The Natalee Holloway Timeline
of her vanishment while in Aruba
detailing persons, places, organizations,
deliberate & accidental actions & in-actions,
events & supposed events, witnesses,
known suspects, outright lies,
corruptions, and crimes
3-1-06
On 3-1 the LONDON, ENGLAND “The Globe” wrote an article entitled “Voice Stress Experts Insist Joran LIED in TV Interview” in which, among other things, was written:
…
‘Flunked’
“He flunked miserably,” Sylvestre tells GLOBE. “He was deceptive right from the start and remained that way throughout the interview.”
Sylvestre reveals the 18-year-old lied about:
* Harming or killing the Alabama honors grad.
* Never giving a girl a date-rape drug.
* Saying Natalee “was fine” with his request to have sex and that she made all the moves.
* How he left her sitting on the beach.
* Why he left his expensive sneakers behind on the beach.
* Not being “a murderer and a rapist.”
To analyze the interview Sylvestre used the computerized DDVSA Lantern-Pro system, which measures voice stress levels and is used in the U.S. by 35 law enforcement agencies as well as government agencies
…
On 3-1 the BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA “Birmingham News" reported:
Holloway's mother arms students with information
Natalee Holloway might be safe at home if she had known the dangers of traveling abroad, her mother said Tuesday night as she kicked off a national safety awareness campaign for teens.
Beth Twitty spoke at Mountain Brook high school, her daughter's alma mater, urging students not to let their guard down if they leave the country. Holloway, 18, was on a graduation trip to Aruba when she disappeared May 30.
"She never saw this coming. She was blindsided," Twitty told the crowd of about 500. "Natalee had a false sense of security with her many friends there. She was too confident, she felt safe and she let her guard down for a moment and in that moment she was taken."
Could happen to anyone:
Choking back tears, Twitty recounted her daughter's trip, from dropping her off at the airport with a hug to racing to Aruba after she disappeared. Twitty said her daughter was abducted, raped and possibly murdered and the same thing could happen to anyone.
"I can't make you understand the emptiness I experience when I get up every morning. I can't make you feel the pain I feel when I walk by her empty room," she said. "I just pray that your parents can avoid ever experiencing that pain."
Twitty accused Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch teen suspected in Holloway's disappearance, of taking advantage of her daughter. She did not comment directly on a Fox News Channel interview to air tonight in which he says he doesn't think Holloway is alive.
Twitty told the students not to separate from their friends, not to leave a drink untended and not get into a situation where they can't defend themselves.
"I can't find Natalee," she said. "It's too late for me and my daughter, but it's not too late for you."
In coming weeks, Twitty will travel to Indiana, Michigan, Louisiana and Kentucky to share her message. She's also setting up a foundation and a Web site.
Brandi Gulow and her family drove two hours to see the presentation. They hope to ask Twitty to speak to their school system in Rome, Ga.
"That could easily have been anybody's daughter," she said.
Holly Brown, a friend of Holloway's who was on the trip, said the message is important because the students never imagined anything bad would happen.
"People our age are just too trusting," she said. "We live in such a sheltered community I think we were all kind of oblivious to the dangers of an island like that."
On 3-1 CNNHN reported:
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Very quickly, to tonight`s "Case Alert." Natalee Holloway`s mother spoke at her daughter`s high school last night, teaching students how to protect themselves when traveling, Beth Twitty using the tragedy of Natalee`s disappearance from her graduation trip in Aruba to kick-start Save Yourself, the name of the program, and the not-for-profit International Safe Travel Foundation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY`S MOTHER: I`ve known that I wanted to do it for a long time, since -- since June, because, you know, I knew the difficulties and the challenges and the barriers that were being placed before us, and I felt it didn`t have to be that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
…. 9+ months into the investigation, during his March 1, 2006 FOX News interview Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT claimed….
(the interview was actually done in one sitting, but FOX News replayed it over 3 nights. This is part 1)
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: The viewers will finally hear from Joran van der Sloot. Tonight, we will show you our unedited interview with the chief suspect in Natalee Holloway's disappearance. By unedited, we mean no content has been taken out. You hear every question we asked and every answer he gave and each answer in its entirety.
Here are the facts we know. Joran, along with Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, were the last people known seen with Natalee Holloway. She was leaving a popular bar in the back seat of Deepak's car. The next morning, Natalee did not show up for her flight home and has not been seen since. But what happened between those two events? The first story the three boys told, that they had returned Natalee to her hotel, is a lie. After extensive searches, many false leads and enormous frustration and heartbreak for Natalee Holloway's parents, the case remains unsolved.
There have been many questions for Joran van der Sloot over the past nine months, questions that have remained unanswered for you until now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Joran, what's it like for you here in Aruba?
JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , CHIEF SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE: For me in Aruba, it's great. I mean, it's the place where I grew up. It's the place I love. It's — you know, it's a wonderful island.
GRETA: Have people been treating you well here? I mean, what's been the impact of your arrest and your release, and now you're off in school?
VAN DER SLOOT: Oh, everyone here has always treated me well. I mean, everybody knows what's going on, probably more than the people in the States do. And everyone here has always treated me with respect and treated me right.
GRETA: So when you walk down the street, people say things to you here?
VAN DER SLOOT: Well, of course, you know, it's not fun that everyone on the street notices you. I mean, you want to just to be able to walk and no one notice you and for it to be normal, but I can't change anything about that now. It's like that already. So I just, you know, try to adapt and it and do the best I to for that.
GRETA: Has Aruba been affected by Natalee's disappearance?
VAN DER SLOOT: I think it has been affected, been affected quite a lot, and that's one thing that hurts me a lot. I mean, the Aruban people did everything, everything to try and — to try and solve this case. They did. They sent F-16 jets from Holland over to take pictures. They've interrogated I don't know how many people. They have dive teams from all over the world have come to dive into the oceans and look in the oceans. They sent the whole Marines to search the entire island. I mean, the government, the Aruban government, even gave all the people that work for the government a day off to go search the island. I mean, a lot has been done, and everyone just wants to get this case solved and get it done with. That's what everybody wants.
GRETA: Is that what you want?
VAN DER SLOOT: Of course, that's what I want. That's the one thing that will clear me, and that's the one thing that will clear anyone else involved with it that doesn't deserve to be.
GRETA: Why did you agree to talk to us?
VAN DER SLOOT: I agreed to talk to you because I thought it was important to hear another side of the story, as well. I look at it in one way that, you know, there's one side of the story, there's another side of the story, and then there's the truth. And I'm telling you the truth and everything that happened and not just one side from the story. I'm not going to tell you I'm a good person. I'm not going to tell you that I'm an angel or that I've done good things, no, because it's not like that. But I'm here to tell the truth and to let people know what happened and exactly what went on.
GRETA: How old are you?
VAN DER SLOOT: I'm 18 now.
GRETA: What's the impact been on you?
VAN DER SLOOT: Well, I mean, I was arrested at 17 and it's — I always felt myself that I was — you know, that I was a lot older, but — that's what I've always felt for myself. But I mean, of course, it has — it's had — it's had a lot of impact on me, too. I spent 90 days in jail. And it's had a lot of impact on everyone, on my family, on Aruba. It's had an impact on everyone I love.
GRETA: What impact on your mother and father? Is there a way to describe it?
VAN DER SLOOT: There's no way to describe that. That's the worst thing there is. I mean, for me to see my mom and my dad, that's horrible. I mean, they didn't deserve any of this. I know it was my fault that they came into — that they were brought into this. And it's part of their life, too, now, and there's nothing that I can do to make that better towards them. But that's horrible for them.
GRETA: Have you watched Beth Holloway-Twitty on TV at all, or do you think about the impact on her and her family?
VAN DER SLOOT: I mean, I've seen — I've seen so much stuff on TV and on the Internet and — I mean, like I probably said from the beginning, I don't hold any grudges against her at all or her family at all because if they — I mean, if I were in their position and there was some kid that was with someone I loved last, I mean, and all this happened, he lied to the Police, you name it, I mean, I'd be — I'd be pissed. I'd be — I'd probably go to that kid, and you know, I'm someone that I'd probably beat him up until he tells me everything he knows. And I mean, I think they've gone about this in a wrong way in a lot of senses, too. But that they blame me, I don't blame them for or hold any grudges against them for at all.
GRETA: In terms of going about it in the wrong way, what — in which way is it the wrong way that they've done this?
VAN DER SLOOT: I think they've done a lot of things that have hurt a lot of people that don't deserve to be hurt, a lot of people that are really good. I mean, one example is boycotting an island. That's something you can't do. I mean, Aruba's done everything, everything to try and solve the case. And that's something that really bothers me, that you could just go on TV and say, I'm going to boycott an island and get a government to agree to that, that's something that I really — I think that's absolutely wrong. I mean, the Aruban people are great people. They've done everything, everything to try and solve this case, and that's something that just really — you know, it — that pisses me off. That they go towards me and blame me is something I can understand. But to go towards my family and my friends and Aruba and everyone I love, that's something that really hurts me.
GRETA: Take me back to May 29. Do you remember when you first saw Natalee?
VAN DER SLOOT: I remember — I remember when I first saw her. I went there, I went to the casino, the Excelsior casino at the "Holiday Inn," to play a free poker tournament. I remember walking in there and sitting at a — playing a — first playing a poker tournament, then afterwards, when I was done, going to a blackjack table and sitting down. And I remember her and her friends coming up to the table. They sat down. They wanted to play blackjack. And I didn't even notice Natalee from that beginning, from that (INAUDIBLE). I didn't even pay any attention to her. There was a friend of hers that was sitting next to me that said she'd lost — she'd lost $100 or $120 of her father's money, and she wanted to win it back. And I said, You know what? I'll help you. I'll help you try and win back your money. I'll tell you when to hit and when to stay. And that's what I did.
You know, we were just talking socially. It was just — it was just — it was just talking with nothing — nothing else involved. And then they ended up asking me if — they ended up telling me it was their last night and asked if I wanted to go to Carlos 'N Charlie's.
GRETA: Had you been to Carlos 'N Charlie's before? You know the place?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, I know the place. I went there on weekends a lot. It's just — it's a place where I know — it's fun place. It's a place where people go and hang out and have fun. I mean...
GRETA: You say a free poker game. What does that mean, for those who don't know what that is here?
VAN DER SLOOT: It's a — it's just — it's a tournament, you know, of poker, Texas hold 'em poker. It's a — they just have tournaments here that people play. And at the end, if you win a tournament, you win money.
GRETA: Were you there earlier with your father that day, or had he left or...
VAN DER SLOOT: My father doesn't like casinos at all. He doesn't want me playing in casinos at all, either. But I convinced him to come that day to the casino and play that tournament because he — because it was a free tournament. I said, I have the chance — I want you to come with me and you can just play one time and see how it is. So you see, you know, why I go play, too, because it's just a social thing. It's a — it was a fun thing to do. And yes, so my dad had come with me. And halfway through, he — because my mom at the time was in Holland, halfway through, he had to go back home to my little brother because he was home alone. And I took his place at the poker tournament because I had lost earlier. So I went in and I took his place and I played for him.
GRETA: So you were there alone. You didn't — later on, you caught up with Satish and Deepak, but at that point, you were there alone, playing poker?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, I was there alone. I was there alone, playing cards.
GRETA: Anything catch your attention about Natalee or her friends, anything you recall?
VAN DER SLOOT: I mean, no, nothing — nothing to catch my attention. They seemed like normal girls. I mean, I talked to them — I talked to them normally. I mean, they — yes, nothing of them was out of the ordinary at all.
GRETA: Interested in any of them at — at the poker table?
VAN DER SLOOT: Interested? No, not really. I was more talking — the girl that was sitting next to me, I was — I thought she was pretty and I was talking to her. And when I went — what the point was for going to Carlos 'N Charlie's was I wanted to actually meet up with her.
GRETA: Do you remember her name?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't — I didn't remember it, but I remember it now because I heard it afterwards. I think her name was Kathleen.
GRETA: So about what time — did you leave the blackjack table first, or did the young women, the girls from Mountain Brook, leave the table first?
