduation trip and was seen leaving a bar in Oranjestad with van der Sloot and two other young men, the Associated Press reported.34 Van der Sloot was 17, a Dutch citizen and a student at an international school on the island where he grew up.2018 Her body has never been found, and an Alabama judge declared her legally dead in January 2012.2018
Aruban authorities arrested van der Sloot and two other young men on June 9, 2005; all three were released on Sept. 3, 2005, and remained under investigation, according to a CNN timeline.20 On Nov. 21, 2007, while he was a student in the Netherlands, he and the other two were rearrested on what prosecutors called new evidence and accused of involvement in “the voluntary manslaughter of Natalee Holloway.”20 A judge ordered him released on Dec. 7, 2007, and a prosecutor said the judge cited a lack of evidence that Holloway died violently or that van der Sloot was involved; on Dec. 18, prosecutors said the case against all three had been dropped for lack of sufficient evidence.20
In early 2008 a Dutch television crime program secretly recorded van der Sloot saying he was with Holloway when she died and had a friend dispose of her body at sea, the AP reported.34 Prosecutors asked to arrest him again, but on Feb. 14, 2008, the Court of Appeals for the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba ruled there was not enough new evidence, finding that the recorded statements conflicted with his earlier statements and with other evidence; prosecutor Dop Kruimel said the judges had “reason to doubt the declaration.”34 Van der Sloot told authorities he had no involvement in her death.34 He gave shifting accounts over the years, at one point saying she was buried in gravel under a house foundation and later admitting that was untrue, the AP reported.1819
In April 2010 the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Birmingham, working with Aruban authorities, opened an investigation after van der Sloot offered information about Holloway’s remains and the circumstances of her death in exchange for $250,000.4 According to the indictment as described by federal prosecutors, he later agreed to lead Beth Holloway’s attorney, John Q. Kelly, to a location for $25,000, with the remaining $225,000 due once the remains were identified.3 Fifteen thousand dollars was wired from Beth Holloway’s Birmingham bank to his account in the Netherlands, $10,000 was carried to Aruba by Kelly, and a $100 wire confirmed the account.3 Prosecutors said he took the money, showed Kelly a site he knew was false and later wrote in an email that the information was “worthless.”3 The FBI said the money was private funds, not government money.4
Stephany Flores Ramírez was a 21-year-old business student whom van der Sloot met at a casino in Lima, according to the AP.33 She was killed in his hotel room in Lima on May 30, 2010, five years to the day after Holloway was last seen.3220
At sentencing, the judges gave this account, as reported by CNN: Flores hit him in the face after reading something related to the Holloway case on his computer, and he hit her in the face with his elbow; after she lost consciousness he tried to strangle her and, because she was “still breathing,” suffocated her with his shirt.31 He then tried to clean the room, removing the sheets and changing his bloodied shirt.31 He admitted taking her belongings, including 850 soles and credit cards, and fled to Chile, where he was arrested on June 3, 2010.3120 He first told Peruvian police that he became enraged after Flores discovered his connection to Holloway; police forensic experts disputed that account, and her family contends he killed her to rob her, the AP reported.33 He later recanted his confession, saying it was obtained under duress and without an official translator.33
In January 2012 van der Sloot pleaded guilty, seeking a reduced sentence through Peru’s “anticipated conclusion” procedure, CNN reported; five days earlier he had declined to plead.31 On Jan. 13, 2012, a panel of three judges in Lima sentenced him to 28 years, two years less than the 30 that prosecutors sought, and ordered him to pay 200,000 soles in reparations to her family.3132 The AP reported that the judges described the killing as “cruel” and “ferocious.”33 His lawyer had argued that he was emotionally distraught at the time because of the suspicion he faced in the Holloway case; “He was pointed at and persecuted,” the lawyer said.3231 With credit for time served, the court set the end of his sentence at June 10, 2038, and ordered him expelled from Peru afterward.31 Peru’s Supreme Court upheld the sentence in July 2013, rejecting his appeal, according to Última Hora.29
