Law professor explains why the judicial system will still take time in the case of Natalee Holloway
Updated: 7:18 PM CDT May 11, 2023
COMING UP. ALL RIGHT, JASON, WE鈥橵E GOT A LOT TO GET TO THIS AFTERNOON. THE PRIME SUSPECT IN THE 2005 DISAPPEARANCE OF MOUNTAIN BROOK TEENAGER, NATALEE HOLLOWAY. YOU鈥橰E IN VANDERSLOOT, CLEARED TO HEAD TO THE UNITED STATES AFTER ALMOST 18 YEARS. HER BODY HAS NEVER BEEN DISCOVERED AND NO ONE HAS BEEN CHARGED IN HER DEATH. BUT VANDERSLOOT IS ACCUSED OF A CRIME AGAINST NATALIE鈥橲 FAMILY. WE HAVE LIVE TEAM COVERAGE ON THESE NEW DEVELOPMENTS. FIRST, LET鈥橲 HEAD TO 米兰体育 13, LISA CRANE LIVE AT THE FEDERAL COURTHOUSE IN BIRMINGHAM. YEAH, THIS IS WHERE YAUN VANDERSLOOT WILL STAND TRIAL FOR THOSE CHARGES OF EXTORTION AND FRAUD. NOW, THESE CHARGES COME FROM AN ALLEGED INCIDENT THAT HAPPENED IN 2010. THAT鈥橲 FIVE YEARS AFTER NATALEE HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE. HOLLOWAY鈥橲 MOTHER SAYS VANDERSLOOT CONTACTED HER FROM PERU AND OFFERED TO SELL HER INFORMATION ON THE WHEREABOUTS OF NATALIE鈥橲 BODY FOR $250,000. NOW, HOLLOWAY ATTORNEY TELLS OR ACTUALLY SAYS THAT SHE PAID VANDERSLOOT. $25,000 AND WAS DIRECTED TO WHERE NATALIE鈥橲 REMAINS. COULD BE FOUND. BUT AS WE KNOW, NOTHING WAS EVER UNCOVERED. WE SPOKE TO CUMBERLAND SCHOOL OF LAW PROFESSOR JOHN CARROLL ABOUT THE CASE TODAY, AND HE SAYS GETTING TO THIS POINT HAS TAKEN 18 YEARS AND GETTING THROUGH THIS CASE WON鈥橳 BE QUICK EITHER. FIRST OF ALL, WE GOT TO GET HIM HERE. AND SO I READ STATEMENTS FROM HIS LAWYER IN PERU THAT HE鈥橲 GOING TO FIGHT THAT. SO THAT MAY TAKE SOME TIME. AND ONCE HE GETS HERE, YOU KNOW, HE鈥橪L BE TREATED JUST LIKE ANY OTHER CRIMINAL DEFENDANT. PROBABLY GIVEN THE WAY THE JUSTICE SYSTEM RUNS. NOW, YOU鈥橰E TALKING ABOUT A YEAR BEFORE THERE鈥橲 ANY SORT OF FINAL RESOLUTION UNLESS HE ENTERS A GUILTY PLEA. NOW, EVEN IF VANDERSLOOT IS FOUND GUILTY, IT IS EXPECTED THAT HE WILL BE RETURNED TO PERU TO FINISH SERVING HIS SENTENCE THERE FOR THE MURDER OF A PERUVIAN WOMAN BEFORE HE WOULD THEN BE ABLE TO COME BACK TO THE US AND START ANY SENTENCE HE MIGHT RECEIVE HERE. WE WANT TO HEAD NOW TO MOUNTAIN BROOK. THAT鈥橲 WHERE WE FIND 米兰体育 13, GLADYS BATTISTA AND GLADYS, YOU KNOW, THIS IS NATALIE鈥橲 HOMETOWN, UNSURE ALL THESE NEW THE NEWS TODAY IS REALLY STIRRING UP A LOT OF EMOTIONS. THERE. YEAH, THAT鈥橲 RIGHT, LISA, YOU KNOW, EMPLOYEES HERE AT SMITHSON STORE TELL ME THAT THEY REMEMBER MAKING THESE YELLOW BOWLS FOR PEOPLE TO PUT ON THEIR MAILBOXES IN HOPES THAT NATALIE WOULD COME HOME. NOW, THEY ALSO SHARED THIS PICTURE OF THE YELLOW BOAT IN FRONT OF NATALIE鈥橲 PARENTS HOUSE IN MOUNTAIN BROOK. THEY TELL ME THOSE JUST LIKE IT WERE ALL AROUND THIS TIGHT KNIT COMMUNITY WHEN SHE VANISHED IN ARUBA ON HER CLASS TRIP RIGHT AFTER GRADUATING MOUNTAIN BROOK HIGH SCHOOL IN 2005. IT鈥橲 BEEN A LONG TIME, 18 YEARS, ALMOST, BUT CERTAINLY STILL A SOFT SPOT FOR MANY HERE IN MOUNTAIN BROOK AND THROUGHOUT BIRMINGHAM. THE OWNER OF THIS STORE IS NOW BRAD SIMPSON. HE TOOK OVER ABOUT THREE YEARS AGO BUT SAYS THESE NEW DEVELOPMENTS SHINE A LIGHT ON THEIR UNIQUE CONNECTION TO NATALIE AND THE EFFORT TO BRING HER HOME. IT鈥橲 ALWAYS BEEN KIND OF IN FRONT CENTER AND A LOT OF PEOPLE鈥橲 MINDS AND MOUNTAIN BROOK BECAUSE IT鈥橲 SO NOT MANY THINGS HAVE HAPPENED TO THAT SCALE HERE. SO IT鈥橲 STILL KIND OF NEAR AND DEAR TO THE COMMUNITY. AND SO OBVIOUSLY, WHEN WHEN I CAME ALONG, I WASN鈥橳 IT WAS PRIOR TO MY TIME, BUT IT WAS STILL KIND OF THE HEART OF SMITHS AND WHO WE ARE IS KIND OF PROVIDING FOR THE COMMUNITY. NOW, SIMPSON SAYS THAT NATALIE鈥橲 DISAPPEARANCE IS CERTAINLY THE BIGGEST CAUSE, THAT THEY鈥橵E HAD TO MAKE BOWS LIKE THIS FOR, AND THEY SAY THAT IT ACTUALLY STARTED A TRADITION HERE IN THIS COMMUNITY OF MAKING BOWS JUST LIKE THIS FOR CAUSES THAT EVERYONE SUPPORTS AND FOR CAUSES THAT EVERYONE IS RALLYING AROUND. BACK TO YOU. LISA. ALL