VAN DER SLOOT: When she'd won back — Kathleen, who was sitting next to me, when she'd won about $100, me and her friends convinced her to go cash the money. So that's when they went to go cash — they went to go cash their chips.
GRETA: So did they all leave together, sort of like a herd of girls, do you remember?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, I think they left in a group. They all stayed together.
GRETA: Did they...
VAN DER SLOOT: And I remember afterwards going into — right behind that casino is a little bar, and I remember watching — walking in there. And there was a baseball game on TV, and again, the group of girls was sitting there. And they said, Oh, yes, don't forget to come out tonight. And I told them that on Sunday, it wasn't a good night to go out. It wasn't fun. It wasn't — and — but they said, You know, if you want to come, come. And I ended up deciding that, yes, I might as well go and have fun.
GRETA: Were you drinking at that point?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, at that point, I wasn't drinking. I'd had a drink at the — during the poker tournament, but at that point, I hadn't taken a drink. They were drinking, however.
GRETA: Could you feel the effect of that one drink, at that point?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, not at all.
GRETA: OK. OK. And were they acting like they had been drinking quite liberally and freely? Could you tell whether they were?
VAN DER SLOOT: I mean, yes, they were drinking liberally and freely, but I mean, I think they had every right to. I mean, they had graduated. They just finished their high school. You know, they'd just been — they'd finished their high school, and I think they had every right to come to Aruba and have — and you know, and celebrate their graduation. I mean, they worked for that their whole life. And I've met tons of people that do the same thing.
And I mean, one problem I might have seen with it is the drinking age in the United States is 21 and the drinking age in Aruba is 18. And you know, I've met a lot of people that when they're — you know, whose parents don't let them drink or do anything like that, and when they — you know, when they come to Aruba and they get a chance to drink, they go — you know, they go overboard, and that's something that's — that's bad, something that shouldn't happen.
GRETA: About what time did you walk out of the "Holiday Inn" casino for the evening?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't remember exactly what time it was.
GRETA: Can you give me an estimate?
VAN DER SLOOT: It was probably 10:00, I think — 9:00, 10:00.
GRETA: And they were already gone at that point, do you remember?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, they were sitting in a bar behind the casino.
GRETA: And where did you go when you left the casino?
VAN DER SLOOT: And I called another friend of mine and asked him if he wanted to go out, and he said he had to work the next day, so he couldn't go out. And at that point, I called my dad and asked him if he could pick me up. And he said he'd pick me up at the McDonald's, so I walked over to the McDonald's, where he picked me up and took me home.
GRETA: So it's a cell phone call to your house.
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, a cell 0hone call to my house.
GRETA: Any reason why the McDonald's? Did you get something to eat or...
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, because I wanted to get something to eat, too. I hadn't eaten anything. So I got something to eat at the McDonald's.
GRETA: How far is the walk from "Holiday Inn" to McDonald's, about?
VAN DER SLOOT: Five minutes, probably.
GRETA: So you got to the McDonald's. Was your father already there, or did you wait for him?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, he wasn't there yet. I got something to eat, and while I was eating it, he arrived.
GRETA: Any idea what time he arrived?
VAN DER SLOOT: No. Probably 10 minutes after I called him, 20 minutes after I called him.
GRETA: At the point where you called him, were you intending to go to Carlos and Charlie's at that point? Had you made up your mind?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, I'd made up my mind that I was going to go there, and I'd also made up my mind that I wasn't going to tell him that I was going to go there because I know he would have said no. He would have said that I couldn't go. So I had made up my own mind that I was going to go out without him knowing.
GRETA: How were you going to do that? Did you — at that point, had you called anybody else besides the one friend that turned you down?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes. Then walking — when I kept walking, I called Deepak and I asked him if he wanted to go out. And he said, Sure. Sure, I'd like to go out. I don't have to work the next day until 3:00 in the afternoon, so of course.
GRETA: How old is Deepak? How much older is he than you are?
VAN DER SLOOT: Deepak's 21.
GRETA: How do you know him?
VAN DER SLOOT: I met him a long time ago through a friend of mine. And now — and since then, we've been friends — never best friends or anything like that, but you know, we've — we hung out together and sometimes we went out together and stuff like that.
GRETA: What's a long time ago to you, in terms of — you're only 17, at this point.
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, I know that.
GRETA: So what's a long time ago?
VAN DER SLOOT: From that point, that day, I think three months earlier, two months earlier I'd met him.
GRETA: So he was a friend of three months.
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, three or four months...
GRETA: Did you know Satish at that point?
VAN DER SLOOT: No. I met — I met Deepak first, and then I met Satish.
GRETA: But you knew Satish before that night...
(CROSSTALK)
VAN DER SLOOT: Before that night, I had-met him before, yes.
GRETA: What — so where — where'd you ever gone with Deepak? I mean, what kind of stuff did you guys do? How well do you know him?
VAN DER SLOOT: You know, we hung out together sometimes. We'd go out to Carlos and Charlie's together sometimes, but I don't know him that well.
GRETA: Did he go to school with you?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, he didn't go to school with me.
GRETA: So he wasn't a classmate.
VAN DER SLOOT: No, he wasn't a class...
GRETA: And neither was Satish?
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
GRETA: Do you know where they went to school?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, they went to a local school, and I went to the international school here.
GRETA: Did Deepak — Deepak had a job at — when — this was a year ago. Where was he working?
VAN DER SLOOT: He was working at an Internet cafe.
GRETA: Had you ever called him sort of late at night or 10:00 o'clock at night, 11:00 o'clock at night before and said, Let's go out?
VAN DER SLOOT: Oh, yes. I'd done that before, you know, because I don't have a car. I don't — didn't have a driver's license and I'm not allowed to drive. So if I want to go out, yes, I'm dependent on — on friends, that — you know, that have a car. So I'd give him a call sometimes, or another friend of mine, you know, Let's go out.
GRETA: What's the driving age here?
VAN DER SLOOT: The driving age is 18.
GRETA: So did any of your classmates — I take it your classmates at the international school didn't have a driver's license.
VAN DER SLOOT: No, some — a couple kids in my class went, because I was in my senior year. A couple kids of them had a driver's license, but not all of them, no.
GRETA: So when you're walking from the "Holiday Inn" to the McDonald's, you made the phone call. Deepak says he'll go out. Did you make sort of the plans how you were going to — you know, where's he going to pick you up because you didn't want your father to know?
VAN DER SLOOT: No. I have an apartment in my house, so it's, like, away, kind of away from the house. And I called him, and he just came into my room with his brother. I didn't know at that point his brother was coming with him. But he came at that point in my room with his brother, and I was just printing out some work for school for the next day that I had to hand in. And I just finished that up. So I came into my room, and then they were there.
GRETA: So they came through the gate. I mean, they actually...
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, they just...
GRETA: ... came through the gate...
VAN DER SLOOT: ... walked through my — through my gate and went into my room.
GRETA: They didn't drive through the gate, so your father wouldn't have noticed that.
VAN DER SLOOT: No, no. Whenever friends come by, they park their car right outside the house.
GRETA: So about what time do you think or estimate that they arrived at your house?
VAN DER SLOOT: Probably, I don't know, 11:45, 12:00.
GRETA: How far away does Deepak live from you?
VAN DER SLOOT: About 20 minutes, I think.
GRETA: By car?
VAN DER SLOOT: By car.
GRETA: From your house — if you're going to drive from your house to Carlos and Charlie's, about how long does that take?
VAN DER SLOOT: About 15 minutes, I think.
GRETA: Did you tell Deepak that night that you had met these — these...
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, I told him — that's exactly — that's exactly what I told him. I told him I met a couple of girls, and they asked if I wanted to go out. So that's — yes, that's what I plan to do.
GRETA: You tell him anything else about the girls, whether or not you thought they'd be fun or they'd be, you know, something that Deepak might want to hook up with, or Satish might want to...
VAN DER SLOOT: Oh, no, no, no. No, no.
GRETA: No details?
VAN DER SLOOT: No details.
GRETA: When they picked you up, did you go straight from your home to Carlos and Charlie's?
VAN DER SLOOT: When they picked me up, we went straight there, straight to Carlos and Charlie's.
GRETA: When you arrived at Carlos 'N Charlie's, any idea about what time it is?
VAN DER SLOOT: It was probably, you know, 12:15, I think, 12:30 maybe.
GRETA: How late does it stay open?
VAN DER SLOOT: That night it was open until 1:00 AM.
GRETA: Is that usual? I mean, every...
VAN DER SLOOT: Every — during weekdays, it's open until 1:00 AM, yes.
GRETA: And were the girls from Mountain Brook already there?
VAN DER SLOOT: They were already there. I walked in, and I — when I walked in, I saw one of them on the left-hand side and she just said — she said, Hi. And I said, Hi, back. And then I walked in with them and was going to go to the bar with them and get a drink. And that's when — right when I walked in, I saw Natalee was standing on the dance floor. She was dancing, and she screamed at me to go dance with her. She was dancing on the stage. There was, like, a podium there.
GRETA: Did she know your name? Did she know you well enough to know your name at that point?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, I don't think she knew my name. She just screamed to me to go dance with her. And at that point, I didn't. I went to go get a drink with Deepak and Satish.
VAN DER SLOOT: Where — the one that you sat next that you thought was attractive at the casino, did you see her there?
VAN DER SLOOT: No. I saw one of her friends there.
GRETA: So she never appeared anyplace that you remember that night.
VAN DER SLOOT: No, maybe that I did see her, but I don't think I spoke to her.
GRETA: What — you went up to the bar and got a drink. What were you drinking?
VAN DER SLOOT: A yard is a drink you can there and, yes, that's what we got.
GRETA: So drink number two is separated by several hours.
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: OK. What happened next with...
VAN DER SLOOT: So next, we walked down again to the stage. We were just looking at people — the people who were dancing on stage. And then again, she said to me to — she told me to go dance with her, and I said no.
GRETA: Do you dance?
VAN DER SLOOT: Sometimes, yes, but not really dancing.
GRETA: OK.
VAN DER SLOOT: I'm not really a dancing person. And then she came down off the stage and grabbed me by my hand and said, Come with me. And she took me to the bar, which is on the other — on the left-hand side. And she jumped on the — she jumped on the bar, so sitting on the bar.
GRETA: Sitting or lying down?
VAN DER SLOOT: Sitting first, and then she said, Are you going to take a jelly shot off me?
GRETA: What is that?
VAN DER SLOOT: It's just something — a jelly shot is what you put on your belly button, or a body shot, I mean, and then you — you take it off — off of the belly button.
GRETA: And you did that?
VAN DER SLOOT: And I did that.
GRETA: What was that — what were you drinking then in the shot, do you remember?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't have no clue what it is.
GRETA: Is there a way to describe her, I mean, and whether she seemed or appeared to be, you know, drinking? Did she seem to be drunk?
VAN DER SLOOT: Oh... she'd been drinking, but she wasn't drunk. I mean, she knew what she was doing. And you know, all the people there were drinking, as well. I mean, that's just — that's normal when you go out and have a drink with your friends.
GRETA: Any interest in her, at that point?
VAN DER SLOOT: At that point, when she got my hand and took me to the bar, yes.
GRETA: So what happened next?
VAN DER SLOOT: Well, so next, then she said OK, so let's take another shot, is what she told me. So she wanted to take a shot with me. But it was probably close to 1:00 AM there then, and the bar was closing. So I said, OK, well, we can go to the other bar. And then I asked her, What do you want to drink? And she's, like, Whatever. So she said, yes (INAUDIBLE) What do you suggest. And I said, Baccardi 151. That's a shot I normally take with my friends. And we took a shot together. And after that, we just were talking a while. And I saw Satish, and Satish said — said, Let's go. And then — Deepak, I don't know where he was. I didn't see him in Carlos and Charlie's after that.
GRETA: How old is Satish, at this point?
VAN DER SLOOT: How old is...
GRETA: Yes, how old is he then, at — this night?
VAN DER SLOOT: I think he was 18 or 19. I don't know.
GRETA: So he's an adult, too, I mean, legally can drink, Satish can?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: Was he drinking?
VAN DER SLOOT: The only drink I seen him (INAUDIBLE) was that one we got together.
GRETA: Could you feel the alcohol, at this point?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, not at all.