In December 2020 Peruvian prosecutors in Juliaca accused him of involvement in an attempt to smuggle cocaine and marijuana, hidden in beets, into the Juliaca prison where he was held, and sought pretrial detention, América TV reported.26 In January 2023 news outlets reported that a Peruvian court had sentenced him for drug trafficking; according to the Curaçao Chronicle, the court found that he sold drugs smuggled into the prison to other inmates and sent cocaine abroad in postal parcels.2524 Both outlets reported, citing the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, that he would remain in prison until 2045.2425
Federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint on June 3, 2010, and a federal grand jury in Birmingham indicted him on June 30, 2010, on one count of extortion and one count of wire fraud.43 Peru’s Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that he could be extradited only after serving his Peruvian sentence.30 In May 2023 Peru agreed instead to a temporary surrender, with guarantees that he would be returned when the U.S. case ended.23 Peruvian authorities handed him to FBI agents near Lima on June 8, 2023, and he was arraigned in Birmingham the next day.222
On Oct. 18, 2023, he pleaded guilty to both counts before U.S. District Judge Anna M. Manasco and was sentenced to 20 years.1 According to the sentencing memorandum and plea agreement, he agreed to provide “full, complete, accurate, and truthful information” about Natalee Holloway’s disappearance in exchange for that sentence.1 The AP reported that the agreement also required him to let her parents hear his discussions with law enforcement “in real time” and to take a polygraph test, and that the sentence runs concurrently with his Peruvian sentence.18 The Holloway family’s lawyer had said the deal was “conditioned upon Mr. van der Sloot revealing details of how Natalee died and how her body was disposed of.”21 He was returned to Peru on Oct. 31, 2023.19
Court documents filed for the hearing include a partial transcript of a recorded statement van der Sloot gave his lawyer on Oct. 3, 2023, WBRC reported.17 By his own account, he and Holloway walked back along the beach toward her hotel and lay down in the sand; he kept touching her after she objected, and she kneed him.1718 He said he kicked her in the face, leaving her “possibly even uh, even dead, but definitely unconscious,” then struck her head with a cinder block and pushed her body out into the sea.17 Judge Manasco said the confession factored into the sentence.18 These statements have not been tested at a trial; he has never been tried for Holloway’s death.
The day after the plea, Aruba’s prosecution service asked the U.S. Justice Department for the documents, including his statements, and received many of them in January 2026, the Dutch prosecution service said.5 After reviewing them, Aruban prosecutors concluded that for now there is insufficient evidence of murder or aggravated manslaughter, and that manslaughter is already time-barred in Aruba.5 In mid-March 2026 Beth Holloway filed a criminal complaint for murder or manslaughter in the Netherlands, and on April 2, 2026, the Aruban file was transferred to the Amsterdam prosecutor’s office to assess it.512 The prosecution service said the limitation period has not run in the Netherlands and that, because he is Dutch, prosecution there is in principle possible.5
Van der Sloot is a Dutch citizen who grew up in Aruba and attended an international school there, the AP reported.18 He was 17 when Holloway disappeared.20 By late 2007 he was studying in the Netherlands, and in early 2008 he was attending a university there.2034 He had traveled to Peru shortly before Flores’s death; the AP reported that he may have used money from the extortion payment to fly there.33
No court testimony about his childhood, family life or schooling appears in the sources reviewed.
His lawyer argued at the 2012 sentencing that he was “emotionally distraught” at the time of the Flores killing because of the suspicion he faced in the Holloway case.32 On Dec. 13, 2025, prison staff at Challapalca found him in a condition that “compromised his physical integrity,” and Peru’s Justice Ministry said he was stabilized and placed under medical monitoring; Peruvian media reported it as a suicide attempt.1415 In his 2026 petition, he wrote that threats from other inmates are harming his mental health.10 No diagnosis made by a court or testifying expert appears in the sources reviewed.