RIGHT, GLADYS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. YOU KNOW, NATALIE鈥橲 MOTHER HAS NEVER GIVEN UP HOPE THAT SHE WOULD BE ABLE TO HOLD YOU IN VANDERSLOOT ACCOUNTABLE. AND SHE HAS PUSHED HARD FOR WHAT WE鈥橰E SEEING HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. AND SHE鈥橲 DONE THAT FOR MORE THAN A DECADE NOW. SHE RELEASED A STATEMENT IN THAT BETH, IN THAT STATEMENT, BETH HOLLOWAY SAID IN PART, IT HAS BEEN A VERY LONG AND PAINFUL JOURNEY, BUT THE PERSISTENCE OF MANY IS GOING TO PAY OFF TOGETHER, WE ARE FINALLY GETTING JUSTICE FOR NATALIE. MORE REACTION COMING INTO THIS FROM GOVERNOR IVEY. SHE TWEETED IN PART, CRIMINALS LIKE HIM ARE DECEPTIVE AND VICIOUS. ALABAMA MOMS LIKE BETH HOLLOWAY ARE STRONGER. HER COMMENDABLE PERSISTENCE TO OBTAIN JUSTICE FOR NATALIE IS FINALLY PAYING OFF. NOW, THESE ARE NOT THE CHARGES THAT NATALIE鈥橲 MOTHER HAD HOPED TO SEE VANDERSLOOT FACE, BUT THESE CHARGES COULD ACTUALLY NET MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT HAPPENED TO HER DAUGHTER ON THAT TRIP TO ARUBA IN 2005. COMING UP AT 5:00, WE鈥橰E GOING TO TALK
Law professor explains why the judicial system will still take time in the case of Natalee Holloway
Updated: 7:18 PM CDT May 11, 2023
Joran van der Sloot will stand trial at the federal courthouse in Birmingham on charges of extortion and fraud relating to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.These charges come from an alleged incident in 2010, five years after Natalee Holloway disappeared. Holloway's mother says van der Sloot contacted her from Peru and offered to sell her information on the whereabouts of Natalee鈥檚 body for $250,000.Holloway鈥檚 attorney says she paid van der Sloot $25,100 and was directed to where Natalee鈥檚 remains supposedly could be found, but nothing was ever uncovered. Cumberland School of Law professor John Carroll said just getting to this point has taken 18 years, and getting through this case won't be quick either.鈥淔irst of all, we've got to get him here," Carroll said. "And so, I鈥檝e read statements from his lawyer in Peru that he's going to fight that. So that may take some time. And once he gets here, you know, he'll be treated just like any other criminal defendant, probably given the way the justice system runs now.鈥漁nce the case is over, even if van der Sloot is found guilty, it鈥檚 expected he'll be returned to Peru to serve out his murder sentence before he would return to the U.S. to start serving any sentence he might receive on the fraud and extortion charges.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Joran van der Sloot will stand trial at the federal courthouse in Birmingham on charges of extortion and fraud relating to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
These charges come from an alleged incident in 2010, five years after Natalee Holloway disappeared. Holloway's mother says van der Sloot contacted her from Peru and offered to sell her information on the whereabouts of Natalee鈥檚 body for $250,000.
Holloway鈥檚 attorney says she paid van der Sloot $25,100 and was directed to where Natalee鈥檚 remains supposedly could be found, but nothing was ever uncovered.
Cumberland School of Law professor John Carroll said just getting to this point has taken 18 years, and getting through this case won't be quick either.
鈥淔irst of all, we've got to get him here," Carroll said. "And so, I鈥檝e read statements from his lawyer in Peru that he's going to fight that. So that may take some time. And once he gets here, you know, he'll be treated just like any other criminal defendant, probably given the way the justice system runs now.鈥�
Once the case is over, even if van der Sloot is found guilty, it鈥檚 expected he'll be returned to Peru to serve out his murder sentence before he would return to the U.S. to start serving any sentence he might receive on the fraud and extortion charges.