GRETA: At any time throughout the night, could you feel the alcohol at all that you drank?
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
GRETA: How tall are you?
VAN DER SLOOT: Probably 6-4 or 6-3.
GRETA: How much do you weigh?
VAN DER SLOOT: Two-twenty, I think.
GRETA: OK, so you're big.
VAN DER SLOOT: Uh-huh.
GRETA: OK.
GRETA: At what point did you leave Carlos 'N Charlie's?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, when it was — when it was closing, when everyone started leaving and you saw the groups of people leaving.
GRETA: Were they throwing you out and turning the lights on and off?
VAN DER SLOOT: Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
GRETA: Or what was the sign that it was time to go?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, it was just, yes, it was just they turn off the music and they turn off everything and it was just time to go, yes.
GRETA: Had you made any agreement or arrangement with Natalee at that point to leave with her or anything?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, not at all. That came very spontaneously. She's like, "OK, you want me to go with you?" And I was like "OK." And I saw her go up to some of her friends. I don't know what she said to them. And then, yes, then we — then we ended up leaving. The plan was to go to my house.
GRETA: Any other conversation with her before you left Carlos 'N Charlie's, remember anything that you guys talked about, said, or anything?
VAN DER SLOOT: Not really. It was more like, no, just your normal, casual talk.
GRETA: Did she say where she was from, for instance?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, she said that she was from Alabama and she said — she said she wanted to become a doctor and, yes...
GRETA: Did she ask you about yourself?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, she asked me about myself too.
GRETA: What did you tell her?
VAN DER SLOOT: I told her I was 19, when I was actually 17 but, yes.
GRETA: Did you say where, you know, your plans or anything like that what you wanted to do? I mean was there that much of a dialog between you?
VAN DER SLOOT: Not really. I mean I never really got to actually know her. I really didn't actually ever get, you know, to know her like you know a friend or you know someone like that. It was just casual talking. You know a little about each other and that's all it was.
GRETA: Was it the kind of bar situation where it's loud, you're talking over loud music or could you ever, was it — could you have a conversation?
VAN DER SLOOT: It was loud music but you could have a conversation.
GRETA: So, what time do you think you stepped foot out of Carlos 'N Charlie's?
VAN DER SLOOT: Probably, yes probably 1:00 a.m.
GRETA: Did you walk — you walked out with Natalee?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, I walked out with her.
GRETA: And she had your hand or you had her hand?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, we had each other hand and Satish was there as well with us.
GRETA: Where was Deepak?
VAN DER SLOOT: He was waiting at his car.
GRETA: Any reason why he went out ahead?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't know. You have to ask him that.
GRETA: Is he sort of, I mean a guy who enjoys the bar scene?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't know. Again, you'll have to ask him that I mean.
GRETA: How about the girls, they like him?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't know. You'll have to ask him that.
GRETA: But when you were out with him or something did he talk to them? Was he friendly?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, he didn't talk to them. He didn't really talk to any of them.
GRETA: How about Satish did he?
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
GRETA: How far was the car parked from Carlos 'N Charlie's?
VAN DER SLOOT: It was parked right behind it.
GRETA: So, Deepak's at the car. Satish is in front of you?
VAN DER SL OT: Satish was with us.
GRETA: With you and then you and Natalee holding hands walked to the car?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: Any discussion between Carlos 'N Charlie's and the car between you and Satish or you and Natalee?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, just between me and Natalee. We were speaking English to each other and I asked her if she wanted to go back to her hotel and that's when she said that she wanted to — she asked me if I -- if I had a big house or not and then — then she said — I said to her "Do you want to see my house?" And she's like "Yes, I want to go to your house."
GRETA: All right, so the plan I assume was that, I mean you were interested in her at least I assume, correct me if I'm wrong, that you would take her back and have some sort of relationship with her at that point?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: Ever talk about it, about whether you were going to have sex or anything like that?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, not actually talk about it, no, but not like she said no. "Do you want to have sex?" No, it wasn't anything like that.
GRETA: That was your intention and you were hopeful that was her intention?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: Did she ever say anything at all sexual to you at that point walking to the car, any hints, anything?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, it was just we were holding hands and we walked to the car.
GRETA: When you got to the car who drove?
VAN DER SLOOT: It was Deepak driving the car.
GRETA: It's his car?
VAN DER SLOOT: It's his car.
GRETA: He likes his car?
VAN DER SLOOT: I think so.
GRETA: I hear that he paid a lot of attention to his car.
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, I think so too.
GRETA: Does he let Satish drive it?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, sometimes. Yes, Satish drives it sometimes.
GRETA: What kind of car is it?
VAN DER SLOOT: It's a Honda Civic, a gray one.
GRETA: Had you driven in it before?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, no.
GRETA: You'd never been in his car before?
VAN DER SLOOT: Oh, drove with him, yes.
GRETA: Yes, yes.
VAN DER SLOOT: Driven it myself, no.
GRETA: OK but you'd been in the car.
GRETA: So you leave Carlos 'N Charlie's and your intention was to head to your house. Did you actually head to your house?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, we did. We actually did end up heading to my house because that's what she was — that's what she wanted to, so I was fine with it. And then during the car ride she was — she had her hand on my — on my leg and I had my hand on her leg and we were both in the back. We were kissing each other and so I took (INAUDIBLE) in a — in a positive not in a bad way.
GRETA: Did you ever actually make it to your house?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, we did. We actually did stop in front of my house. We got to my house and then, yes then I — then she said she wanted to go see sharks.
GRETA: Why sharks?
VAN DER SLOOT: I have no idea why she wanted to go see sharks and so I was laughing and telling her there's no sharks.
GRETA: Did you actually go into your house with her?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, no, no. We never even got out of the car there.
GRETA: She had no interest in going into your house? She didn't say anything?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, at that point she wanted — she wanted to go see sharks is what she said and then she came with a strange story that her mom was Hitler's sister or Hitler's sister's daughter and she was sorry to me for that because — because I don't know if she thought I was German or something and I'm like "I'm Dutch, so I don't really care about anything like that." And I asked, "You're joking right?" And she said, "No, no, no, no, I'm serious. I'm serious." Just another example of that is, you know, that's a strange story. That makes absolutely no sense. Why would you say something like that if it's not true? But there's actually Police reports of one of her friends that says she told her the same thing.
GRETA: Now, the whole time you're in the car driving from Carlos 'N Charlie's, stopping for a short time at your house and talking to Natalee, did Deepak and Satish join in the conversation? Are they talking?
VAN DER SLOOT: Not really. We had music on. There was one remark she did make like she told me, she asked me if they were my slaves because they were driving around but Deepak and Satish never ended up hearing that. I told them that afterwards. So, yes, she said in Alabama we consider black people slaves.
GRETA: All right, so you drive from your house and where is your next, where is the next point you stop the car?
VAN DER SLOOT: The next point we stopped the car was at the beach where we ended up going to. We were driving. The point was to drive to her hotel then but we drove — we drove right by that and she said, yes, because she didn't want to go to her hotel. She wanted to go see sharks.
GRETA: About how long did it take from the point of your house to drive to the beach?
VAN DER SLOOT: That probably takes around five minutes.
GRETA: Did you drive past her hotel at that point or just drive right to the beach?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, we drove past her — past her hotel and then took the road right next to her hotel.
GRETA: And so when you go to the beach you then move down to the Marriott is that right? You went farther north of the Marriott?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, the Marriott is right next to it.
GRETA: Had you ever been to the Marriott beach before?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, tons of times, lots of times.
VAN SUSTEREN: I guess as a kid you played soccer there right?
VAN DER SLOOT: I played soccer on the beach there. I went with my friends to the beach there. I mean I've been there probably 1,000 times.
GRETA: Why that beach? I mean there's an awful lot of beaches in this — on this island, why that beach?
VAN DER SLOOT: Because we were driving towards her hotel. That's just — and that was just the one place I wanted to get out.
GRETA: Had you ever been to the beach before with Deepak and Satish?
VAN DER SLOOT: With them alone, no.
VAN SUSTEREN: So where did you park?
VAN DER SLOOT: If you drive by right by the last Marriott Hotel so we took a left and you can drive right to the end of the road there and we stopped there, so you're basically still at the hotel and that's where — where we got out of the car and I told Deepak that "I'll call you later to pick me up" and he said "OK," and he left and we walked on the beach.
And, I mean there were people there. There were couples there on the beach as well. I mean we walked by other couples. It's not — that beach is — it's a very busy beach. There's a lot of people there even at nighttime.
GRETA: On the beach you weren't directly in front of the Marriott, you were a little bit north of the Marriott is that right, you call it the Marriott beach but you weren't directly in front of the hotel?
VAN DER SLOOT: At that point, we were basically almost directly in front of the Marriott Hotel.
GRETA: Did you cut through the hotel to the beach?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, no. You didn't really cut because you're right at the — the right side of the Marriott Hotel, all the way at the right. She didn't really cut through — through the hotel but you were walking on the hotel property where there's beach chairs and all that stuff.
GRETA: So, Satish — I mean Deepak just dropped you off.
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: And he was willing — he indicated he was willing to come back and pick you up at some point?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: He didn't mind? He wasn't going to go home and sleep for an hour and be annoyed by your call? He didn't indicate like "Don't wake me up" or anything like that?
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
GRETA: He had no complaints at all?
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
GRETA: What was your intention at that point to have sex with her?
VAN DER SLOOT: That was my, yes, that was my intention, yes. That was my first intention.
GRETA: And where did you think Deepak and Satish were going?
VAN DER SLOOT: At home.
GRETA: You thought they'd go all the way home and come back and get you?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, it's not that far of a drive.
GRETA: Why would they do that for you?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't know. They're friends I think, yes. They would have done that.
GRETA: Had they ever done that before for you?
VAN DER SLOOT: That, no, but I don't have a — I don't have a car, so how else would I have gotten home? I mean I could have paid a taxicab to have gotten home but, no, they said — he was fine with that. He said "That's fine." He would pick me up and bring me home.
GRETA: So you got out of the car. Did you have sex with Natalee?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, no, not...
GRETA: How come?
VAN DER SLOOT: Well, we got at the beach. We walked up. I took off my shoes. We walked to the — to the ocean and that's where we sat down as well. That's where I left my shoes and then we started walking. And I asked her, you know, let's — we can walk toward your hotel because there were a lot of people there too. And she wanted to walk the other way, so towards the — starting to go towards the lighthouse. And, so we started walking — walking in that direction, more towards the fisherman's hut and, yes, we were holding hands, talking and kissing, just having a good time.
GRETA: Do you have any idea what time you actually got out of Deepak's car? Can you estimate that?
VAN DER SLOOT: I can't say exactly when. I don't know exactly when. The only thing I can say for sure is when I was home because that's — you know you said it yourself to me that the most important thing is to look at facts and, you know, those are facts that you can actually say what time you got home, by video footage what time you left Carlos 'N Charlie's. Those are things you can actually, you know, actually really prove.
GRETA: All right, well let me jump ahead. What time did you get home so we have this time frame?
VAN DER SLOOT: It was 3:35 I think or 3:25 and we had — I had ABC look at the pieces there. Well, they had the pieces too so that's one thing I can be sure of.
GRETA: Are you able to — are you able to estimate how long you were on the beach with Natalee?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, it was probably an hour, maybe not even an hour.
GRETA: So, besides walking north in the direction away from her hotel what else were you doing?
VAN DER SLOOT: Nothing really just holding hands and talking about, yes, everything.
GRETA: What was her condition?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, to me she seemed like she had — she had something to drink but she seemed fine. You know she knew — she knew what she was doing.
GRETA: What did you guys talk about?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, we talked about — she said about that she was going to school and she didn't want to leave Aruba because she loved it so much. She was — she thought it was the best place in the world and, yes, that's stuff we talked about.
GRETA: What kind of stuff were you saying?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, I told her that — I lied to her that I was 19. I said that I was going to go study in the states at St. Leo (ph) University and, you know, I was just — we were just having casual talk talking about stuff.
GRETA: So you never had intercourse right?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, never.
GRETA: How come? I mean that was your intention and...