In 2014 his lawyer said he planned to marry a Peruvian woman he met in prison, who was expecting their son; the AP reported in August 2014 that the wedding took place in a prison ceremony.2827 At his 2023 sentencing he said he wanted to apologize to the Holloway family and to his own family.18
In Lima’s Piedras Gordas prison he studied international business through a prison program and taught English to other inmates, his lawyer said in 2014.28 In August 2014 he was moved to Challapalca, a remote prison high in the Andes, after authorities said he threatened to kill the warden when guards took his mobile phone.27 He was later held in Juliaca, where the drug case arose, and then again in Challapalca.2624 He was moved to the Ancón I prison near Lima before his 2023 surrender to the United States.22
In April 2024 the New York Post reported that he was injured when other inmates attacked him at Challapalca, according to NL Times.16 In August 2026 he filed a habeas corpus petition in the Superior Court of Justice of Puno, writing that he suffers “tortura psicológica casi a diario” (psychological torture almost daily) from other inmates, that his family has also been threatened, and that he has spent months isolated in the infirmary area; he wrote that if anything happens to him, “la culpa es de las autoridades” (the authorities are to blame).10
Flores’s father complained after the 2012 sentencing that van der Sloot had excessive privileges in prison; prison authorities denied unconfirmed reports that he had a television and video console, the AP reported.33 Beth Holloway told van der Sloot in court in 2023, “You are a killer,” and said afterward, “As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”18 In March 2026 she said through her lawyer that it was unimaginable that he could live freely “without taking responsibility for the death of my beloved daughter Natalee.”13
These deaths were not proven in court. Each is listed with who attributed it and on what basis.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said van der Sloot solicited money from Beth Holloway in 2010 on promises to reveal where her daughter's remains were and how she died, and after being paid $25,100 gave information he later called "worthless."1 Under the plea agreement he agreed to provide "full, complete, accurate, and truthful information" about Natalee Holloway's disappearance in exchange for a 20-year sentence.1 U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona said the government had held him "accountable for his scheme to exploit a mother."1
Judge Anna M. Manasco said his confession factored into her sentence and told him, "You have brutally murdered — in separate instances years apart — two young women who refused your sexual advances," the Associated Press reported.18
At sentencing he said he wanted "the chance to apologize to the Holloway family, my own family," and said, "I am no longer the person I was back then," according to the AP.18 In Peru, his lawyer argued in 2012 that he killed Flores while emotionally distressed by years of suspicion in the Holloway case; he had earlier recanted his confession to Peruvian police, saying it was obtained under duress and without an official translator.3331
After the plea, Beth Holloway said, "Joran van der Sloot is no longer the suspect in my daughter's murder; he is the killer."20 Natalee's father wrote to the judge that he believes van der Sloot killed her alone but doubts his account of disposing of her body, the AP reported.18 In March 2026 her mother filed a criminal complaint against him in the Netherlands; her lawyer said he received a reduced sentence in exchange for his confession without ever being tried for the killing.12
Natalee Holloway, 18, is last seen in Aruba leaving a bar with van der Sloot, then 17, and two other young men.20
Van der Sloot is arrested in Aruba; he is released on Sept. 3, 2005, while remaining under investigation.20
He is rearrested; a judge orders his release on Dec. 7, and prosecutors drop the case on Dec. 18 for lack of sufficient evidence.20
An appeals court refuses to order a third arrest after a Dutch television program secretly records him.34
Beth Holloway's side pays him $25,000 for the supposed location of her daughter's remains.203
He kills Stephany Flores Ramírez in his hotel room in Lima, five years to the day after Holloway was last seen.2032
He is arrested in Chile; the same day, federal prosecutors in Birmingham file a criminal complaint against him.204
A federal grand jury indicts him on extortion and wire-fraud charges.3
Two days after pleading guilty, he is sentenced in Lima to 28 years for the murder of Stephany Flores.3233
A Peruvian court sentences him for drug trafficking in prison, news reports say.2425
Peru temporarily surrenders him to the FBI to face the Alabama charges.222
He pleads guilty to extortion and wire fraud, admits killing Natalee Holloway, and is sentenced to 20 years.118
He is returned to Peru to continue serving his sentence there.19
Prison staff at Challapalca find him in a condition that "compromised his physical integrity"; Peru's Justice Ministry says he was stabilized.14
Aruba's prosecution service turns over its Holloway case file to prosecutors in Amsterdam after her mother's complaint.512
He files a habeas corpus petition in Peru seeking a transfer out of Challapalca, citing death threats.10
Netflix's three-part series Taken: Natalee Holloway is scheduled to premiere.67
Amsterdam prosecutors are assessing Beth Holloway's complaint of murder or manslaughter using the Aruban case file; the Dutch prosecution service said the limitation period has not yet run in the Netherlands and that prosecution there is in principle possible because he is a Dutch national.5 Her lawyer has said a Dutch prosecution is "not a given."13 The sources reviewed report no decision as of Nov. 3, 2026. His habeas corpus petition seeking a prison transfer is before the Superior Court of Justice of Puno; he says the prison's technical council has approved a transfer, which América TV did not independently confirm.10 In Peru he is expected to remain in prison until 2045, according to news reports, and the 2012 judgment orders him expelled from Peru when his sentence ends.1331