VAN DER SLOOT: Well, I mean when — when actually at the point that it did get down to that I didn't have a condom with me and I've heard — I've heard people say "Oh, that's strange. Oh, that makes absolutely no — no sense. Any 18-year-old or 17-year-old then when he doesn't have a condom would have sex anyway." And I mean that's the truth though. I didn't have a condom with me and that's why I didn't have sex with her because I won't have sex with a girl without a condom. I mean I've never — I've never done that before and I'm never going to do that either. It's just something that — that I've always kept myself to. That's important for me too.
GRETA: Did you discuss that with her at all?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, that's what I told her then that I — that I wouldn't have sex, that I didn't have a condom and I wouldn't have sex without a condom. I usually have one in my wallet I always carry around with me in my wallet and I didn't have one with me then.
GRETA: And what was her reaction to all this?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, she understood that and she didn't want to do it without a condom either.
GRETA: So, but there was some sort of — I mean you had some sort of sexual contact at some point is that right?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: Was that in the car or was that on the beach?
VAN DER SLOOT: That was on the beach too.
GRETA: And at this point Satish and Deepak they're long gone in the car?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: Other people walking on the beach?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, there was — the time that I started walking the other direction there was only one couple that I walked by because most of them were at the actual Marriott Hotel. At that (INAUDIBLE), there was only one couple that I actually walked by.
GRETA: What was it that was sort of the — why did you leave, I mean what happened? Did the conversation end or how did you happen to leave? Leave the beach. At some point you and Natalee separated according to you is that right?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: How did that come about?
VAN DER SLOOT: Well, I mean I had — I had to go to school the next day. I was close to my exams to do my final exams and, you know, the bus was picking me up at 6:40 a.m. I mean I had to go home and I didn't want my dad to go into my room and see I'm not there or anything like that, so I mean I had to go home. So, yes, at one point I told her, you know, it's time to go back to your hotel and she was just like, "No, let's stay here. Let's look at the stars." She was just saying, you know, "Stay here with me. Just stay here with me the whole night. Tomorrow I have to go back anyway" and, you know, that's — that's what we were talking about.
GRETA: And what did you say? I mean how does the conversation go back and forth between the two of you on this?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, so she was asking me to stay and I told her I really had to go so, you know, for me to bring her back to her hotel and then I said at the end, I said "OK, well I'm going to call Deepak to come pick me up." And so, I walked right there. There's the fisherman's hut. There's a little — because there's a lot of wind there on the beach, so I walked right next to that and that's where I called him from. And I — I asked him — I asked him to come pick me up. Then it was his brother that came to pick me up but I asked him to come pick me up.
GRETA: Do you know where — so you actually, you had actually called him and reached him on your cell phone?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, on a cell phone.
GRETA: And said "Come pick me up," and what did he say?
VAN DER SLOOT: And he said, "Yes, OK. OK, sure." He said he was on his computer talking to friends.
GRETA: So, at — so about how much later did Satish show up driving his car?
VAN DER SLOOT: Probably 15 minutes later, ten minutes later.
GRETA: Deepak wasn't there?
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
GRETA: He wasn't in the car?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, wasn't in the car.
GRETA: Did you see Deepak at all again that night?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, no until the next day, that night.
VAN SUSTEREN: Did Satish pick you up in his car or his mother's car?
VAN DER SLOOT: In Deepak's car.
GRETA: So, it's the same car that dropped you off?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: Did you say "Where's Deepak"?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, that was — of course that was the first reaction when I — when I came there. I walked over and I sat in the car and I was like, you know, "Where's Deepak"? He said, "Oh, he's at home on his computer." And that's when I, you know, I told him, you know, the girl's still on the beach and, you know, she wanted me to stay there with her and, you know, I want to go. I want to go home. What do you do?
And he reacted like, you know, OK (INAUDIBLE) "Let's go, you know, let's go fast and let's leave, you know, like, you know, not really caring about her. Let's just go and leave her there." And, I was like, "OK" so (INAUDIBLE) we really went without even saying goodbye to her or without even really seeing her and telling her at that point that we were going to go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: There's much more of our interview with Joran van der Sloot. Tomorrow night, Joran tells us why he and Deepak Kalpoe quickly made up a lie about dropping Natalee off at the Holiday Inn.
We'll see you all again tomorrow night. And, check out our blog at gretawire.com for exclusive information about this show you won't get anywhere else.
3-2-06
On 3-2 the INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA “Indianapolis Star” newspaper reported:
CONVERSATION: A Q&A WITH A PERSON OF NOTE
Holloway's mom brings project to Muncie
Last May, 18-year-old Natalee Holloway disappeared on the final night of a post-graduation trip to Aruba. The Mountain Brook, Ala., girl has not been seen or heard from since.
Her mother, Beth Holloway-Twitty, 45, has appeared on numerous national television shows, discussing her daughter's disappearance.
In January, Twitty, a speech pathologist, started an endeavor geared toward teens traveling to far-off lands. Project "Save Yourself" will come to Muncie today.
Twitty will speak at 5 p.m. in the Ball State University Student Center. The program is sponsored by the Delaware County Sheriff's Department and is free to all area high school and college students. Twitty recently spoke to The Star about "Save Yourself."
Following is an edited transcript of the interview.
Q: Why did you start the "Save Yourself" campaign?
A: We've had millions of people pray and support our family since Natalee's disappearance. I always said I wanted to give something back. This is a way to show our gratitude.
Q: What do you hope to accomplish with your speaking engagements?
A: Our ultimate goal is to provide information to help young people be safe when traveling on their own. This is the time when lots of students will be heading to warmer climates for spring break. I just want them to think about their safety.
Q: Is there a book about Natalee's disappearance in the works?
A: No book, but I'm starting a foundation and a Web site that will provide safety information pertaining to several different popular travel spots. I am just in the beginnings of this. It's still in the construction phase.
Q: How do you want people to remember Natalee?
A: I think the message of what we're doing says it all. We're showing people. We're saying, "Due to our unfortunate experience, we want to heighten the sensitivity of young people when they travel."
Q: What is the best advice you can give to parents of teens heading out alone on spring break or other trips?
A: I think we have to get our sons and daughters to initiate their own safety plan. It's a delicate balance moving from adult supervision to no supervision. We know now that our daughters can't get in situations where they can't defend themselves or initiate free will.
Q: Natalee was an honor student. You trusted her to travel alone. Is there anything you would have done differently?
A: I wish I'd helped her learn the names and numbers of people who could assist her, like Police and other authorities. I wish she could have heard the "Save Yourself" message.
Q: Are there specific tips you relay to teens in your talk?
A: You know, all their lives we tell them what to do and what not to do. This is a time to share a compelling story that helps them be more aware of their surroundings. They hear first-hand that the dangers are just around the corner and just over the borders. One thing they have to learn is to design a safety plan that includes a peer. They have to always tell someone where they are and to not go out alone. Natalee left an establishment without a personal safety plan, without a peer. What if she had done things differently?
On 3-2 FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN posted the following email sent to her “Gretawire” blog:
“Greta,
At first, I thought, this was just teenagers out looking for fun and to meet girls. Joran stated that the drinking age in the states is 21 and in Aruba it's 18. He said most 18-20-year-old Americans are not used to drinking and therefore don’t know their limits. The eye-opener was when Joran said they waited until 12:30 (half hour before closing) to go to Carlos and Charlies. That is when it became obvious that this was so rehearsed and a patterned behavior. Joran stated that he and the Kalpoes didn’t go to school together, didn’t spend much time together, and would hook up to go to the bars. He called them to tell them about the girls from Alabama. They show up at the bar just before closing when the patrons would be in their most drunken state. They separate and scope out their prey. Joran joins up with a girl and purchases her the strongest drinks he can. Satish stands watch and lets his brother know when to pull the car to the front door. As soon as the lights are turned on in the bar indicating its closing time, they quickly escort the girl to the car. She is intoxicated and inexperienced in this situation — completely naïve about the danger of this. This is the perfect set up for sexual predators and without a doubt not the first time they did this.
Can’t wait to see what the second half of the interview exposes.
Pam”
….Another email read.…
“Greta,
This is so disturbing to me, he has total recall from the minute he saw Natalee and that was nine months ago.
Sandy”
….Another email read….
“Greta,
A yard is a beer that is 1 yard in height. It holds about six 12 oz beers. I haven’t had one for years, but when I did I couldn’t help but feel it. If he has a good tolerance and it was a lighter beer (not a Sam Adams) then he should feel at least a buzz. He is lying about that.
Joseph”
….Another email read.…
“Greta, I have to agree with Donna Dean from Florida about Joran's parents being so upset with him... it was totally orchestrated! They were acting! Greta you can be such a Bambi sometimes. Joran and his father have orchestrated this thing from the beginning and every move they make is part of the plan.
N. Grant”
….Another email read….
“Greta,
Not to worry, they couldn't find Natalee so what makes you think they can find you? You go girl...
A. Wright”
On 3-2 the ARUBAAN's news-source "Aruba Tradewinds Times" reported:
1.1 percent less passengers processed at airport in 2005
Less Passengers, More Aircraft Movements
ORANJESTAD-The number of passengers that passed through Queen Beatrix International Airport fell by 7.4 percent in the 4th quarter of 2005 in comparison to the same quarter in 2004. The number of aircraft movements is down by 0.5 percent during the last quarter of 2005.
The decline in passengers in the fourth quarter of 2005 is attributed to fewer passengers from the U.S. Growth from Latin America and Europe remained flat during the 4th quarter of 2005 in comparison to the same period in 2004.
A number of factors that also contributed to the decline in passengers in the 3rd quarter of 2005 remained active throughout the 4th quarter. The unusually high number of hurricanes affecting the U.S., the high price of oil that affects the cost of jet fuel and the negative media publicity in the U.S. regarding the Holloway case are mentioned as factors.
Preliminary year-end figures for 2005 indicate a 1.1 percent decline in passengers processed at the airport in comparison to 2004 and an increase of 0.3 percent in aircraft movements.
…. 9+ months into the investigation, during his March 2, 2006 FOX News interview Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT claimed….
(the interview was actually done in one sitting, but FOX News replayed it over 3 nights. This is part 2)
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: It's part two. Joran van der Sloot tells his side of the story. In part one of our unedited interview, you heard Joran tell in his own words how he met Natalee Holloway at the Holiday Inn Excelsior casino, then later that night, partied with her at a local bar called Carlos 'n Charlie's. After leaving Carlos 'n Charlie's, Joran says Deepak and Satish Kalpoe dropped Natalee and him off at a public beach near the Marriott Hotel, where things got physical, but they did not have sexual intercourse. When Joran wanted to go home, he says he called Deepak to come get him, but Joran claims it was actually his brother, Satish, who picked him up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , CHIEF SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE: I told him, you know, The girl's still on the beach and, you know, she wanted me to stay there with her. And it's — you know, I want to go — I want to go home. What do you do? And he reacted, like, you know, OK, yes, (DELETED) let's go, you know? Let's go fast.
GRETA: Did Satish ever get out of the car when he picked you up?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, no, no. Never. He stayed behind the wheel the whole time.
GRETA: Did you point in the general area where Natalee was?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, I said that (INAUDIBLE) right there, and that — you know, that — you know, he said, yes, let's screw it. Let's — let's go home.
GRETA: So about how far away was Natalee, at that point, from the car when Satish picked you up?
VAN DER SLOOT: Probably 300 yards.
GRETA: So about 900 feet. I mean...
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: ... quite a distance. I mean, at least — I mean...
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, there's — I don't know — I didn't even know it was...
GRETA: So you couldn't see her, basically.
VAN DER SLOOT: No, you couldn't see her. I don't know if it was that far, actually, because you have a road that goes there, along with the beach, where he drove by. And his car is kind of fixed up, and you know, his muffler from this car is really loud, so it made a lot of noise. So that's the first thing I heard when he came with his car. That's the first thing I heard was the muffler from the car making sounds. So I actually — I knew — I knew he was coming.
GRETA: So when you were with Natalee — you were actually with Natalee when you heard the sound of the muffler?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: What did you say to Natalee, at that point?
VAN DER SLOOT: At that point, I was with her still at the beach, and I told her that I had to take her — to take her back to her hotel, that really — she really had to go back to her hotel because I really had to go — I really had to go to school the next day. And she was just, like — she thought that I would stay there with her, and that's what she — and that's (INAUDIBLE) probably what I — what I should have done. That's the one thing that I did — that I did wrong, you know, to leave her there without her — without actually saying I was going to leave her there. And yes, it just...
GRETA: You left without your shoes. How do you — how do you explain that?
VAN DER SLOOT: We walked onto the — on the beach in the beginning, and where we sat down there, then, I had taken off my shoes. And because, when you walk in, it was the exact same shoes that I'm wearing now.
GRETA: Same kind?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, exactly.
GRETA: Or those aren't the shoes?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, no. Those aren't the shoes...
GRETA: Those are the same kind.
VAN DER SLOOT: ... but those are the exact same kinds.
GRETA: All right.
VAN DER SLOOT: The same size, too. And — no, and so when I was on the beach, I had taken them off there, not to get sand into them. And that's where — you know, where we — were we started walking the other way. I always thought we'd go back, and that's where I'd left my shoes. And then the point in the car when we said, You know, we're going to leave, then, yes, we just left and I didn't really care about my shoes anymore.
GRETA: You hadn't realized — I mean, in order to — I mean, to walk that 900 feet that's — you know, you're walking through the sand and a little bit on pavement, where the car is, right?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, it's just sand, and then it comes right to the pavement. So no, I knew I didn't have my shoes with me. That's (INAUDIBLE)
GRETA: It didn't bother you?
VAN DER SLOOT: It didn't bother me. I mean, when he said — I wasn't planning on leaving right away. It was that action that took place there that we're, like, OK, you know, let's go. And then that's when we left.
GRETA: Did you — you didn't say to Satish, Look, I got to go get my shoes?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, that's when — of course, I should have, but no.
GRETA: Did Natalee take off her shoes?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't remember. I think she had sandals on. I don't know. I think she was wearing — yes. yes, she did.
GRETA: She did.
VAN DER SLOOT: She had her — yes, she left her sandals there, too.
GRETA: Did she walk in the water with you?
VAN DER SLOOT: We didn't walk in the water, we walked on the beach the whole time.
GRETA: OK. So you took them off because you didn't want to get sand in, not because you didn't want to get them wet.
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes. No, no, no, because I didn't want to get sand in them.
GRETA: And so it wasn't the least bit peculiar to you that you left the shoes behind and got in the car?
VAN DER SLOOT: Of course — well, of course, it was peculiar, but I mean, it wasn't like — I didn't really care about them at that point. I was — it was more (INAUDIBLE) the conversation moment, like, You know, let's go. Let's — you know, Let's go because he was, like, yes, you know, screw her Let's go home. And I knew if I would have gone back, she would have been, like, again, Let's go — let's go back. Let's stay here — blah, blah, blah. And at that point, when I called him between that, there was actually a point where I'd picked her to — you know, in a joking way, Like, OK, then I'm going to take you back to your hotel, if you don't want to go back. And she said, No, put me down. And so I put her down again. And then I was just talking to her, and yes, I explained to her why I had to go home. And she was, Oh, you know, please stay with me. Please stay with me until the next day.
GRETA: Did you think it was unusual that Deepak didn't come back and pick you up?
VAN DER SLOOT: No (INAUDIBLE) because he was — he told me he was on his computer.
GRETA: What was the — there was a discrepancy at some point - - I mean, there've been a lot of reports. It's sort of hard to figure out what is and what isn't — that at one point, you said Deepak gave you a ride home. And it changed to Satish. Can you explain that? Or is there not a discrepancy?
VAN DER SLOOT: Well, there is a discrepancy there, and I did at one point say that Deepak took me home. But that was at the more point from (INAUDIBLE) we'd always said when we were at our house talking that we'd keep — that we'd keep Satish's little brother out it as much as possible when we'd actually made up the story to say that we dropped her off at the Holiday Inn.
GRETA: Why did you want to keep Satish out of it?
VAN DER SLOOT: I didn't want to. That's what Deepak wanted. He said, yes, you know, whatever, you keep — you know, We'll keep my little brother out of it, and that — yes. That's what we agreed on.
GRETA: So what — you got home about 3:30, is that right? Is that what you told me, 3:30 you got home?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, something like that. I got home a little earlier, but that's when the message that you logged onto your computer, you know, and you went on your e-mail and you went to the Web sites you went to, and yes, that's when all that is registered.
GRETA: Was that — so that was computer to computer? Is that the — it wasn't text messaging to text messaging?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, it was logging onto your...
GRETA: Computer.
VAN DER SLOOT: ... your MSN messenger at home.
GRETA: Did — when you sent that message off to Deepak, did he respond?
VAN DER SLOOT: He did respond, and then I had sent something back to him, and then he didn't respond back again after that.
GRETA: But he responded by computer, not by some other hand-held device or anything like that.
VAN DER SLOOT: No, by — by computer. I did message him. When I got home, I messaged him that I got home. And then he said — and he messaged me back, OK.
GRETA: And then you said what? You sent him another message, which said what?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, that was on the computer afterwards. And then we were on the computer, and then I — you know, I was just, like, Hey, what's up? I logged on there, there to the computer, because I got home. I went into my kitchen to get something to eat and something to drink. And then I was going to go to sleep. And then I just wanted to go on line and check if any of my friends were on line, if anyone to talk to. And yes, that's when I typed something to him. He responded once. I typed something back, and he didn't respond, and then I went off line.
GRETA: Did he indicate — did your computer indicate he was still on line when you sent that second message?
VAN DER SLOOT: Oh, I don't know. I don't know.
GRETA: Because you don't have that ability on your program? It wasn't instant messaging?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, I think he was — he was on line, but that doesn't mean he necessarily was in front of his computer.
GRETA: Right. But I mean, did it say he was on line? I mean, he may not be in front of the computer, but when you sent that second message back...
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes. Yes.
GRETA: ... you thought he was on line, but he never responded.
VAN DER SLOOT: He was. He was. Yes, he was.
GRETA: OK. Did he ever respond to that second message?
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
GRETA: An hour or two hours, three hours later?
VAN DER SLOOT: No. No, because then I — I turned off the computer and I'd gone to sleep.
GRETA: Do you know — do you have any idea what he did after he answered the first message? Did he ever tell you?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, never really talked about that after that. I never got a chance to talk to any of my friends or any of them, really, after that.
GRETA: So you don't know if he went to sleep or he got back in his car. You don't know.
VAN DER SLOOT: No. I mean, I can't say anything that I don't know anything about.
GRETA: All right. So when was the next time you saw Deepak?
VAN DER SLOOT: It was the following night at 12:00 at night.
GRETA: Where?
VAN DER SLOOT: At the casino again.
GRETA: The same casino.
VAN DER SLOOT: No, no, we went to another casino, the Radisson casino, and we were playing a poker tournament that night, as well.
GRETA: Did he give you a ride, or did you meet him there? How did that work out?
VAN DER SLOOT: Oh, he called me and — and — he called me from his work and he's, like, Where are you? And I said, I'm at the Radisson with some friends, because I was there with some friends, playing poker. And he said, OK, I'm coming to you. And so then, yes, he came there.
GRETA: Had you ever hung out with him two nights in a row before?
VAN DER SLOOT: Two nights in a row? Never, really, because he works a lot and — yes.
GRETA: When you met up with him on the night of the 29th, the night going into Natalee's disappearance, when was the most recent time before that you'd spent time with him?
VAN DER SLOOT: The most recent time before that?
GRETA: Yes.
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't remember exactly when it was.
GRETA: More than a week or two weeks? Any idea?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, it was probably a week.
GRETA: So this was — so when he called you the second night, on the night of the 30th, to meet you at the Radisson, that was something different, the two nights in a row where you guys were together.
VAN DER SLOOT: Sorry?
GRETA: That was something different that you guys were together two nights in a row, that he would call you the second night.
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes. I guess so. It wasn't really anything. He just called me, asked me where I was, and I said I was at the Radisson. And that's where he came to. Then when we actually — when he came there, and I just finished up and then we were going to play blackjack at another casino. And so we went outside of the — we went out of the — out of the casino and stepped into his car there. And that's exactly when I got a phone call from my dad saying, There's people here in front of their house looking for their daughter.
GRETA: Up until getting that phone call from your father, did Deepak say anything to you unusual or anything that stands out in your mind?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, not really.
GRETA: Did he act any — any — did he actually like he always acted? I mean, was everything normal?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, everything was. Yes. Actually, no one — no one knew anything. Everyone — everything — everyone just acted normal. I mean, it was just, you know, I went to school the next day. I just went to school, I took — I took an exam that day and I did well on the exam. I went the next day, and everything was just normal. Just nothing was out of the ordinary.
GRETA: But that's for you. I'm just trying to figure out with Deepak, if, I mean, it was unusual that you are with him two nights in a row, that he calls you. And I'm trying to figure out, you know, whether or not he was acting unusual, in your mind, between the time he arrived at the casino at the Radisson and the time your father called. Anything out of the ordinary?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary, no.
GRETA: What was he doing in the casino while you were gambling, between at the time he arrived and the time your father called?
VAN DER SLOOT: He was just standing there, watching.
GRETA: Had you ever been to a casino with him before?
VAN DER SLOOT: Not — yes, one time before that, I think. And just two of my friends over there, as well. They were playing, too, so he was just standing there, watching us.
GRETA: Well, when he arrived at the Radisson, did he come over and talk to you and say, Hi, I'm here?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, he was — he was just standing there watching us the whole time because I was at the table playing. You can't actually go in there and go talk to people. So...
GRETA: Did he nod at you, like, Hi, I'm here? I mean, anything when he arrived (INAUDIBLE)
VAN DER SLOOT: No, at one point, I saw him standing there, and then that's when I noticed he was there.
GRETA: And there was no of communication between the two of you? You're playing, he's standing over at the — wherever he was standing?
VAN DER SLOOT: No. No.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Coming up, a lie takes shape.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN DER SLOOT: We were going to say the girl from yesterday — we were going to say we dropped her off at the hotel. And you know, so if anyone calls you, you know, say that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: But why did they lie? Joran gives his explanation next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRETA: Joran van der Sloot says he left Natalee Holloway alone on a beach some time around 3:00 AM Monday morning. According to Joran, he was gambling at the Radisson casino later Monday night and into Tuesday morning with Deepak when he first realized something had gone wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: So you get the phone call from your father. Were you at the table when you got the call?
VAN DER SLOOT: When I got the phone call? No, we were — I — we'd actually left already, and we were going to the car to go to another casino, and that's when we got that phone call.
GRETA: Where were you planning to go?
VAN DER SLOOT: We were planning to go to, in town, the Excelsior casino there. Or not the Excelsior — the Crystal (ph) casino there.
GRETA: All right. So when you're standing at the car, did he say anything to you all? Did he ask you about the night before? Did he discuss the night before?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, he didn't — he didn't ask me anything.
GRETA: Never mentioned it at all.
VAN DER SLOOT: Never mentioned it at all.
GRETA: Do you find that unusual or not?
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
VAN DER SLOOT: It's just normal.
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: OK. So your father — so what did your father say in the phone call?
VAN DER SLOOT: In the phone call? Yes, he called me and he said, There's people here in front of the house looking for their daughter.
GRETA: Did you know who they meant, who the daughter was, at that point?
VAN DER SLOOT: At the point, when I got that phone call, I was, like, you know, (DELETED) what if it's that girl from last night, you know, the girl from the beach? That was my first reaction.
GRETA: Did you actually say that to Deepak, or did you think that?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, I thought that. And then that's when — you know, when I hung up, I said, OK, we're coming — we're coming home. And so then I — when I hung up the phone, I was, like — I was, like, you know, (DELETED), and I talked to Deepak and then I just told him what my dad just said on the phone. And he was, like — he was, like, (DELETED), too. And then that's when we — that's when we made up a story to say, you know, that we didn't — that we dropped her off at the Holiday Inn.
GRETA: Whose idea was it to make up the story, yours or Deepak's?
VAN DER SLOOT: It was — it was kind of both ours. I mean, I was, like, Oh (DELETED), you know? What if something happened to her? You know, what if she went in the ocean? Or you know, what if anything happened to her? You know, that — you know, that was my first reaction. That was — that was my first normal reaction. And then — yes, so then Deepak was then — he said, OK, I'll call my brother and I'll say that we dropped her off at the Holiday Inn.
GRETA: Did Deepak act like he was trying to help you out or he was trying to help himself out, at that point? You got — do you have any sense of that?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't know. It seemed at that point like he was trying to help me out.
GRETA: That had more of the issue because you were the last?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: Did you have any thoughts that he might know more?
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
GRETA: No thought at all.
VAN DER SLOOT: No, never. Definitely not at that point.
GRETA: All right. So did he provide any sort of encouragement? I mean, in that ride from the Radisson to your house, what was Deepak saying?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, he called his brother and he said — he said to his brother (INAUDIBLE) that, Well, we're going to, you know — we're going to say the girl from yesterday — we're going to say we dropped her off at the hotel. And you know, so if anyone calls you, you know, say that. And then when we got home — I mean, there was — when we got home, there wasn't anyone there. We got home, there was no one there. And then I called my dad, and, like, Where are you? And they're, like, Oh, yes, we're on the way to you, to go to the casino. And then I was, like, OK, but we're at home. (INAUDIBLE) OK, stay there. We're coming to you. So they came back to us. So I saw a van pull up, and a Police car. And you know, they jumped out of the — people jumped out of the car and a whole group came up to us and was, like, you know, What — what happened to my daughter? Where is she? You know, What did you do to her? You know, they — really, you know, screaming, going (INAUDIBLE) Deepak, they were saying, Oh, we're the FBI, telling us they were F.B.I. agents. We saw videotape footage of you and — in the casino with her, talking to her. And you know, just, they were — you know, at that point, you were, like (INAUDIBLE) Oh, you know, (DELETED), like, I have to go — you know, that's why we — that's why we lied. We were, like, you know, under so much pressure, you don't know what to do at that point.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Coming up, two innocent men are arrested.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN DER SLOOT: At that point, you didn't really care about them. You're more caring about — you know, about yourself.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: More of our unedited interview with Joran van der Sloot in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRETA: Joran van der Sloot now says he left Natalee Holloway alone on a beach and has no idea what happened to her. But that's not what he, along with Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, first told the Police.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: On the drive to your house, why do you think you needed to lie? Why did you not think it was enough to say, I left her on the beach?
VAN DER SLOOT: Of course, I — of course, that's what we should have done. I mean, that was the biggest, biggest mistake very, probably biggest mistake of my life. But I mean, at that point, it's just — you weren't — I wasn't thinking that, you know — I probably wasn't thinking clearly, like, something — you know, you're thinking, Oh, something bad might have happened to her, you know? You weren't (INAUDIBLE) thinking clearly. I didn't want to have anything, you know, to do with any of that. You just wanted to get away from it as — you know, as fast as possible.
GRETA: Did Deepak say anything to you in the car, like, you know, What happened to her or Where was she? Did he ask you questions at all?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, not at all.
GRETA: He had no questions of you about — about you and Natalee and where you'd been and what are you doing?
VAN DER SLOOT: No. Not one.
GRETA: Do you think that — looking back at that, does that strike you as unusual or not?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't know.
GRETA: No idea.
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
GRETA: So you arrive home. And now, your father had gone to the Wyndham Hotel to look for you, is that right?
VAN DER SLOOT: I think so.
GRETA: Do you know why he went to the Wyndham and not the Radisson?
VAN DER SLOOT: Because that's — that's where the — I don't know. I think that's where we said we were because that's where the car was parked.
GRETA: So is the Wyndham next to the Radisson?
VAN DER SLOOT: It's a couple hotels farther up.
GRETA: OK.
VAN DER SLOOT: Like, that's where — that's when we were driving. That's where the car was at the point when they called us.
GRETA: So when you arrive at home, you're there first. Nobody else is there. Then the van pulls up. When you're standing there, were you having any conversation with Deepak at all while you're waiting to figure out what's going on?
VAN DER SLOOT: No. I mean, when we — when we got there, it was, basically, the story came up, you know, all out of — all out of itself, you know? It was basically making up a lie, you know, as we go along. I mean...
GRETA: So you hadn't made up the lie about the two black guys and her stumbling. Had you — had you...
VAN DER SLOOT: I didn't make up any of that. I mean, we were there, and they said, OK, well, then let's go to the "Holiday Inn." And you know, we got in the car with — with the Police officers and they went in the van. And then we went there. I mean, that's the only — just — me and Deepak, we didn't get a chance to talk to each other at all about it to actually make up, you know, a story. So it was basically making it up as we go along.
I mean, and we got out — and we got out, and then Deepak said, Oh, yes, there were two security guards there that saw her — that saw her when she got — when she stepped out of the car. And that's what — that's what he told the Police. And I was, like, you know — that's what — now, if you also look back at that, you're, like — I mean, that's — that's horrible. They got arrested and held for 10 days because of this. That's really — I mean, that's something that you know, I can't forgive myself for, either. When I was at the Police (INAUDIBLE) in Noord, I had this — one of the guys was next to me. And you know, he was always happy. He was always singing and talking about his — about his wife and his kid. And I was in the cell next to him. And I was talking to him, too, you know? He was really, you know, a nice guy, and you felt so guilty that it was your fault that, you know, he got arrested. That's something, you know, you feel horrible for.
GRETA: So the story with the two guards who got arrested, or security guards, that was Deepak's story, and you went along with it. It is that essentially right?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, but that's still not — you know, that's not — that doesn't mean anything. I just felt, you know, horrible that they got arrested, too. I mean, at that point, you're really only thinking about yourself (INAUDIBLE) and now you got to tell the truth or you're even more — you know, you're even more screwed. You're more in trouble.
So you know, it was more like, you know, at that point, you didn't really care about them. You're more caring about, you know — about yourself. And you know, when I talked to that guy later on, when he was in the cell next to me, you know, you felt — I felt like — I felt like (DELETED), and I felt so bad because he was really, you know, a nice guy to talk to. He was singing. Everyone else that was there, you know, he was keeping them happy there and telling stories. He was really a — you know, a good guy. He was really a nice guy.
GRETA: Was the story made up — just so I have the right idea. Was that made up when you went back to the Holiday Inn? Is that when the story was made up? Or is that when Deepak said that to the Police?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Coming up: Do the three boys continue to tell the same story to the Police, or does their alliance break?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Now, I think there's a declaration and — correct me if I'm wrong — of the 13th of June. It's in Dutch, and I've seen the translation. Can't read Dutch. But I think that it says that you say that Deepak murdered Natalee? Is that wrong?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Joran van der Sloot answers more of our questions, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRETA: Joran van der Sloot says he does not know what happened to Natalee Holloway but does he suspect that Deepak and Satish Kalpoe do? Here's more of our raw unedited interview with Joran van der Sloot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: So, that was in the middle of the night essentially and you're all driving back to the "Holiday Inn" for you to point out where you last saw Natalee essentially?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: Where are you in the car and where is Deepak?
VAN DER SLOOT: We were in the car with Police. When we were in the Police car I was with him and they couldn't officially do — do anything either. I mean I don't know why they were there because, you know, after someone — you can only do something after someone is missing 48 hours, so really just parents, you know, worried about their daughter that came and were asking questions. That's what it was.
GRETA: How — did you talk to Deepak at all at any time? Have you talked to him about the fact that you guys made up this story like in the days that followed or anything?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, of course. In the days that followed we were at my house. They came to my house probably once ever two days and we talked about it by the pool. And I mean I don't know how many times I said, you know, you know, we never knew it would get this far that she'd be missing for so long. I mean we couldn't know anything like that.
I mean we talked about it too, you know. Should we go to the Police and tell them the truth anyway? We'll probably get in trouble but, you know, I mean we — we thought about that too. I mean it's not like anything bad, I mean.
GRETA: Was either one of you saying, no let's keep to the story? I mean was Deepak saying, no let's keep to the story or were you saying that?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, in the end we had to (INAUDIBLE) you know we have to keep to the story. We thought we were going to be in big trouble.
GRETA: Where was — was Satish part of this discussion or just you and Deepak?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, Satish was there a couple times. One time Deepak came just by himself.
GRETA: What was Deepak saying? Did he give you any more? Like was he — tell me what he was like in those days following.
VAN DER SLOOT: He was just, you know, he was normal how he normally is.
GRETA: Was he worried?
VAN DER SLOOT: Worried, I don't know. You'd have to — you'd have to ask him. I can't answer questions that are — that are, you know, you can ask him about.
GRETA: Did he appear though, I mean like did he appear worried? I mean did you observe him or just anything unusual about him?
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
GRETA: Did he say anything that sort of stuck in your mind at all since then?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, not really.
GRETA: Did he say anything about, you know, adding more to the story? Was he ever suggesting anything?
VAN DER SLOOT: He never suggested adding — adding more to the story. I mean that story we made up that one time is the one we told the Police the first time as well because, yes, I mean we thought about, you know, OK, you know, tell the truth.
But at some point we were like, oh, she probably just went with someone else or probably just ran away and, you know, we never thought something bad, you know, could have happened or might have happened, never, you know.
GRETA: Did Deepak ever say — did you ever confront Deepak about it or ask him like, you know, did you go back or anything like that (INAUDIBLE)?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, I never once asked him. I never once asked him that.
GRETA: Were you ever curious whether that could have happened or not?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, I mean of course like at points like now you're thinking what could have happened. I mean I knew him and he was a, you know, he was a good guy from everything I know then but, you know, at points where you're seeing now that your statements aren't the same that's not something that's normal. I mean I wouldn't know why they wouldn't admit that, you know, his brother picked me up. I don't know why they both wouldn't say that. That's just something that — that for me that's mind boggling for me I mean. And they're saying also that we went to the lighthouse when we never even went to the lighthouse. And, even statements from the security guard that was at the lighthouse said a car never went to the lighthouse at all. I mean that's, you know, that's mind — for me that's mind boggling.
GRETA: After you were arrested, I think you were arrested on the 9th is that right, 9th of June?
VAN DER SLOOT: I think we were — yes.
GRETA: OK, and I think there's a declaration, and correct me if I'm wrong, of the 13th of June. It's in Dutch and I've seen a translation. I can't read Dutch. But I think that it says that you say that Deepak murdered Natalee is that wrong?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, that's not. I never said anything like that.
VAN SUSTEREN: Never said that.
VAN DER SLOOT: I mean, no one, I mean you're talking about it very openly now and, you know, people don't know what it was like in those — in those interrogations where they interrogate you from 8:00 in the morning until 8:00 at night. I mean it's from 8:00 in the morning until 10:00 at night. And, you know, they scream at you. They put pictures in your face. You know they do everything. I mean the Police did everything to try and solve, try and solve this case. They put us under, you know, so much pressure. I mean they tell you, you know, oh yes, remember Deepak and Satish are brothers. They're going to make up a story against you. I mean at some point you go, your mind goes so — so, you know, crazy that you just probably you want to say, "OK, I did something" just so you can go back, you know, to your cell and sleep or it wasn't an easy time at all.
GRETA: Well, I take it, I mean you never said you did it in any of these declarations.
VAN DER SLOOT: No, no.
GRETA: OK, you never said that. Did you ever in any of these declarations say that Deepak did anything wrong?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, I never said anything, that they did anything wrong.
GRETA: Never said anything?
VAN DER SLOOT: Never.
GRETA: Either one of them?
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Coming up "On the Record," does Joran blame the Kalpoe brothers for spending his summer in jail?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VAN DER SLOOT: The reason I was held there also for 90 days was that they wouldn't, you know, they didn't — at the end they didn't come out with a true story either. They didn't say that he picked me up and he dropped me off at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRETA: Up next "On the Record," remember party boat DJ Steve Croes? What was his role in the suspect's lie? And later, what does Joran think about polygraph expert Jamie Skeeters? He has a strong opinion and you're going to want to hear this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRETA: Joran van der Sloot spent nearly three months behind bars while Police interrogated him about Natalee Holloway's disappearance. What did he tell them? And, did he ever say anything that pointed at his friends?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Did the Police ever say to you anything about Deepak and Satish?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, I mean the Police themselves, you know, I think they always felt that we were — we were guilty I think and I still think most of the Police here do think that. And, you know, they will always put — they put so much, you know, pressure on us and, you know, interrogating us for hours at a time, lying to you, I mean coming into the room saying, "OK, we found — we found her body and your fingerprints on it (INAUDIBLE)."
GRETA: They said that to you?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, and I mean what at that point all I could do was laugh because, you know, it's just, you know, I don't have anything to do with that. I mean the part you did wrong was — was leaving a girl on the beach and lying to the Police. I mean that's — you can't go back now and change all that. I can't go back and change any of that.
GRETA: Now, did you ever tell the Police anything about or the interrogators about Deepak or Satish, whether it be true or false? I mean correct it here but did you ever say anything about them?
VAN DER SLOOT: I never said anything strictly bad about that is that what you mean?
GRETA: Yes, did you ever say anything at all to the Police that either A is true or B is untrue now so that we can sort of straighten out what was said in the interrogations and what was not?
VAN DER SLOOT: I mean at one point I even told the Police that Deepak and Satish had dropped me off at my — at my house and that they are the — and they left with Natalee alone.
GRETA: That was false, right?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, of course.
GRETA: OK.
VAN DER SLOOT: But I mean at that — you know, you were like, the Police was telling you, oh yes, Deepak and Satish are trying to make up a story against you. They're trying to get you, you know, they're trying to get you screwed and just at that point (INAUDIBLE).
GRETA: Did you ever say anything back though, anything, anything accusatory about one of them?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, I never said that they — because I don't know. I mean I know what it feels now to be accused of something you didn't do.
GRETA: Right.
VAN DER SLOOT: And right now I can't — I can't say that...
GRETA: I understand that now but I understand that now. But last summer when you were in custody, I understand that now that you feel that way but when you were in custody last summer was there anything that you said about them, whether it's true or false that accused them?
VAN DER SLOOT: That accused them, just, no. I said that they, they dropped me off at my house and that they drove away with the girl, which wasn't true.
GRETA: OK.
VAN DER SLOOT: And, but to accuse them directly, no, I never said anything like that.
GRETA: So you never said that Deepak assaulted her or anything like that?
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
GRETA: Never said that you thought it might have happened or anything like that?
VAN DER SLOOT: No. I mean a lot of things, a lot of — the Police talk to you a lot and off the record too. I mean they turn off the camera and, you know, they keep you in a — in a room and just like it's a very thin room there at the Police station and they'd come in the room and talk to you and, you know, they'd — they'd talk to you for a long time. And they talk to you there off the record too. I mean they did — they even sent special interrogation people from Holland over to come and interrogate us.
GRETA: What day were you released or what — do you remember when it was when you were released?
VAN DER SLOOT: I think it was the 4th of September.
GRETA: Have you had any conversations with Deepak or Satish?
VAN DER SLOOT: I haven't said one word to them.
GRETA: Text message?
VAN DER SLOOT: Nothing. I've had...
GRETA: Phone call?
VAN DER SLOOT: Nothing. I haven't had any contact with them ever since then.
GRETA: Are you curious to talk with them?
VAN DER SLOOT: No. I don't want to talk to them anymore.
GRETA: Why?
VAN DER SLOOT: Because I mean if you — I mean the reason I was held there also for 90 days was that they wouldn't, you know, they didn't — at the end they didn't come out with a true story either. They didn't say that they picked me up and they dropped me off at home.
GRETA: Why do you think they didn't say that?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't know. I mean it could be — it could be that, I mean like I said I'm not — I'm not someone that right now can go and accuse someone else because I lied myself. I mean I can't go do anything like that but it could be a reason that they, you know, they just wanted to go home because I had that same feeling too. I just wanted to go home and go to my family. And I just wanted to, you know, get on — get on with my life, I mean. All that 90 days you spent there was, you know, wasn't easy at all. It wasn't a fun, good time at all and you just want to go home at some point like that. I mean you know you didn't do anything illegal. You know you didn't do anything wrong and you just want to go home.
GRETA: We don't know Deepak and we don't know Satish. How do you describe each one of them?
VAN DER SLOOT: I mean, yes, they're nice guys too. I mean from what I — the times I spent with them they're nice guys too I mean. There's nothing that I...
GRETA: Nothing unusual about them?
VAN DER SLOOT: That I find unusual about them, no.
GRETA: Are you suspicious in any way of either one of them?
VAN DER SLOOT: I mean at one point, I mean of course you start thinking, you know, why wouldn't someone say that they — that they, you know, they dropped you off at home, I mean? I was mad. I mean I was really, you know — one time they put us together in the same room and, you know, we were like, of course you get mad about that.
You get — you get frustrated like why, why won't you tell it? I mean why won't you just come forward and tell the truth now. We always agreed. That's what we agreed on, if something, you know, if it gets so far we have to tell the truth and then to not come out and tell the truth at all.
GRETA: What did they say?
VAN DER SLOOT: They just — either they didn't say anything or they said that, yes, we didn't — we didn't — we didn't pick you up.
GRETA: But they wouldn't say that to the Police, I mean wouldn't correct it with the Police?
VAN DER SLOOT: I mean they haven't. They haven't told the Police that, no.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Coming up, another arrest was made in the Holloway case but party boat DJ Steve Croes was he an innocent bystander or was he part of a conspiracy?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't know the guy. I've never met him before.
GRETA: You don't know this guy?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't know this guy and I never talked to him before in my life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRETA: Three weeks into the Natalee Holloway investigation the two innocent security guards had been arrested and then released. Joran van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers were in jail. Then came a new development. Police arrested an Aruban DJ who worked on the party boat "Tattoo". We sat down with Joran van der Sloot and asked him about Steve Croes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Do you know the DJ for the "Tattoo", the party boat?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, that's another thing that, you know, we talked about that I wanted to talk to you about too. I mean that's — like I even feel, I feel horrible for too. I mean he was just trying — trying to help. I don't know the guy. I've never met him before.
GRETA: You don't know this guy?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't know this guy and I never talked to him before in my life.
GRETA: Do you know if Deepak knows him?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't know if Deepak knew him. All that happened this one day he called me and he said, you know, "I got the jackpot" and I was like "Yes, what happened?" He's like, "Oh, don't worry. I'm going to come — I'm going to come to your house and tell you." And then he came to me and he said that someone had come up to him and said that he saw us, that he'd seen us drop the girl off at the "Holiday Inn" and that he would — and that, yes, if there was anything he'd testify to that to Police. That's what Deepak told me. So, I was like, you know, OK. That's great.
GRETA: So, Deepak was adding to the lie essentially coming up with a corroboration of the lie, the Holiday Inn's lie.
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, you know, he talked to the — I don't know what - - I wasn't there when he talked to Steve Croes. I don't know what went along with him but, you know, he just talked to Deepak and he came, yes, and that Steve Croes ended up saying that he saw us dropping Natalee off at the "Holiday Inn." And they talked for — I mean they held him for ten days too. I mean that's — that's not — that's not fun to be in jail at all. They talked to him for ten days.
GRETA: But he had — but he had lied. I mean they caught him in that lie.
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, and then by that time we changed our declaration already. I mean, I mean he lied, yes.
GRETA: So, I take it that Deepak told you that between May 30th and June 9th...
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: ...told you the story about the "Tattoo" boat. Did you ask him how he knew the guy?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, he told me he didn't know the guy.
GRETA: The guy just spontaneously came up to him?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, at work. That's what he told me. The guy (INAUDIBLE) came up to him at work and told him that.
GRETA: I assume you thought that was odd.
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't know. I don't know. I mean I don't know if that's true or not. I never met the guy before.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Coming up "On the Record"...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't care if someone thinks badly of me now. I mean that's really — I really don't care about that anymore. What I care about is that a lot of stuff that's going on that's just wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRETA: Joran van der Sloot has a major beef with someone and he'll tell you who it is right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRETA: Natalee Holloway has been missing for nine months. For nearly three of those, Joran van der Sloot was in jail. He says it was not any fun but that he learned some important lessons while he was locked up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: What was it like for you in jail?
VAN DER SLOOT: It wasn't, I mean, I mean they treated me really well there when I was there. I mean all the people there were great. Also, you know, the security guards and everyone was really, really supportive, really good but, I mean of course it's not fun to be in jail I mean. You know you don't have your, you know, you don't have your freedom to walk, to do what you want to do. I mean now you take things that you probably took for granted in the past, like you know, I had so much time to just think about everything and think about life and, you know, everything that you were doing that was, you know, not right, that it was, you know, wrong. I mean now those things that you took for granted, just walks on the beach or walks in the park or talk with your friends, I mean, now when I have the chance to do stuff like that it's — I look at it in — in a better way. I mean life's super — super fragile. I mean for the — I mean it's — you know I look at life in a way, different way now and now I just want to live every day, you know, to its fullest and just, you know, see how — how, you know, important life really is. I had a long time to think about what you did was wrong and shouldn't have. You know lying to the Police was — was wrong, stupid, just oh, and you know everything was just, everything that you did, everything that you did, you know, I had a long time to think about all my friends and about my — about my girlfriend. I mean I had a girlfriend at the time too. I mean, you know, you go to — you got to think about all that stuff.
And you're like, you know, what, you know what are you doing? Because it was — it was a normal — it was a normal thing for us to do, you know, go to our friends, go to the beach, talk to American tourists, you know, then go out with them and have a good time and, you know, nothing — nothing ever bad has ever happened. I mean, it's happened probably 20, 20 times — nothing has ever gone wrong. And this is something it's — everyone wants to find out what happened and I think people need to find out what happened for everyone's sake, you know, just to get this closed with and get this moved on with. And I mean I don't care if someone thinks badly of me now. I mean that's really — I really don't care about that anymore. What I care about is that a lot of stuff that's going on that's just wrong. I mean you can't go — you can't go on and boycott an island. I mean that's — you can't. With me that's super wrong. I mean people like Jamie Skeeters who will take a tape, who will tape someone without them knowing and go there and actually — and edit a tape in a way that is someone saying something they didn't say that's — that's sick. That's something you can't, I mean why would you go and set someone up for something, you know? Why would you go and do that? That's not even normal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Thank you for being with us tonight. Now, we promised you we would show you every second of our interview with Joran van der Sloot and that's exactly what we're going to do. Tomorrow night we will show you the final installment. Joran will tell you what happened when he was served with a lawsuit by Natalee's family and he will answer the allegation that he's a sexual predator.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN SUSTEREN: Have you ever been accused by a girl or something, never?
VAN DER SLOOT: Never, never. I mean you can talk to any — any girl I've ever been with and they could say I always treated them in the right way. I mean I never laid a finger on a girl without her wanting to. I've never done anything like that before.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: And check out our blog at gretawire.com for exclusive information about this show you can't get anywhere else. And while you're there, make sure you vote in tonight's online poll. We want to see if this interview has changed your mind about Joran van der Sloot.
3-3-06
On 3-3 the “New York Daily News” “Front Page” section reported: “Meanwhile, the family of Joran van der Sloot, who has been linked to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba, has hired hotshot New York defense attorney Joe Tacopina. The Holloway family hit the van der Sloot's with a civil suit last month when they visited New York to appear on "Good Morning America." Tacopina, who was part of Michael Jackson's criminal defense team and whose clients include Foxy Brown and Bernard Kerik, tells us: ‘Three countries have investigated this disappearance and three countries have not found one shred of evidence that points to Joran. This kid is a victim too. He is an 18-year-old kid and his life has basically been ruined.’”
(in checking TACOPINA’s website, it is interesting that he also lists MILAN, ITALY as the other location for his one other office, yet, hardly anywhere on the website is the ITALIAN office mentioned, nor are ITALIAN cases he has worked on mentioned)
On 3-3 the “International Safe Travel Foundation” reported:
SAFE TRAVELS STUDENT SAFETY CAMPAIGN DRAWS 1,700 IN MUNCIE, INDIANA
MUNCIE, In. – March, 2006 – The nationwide student safety awareness campaign created by Beth Holloway Twitty known as SAFE TRAVELS was presented in Muncie, Indiana March 2nd and 3rd. The two-day presentation was sponsored by Delaware County Sheriff George Sheridan.
“I first met Beth at the National Sheriff’s Association Winter Conference in Palm Springs, California where she made her presentation to sheriffs from around the nation. I had to ask her to come to Indiana and share her story with the young adults in our community,” Sheriff Sheridan said. “We planned her trip to coordinate with Spring Break vacation at Ball State University, and just before our local high schools released for Spring Break.”
Twitty spoke to approximately 1,700 students during her two-day stay. Sheridan also said he was impressed to see how many parents brought their younger children from other schools, even from other counties and cities to hear SAFE TRAVELS. “It was refreshing to see how they were moved.”
Ball State had originally set up 250 chairs, but had to quickly double that number as students and parents alike gathered to hear the SAFE TRAVELS message at the University.
“It is easy to disassociate from a personal connection to a speaker when you hear them on radio or television. I wanted our young adults to be able to have Beth look them right in the eye and teach them how to pre-plan for safety,” the Sheriff said.
Twitty will continue her nationwide safety awareness campaign in Illinois, Ohio, and Arkansas before breaking for the summer. The International SAFE TRAVELS Foundation, a 501c3 non profit foundation established by Twitty to educate and inform the public about traveling safely when they travel internationally, is expected to officially launch the http://www.safetravelsfoundation.org website in June.
On 3-3 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:
Campaign to improve the service level in Aruba
ARUBA – The population must start smiling again. The ministry of Tourism hopes to achieve this with a campaign, in which Aruba commits herself to shine in the rendering of service. That’s a possible way to procure a further growth of the tourism. Every year, three thousand employees in the tourist sector will follow a short training.
The program Aruba su compromiso: excelencia den servicio starts officially on April 1st and is done by the Aruba Management Training Institute (AMTI), in cooperation with the American Freeman Group that runs the promotional campaigns for Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA). The program will cost the ministry of Tourism about 100.000 dollars per year. An extensive media offensive announces and leads the campaign. Aruba wants to improve the level of services. The government and the Trade and Industry have formulated ways to measure the result of the campaign. The four to six week campaigns are for immigration-, customs- and security personnel at the airport and in the harbour, cab drivers, hotel-, restaurant-, and car rental personnel, tour operators, retail personnel, and the public in general. Participation is free of charge and on a voluntary basis, but the heads of service will certainly emphasize the importance of the workshops.
On 3-3 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:
More drugs intercepted in 2005
ARUBA – In 2005, more drugs were intercepted than in 2004, namely 2752 kilos cocaine, including the huge catch of 2040 kilos in October on board of the ship Sea Atlantic. The statistics show 68.6 kilo heroine, 526.6 kilo marihuana and 38 xtc tablets. There were 123 arrests in connection with these catches.
The above information can be found in the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report over 2005, published by the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the American Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In the United States, the American authorities have intercepted more than 100 kilos heroine that came from Aruba. Officials of the American Customs Department at the airport of Aruba that are part of the American Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have intercepted cocaine, heroine, and xtc on a regular basis. Even not considering the big catch on board of the above-mentioned ship, the amount of intercepted drugs in 2005 has increased drastically compared to 2004. 2004 Statistics show 226 kilo cocaine, 16.9 kilo heroine, 91.8 kilo marihuana and 1070 xtc pills.
The US considers Aruba as a storage depot for heroine and cocaine mostly from Colombia. From Aruba, the drugs are taken to the US via cruise ships and the frequent air links. The amount of drugs that reach the US from Aruba is not as big and has not a lot of impact on the market. They realize though that in 2005, due to the bigger chance to be caught at the airport in Curacao, drugs traffickers sought for alternative pick-up point in the region, and Aruba was one. Marihuana is not being grown in Aruba for drugs production, neither is there production of other illegal drugs. The Aruban authorities cooperate with the US authorities for the trying of US citizens that are caught in Aruba with drugs, on US territory.
On 3-3 FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN posted the following email to her “Gretawire”:
“Hey Greta,
Did you know that Joran said today on the Aruban radio that he felt pressured by you to point the finger at the Kalpoes? Well, thought I would send it along to you while I am sitting here waiting for the part two of your interview with Joran. I still believe he is guilty. His demeanor seemed to change right as your questions led him out of Carlos 'N Charlie's. Of course, I have been following the case since the beginning with Scared Monkeys and Blogs for Natalee. I thought you might be interested in Joran's comments he made on the Aruban radio interview today. He will be leaving for the Netherlands tomorrow and I guess it is no surprise that the Police have not bothered to question him again... even though your interview brought out many different points and some changed stories. Thanks so much for all that you do! It was a great interview!
Connie
ANSWER: I heard from another that Joran said I pressured him to point the finger at the Kalpoe brothers. My questions on the interview will indicate exactly what I did or did not do. As an aside, I hope I asked probing questions about the Kalpoe brothers just like I hope I asked probing questions to him”
….Another email read.…
“Hi Greta,
Love your show. I may be mistaken, but it seems to me that Joran, during the first hour of the interview said that he was eating at McDonalds when his father picked him up, then in the second hour, he said he went into the kitchen to get something to eat and drink shortly after he got home. Bad case of the munchies or a bad lie on his part? Also during the first hour, he said he called Deepak about going out the next night and that Deepak said "sure", that he didn't have to work. In the second hour he said Deepak called him from work the next night about going to a casino.
Big Huggs,
Gena and Shawn”
….Another email read.…
“This interview reminds me eerily of Scott Peterson giving his interview after Laci went missing. Both Scott and Joran seem to have all the answers. No one can explain every single event, yet Joran can. Interesting! Very rehearsed! Very coached! Guilty!
Lisa”
On 3-3 ARUBAAN's news-source “A. M. Digital” reported:
Clash Between Police and Texas EquuSearch
This is what we can conclude from a recent statement from commissioner Gerold Dompig in connection with the presence of EquuSearch and Tim Miller in Aruba. The statement indicated that the US organization EquuSearch directed by Tim Miller soon wish to start another search in Aruba. However the Investigative Team in the Holloway case has information that the group (EquuSearch) does not have any intentions to comply with the agreements with the Police of Aruba and that they will neither follow Police instructions.
commissioner Dompig finds that this development will seriously hamper the investigation and the Police will not provide any type of cooperation to eventual search actions by this group.
In view of the above commissioner Dompig wishes to advise those that wish to, or will, cooperate in one way or the other with the activities of EquuSearch, that those activities do not have the approval of the Police, and neither are the responsibility of the Police.
On 3-3 during her brief appearance on FOX News “Hannity and Colmes“ to promote her third-part interview with Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, stated, "I am inclined to believe him” and that “this is an ongoing investigation and a new fact could arise which would change all my views.” Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT after doing her recent interview in ARUBA with him. She admitted that, “I have been ‘snowballed’ before and he may be ‘snowballing’ me now.” She also said that she has learned some new information in the last few days that she is checking out before making the information public.
In GRETA VAN SUSTEREN’s March 6, 2005 response to an emailer to her “Gretawire” blog, SUSTEREN wrote:
E-mail No. 21
Miss Van Susteren,
I almost dropped dead when i heard you say you believed that punk, van der Sloot. He had six months to make up a story. How can you be so gullible? No one else who seen your interview with this punk believed him.
You backstabbed Mrs. Twitty, you should be ashamed of your self, you brainless idiot. You just lost six viewers.
Mr. Santo
ANSWER: I almost dropped dead at your e-mail — to use your words. Apparently you have a potato in your ear. I did not say I believe him. What I said is that I am "inclined to believe him... that this is an ongoing investigation and a new fact could arise which would change all my views." I don't believe anyone until this is solved. No one should. I have my eyes wide open but if someone provides me information that is worthy of belief (consistent with known evidence), I am inclined to believe it but I leave the door wide open in case other evidence points at guilt. That is what I said ("get that potato out of your ear!") Backstabbing arises if I am intellectually dishonest. A criminal investigation is not about picking sides, it is about trying to get the facts. Beth knows that I want to solve this case — but we need to make sure we get the truth, whatever it is. She wants the truth. I want the truth. Incidentally, I have worked hard to help find the facts. Can you explain to me what you have done to help Beth and her family? So far it appears your time on this matter is limited to sending a nasty e-mail? If you can't think of any way to help, let me help you come up with an idea. You could start by helping Texas EquuSearch. They need financial help. Go online to their Web site and contribute
…. 9+ months into the investigation, during his March 2, 2006 FOX News interview Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT claimed….
(the interview was actually done in one sitting, but FOX News replayed it over 3 nights. This is part 3)
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: For the past two nights, you have watched as Joran van der Sloot, who remains a suspect in Natalee Holloway's disappearance, finally told his side of the story. Tonight, the final installment of our interview with him. We did not edit any content of this interview. We are showing you every question we asked and Joran's complete answer to each of those questions. Two weeks ago, Joran van der Sloot flew to New York City. Before he stepped off the plane, he was served with a civil lawsuit. In it, Natalee's parents accuse Joran of sexually assaulting their daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , CHIEF SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE: We talked about it a little earlier, too, about what happened at John F. Kennedy airport, I mean, that I arrived there, you know, to go to do an interview with ABC. We walked out the — I got my bags to walk out of the plane. I didn't know that there was someone on the plane there with me.
GRETA: Didn't know that.
VAN DER SLOOT: No. But they handed me — they handed me a paper. I didn't know what they were handing me. I said, you know, Thanks. And he stepped back and had a little disposable camera with him.
GRETA: Did you see him take your picture?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes. He took two pictures, and I saw him — I saw him take those pictures. And then when we walked out, there were two customs guys (INAUDIBLE) Oh, there he is. And they — yes, they took me and my friend and they put us in the — they put us in this room where we had to wait for three hours while — with no explanation of why they were holding us or, you know, nothing like that. Nothing like that got explained to us. Finally, I saw an older gentlemen walk by and I asked, you know, What's going on? And they said, Oh, yes, we have to wait for a phone call to be able to let you go. And he did — and he finally let me have a phone call. And then, yes, in the end, this Delta woman came up to me and said, you know, When you go out, someone from ABC is waiting for you on the left- hand side. So you know, just go with him. And then she comes back and says, Oh, I can't tell you anything anymore. It's out of my hands. And I walk out there, and there's this — there's this Bo Dietl and this whole group of people with all their — with their cameras and everything. We walk out. I mean, the — he comes up to me and he tries to give me papers, and the guy from ABC threw a jacket over my head and said, Come on, let's go. And so we're walking. He's — he threw the ABC guy on the — on the ground, the producer. He threw him on the ground, with everyone — you know, everyone there watching and filming — filming it. He was screaming, you know, Welcome to America. Welcome to America, you know, Punk, where'd you hide her body? Where'd you hide her body? And you know, he was — he was screaming all that. I think one — at one point, when I saw him throw — throw the producer on the ground, I went to step up. I wanted to know — I was, like, you know, What are you — what are you doing? You can't just throw this guy on the ground. I mean, I didn't know who Bo Dietl was. I mean, I didn't know who he was. But then I was thinking, you know, That's all he wants me to do. He wants me to react to him, to do something to him. And yes, that's all he wanted. That's all it would have taken for them to put just that little piece of video on the whole news, and that would have been it. But I mean, then we went to the taxicab. We put the bags in the taxi. And again, he came, tried to stuff the papers down my jacket. And I took the papers out of my jacket and I threw them on the floor. I mean, I'd already gotten the papers on the plane. And yes, he threw — he threw the ABC producer on the ground again. And then it's just something again — this whole case is about lying. I mean, that's really what it's all been about. Then why would you not — I mean, I've seen — I've seen Bo Dietl on your show and on other shows, too, saying he didn't throw the ABC producer on the ground. I mean, come forward and show the videotape, then, you know? It'll all been about lying. It's all been about, you know, everything like that. Then why would you go on TV and lie about something like that, too? That's just something that — I mean, there were a lot of people there that saw that. The taxi driver saw that. Everyone saw it. The (INAUDIBLE) producer from "Nova" was there, he saw that. I mean, a lot of people saw that happen, too. And that's just something — why would you — if everything's about lying, and what they think they're doing is right, then why would you go on TV and lie?
GRETA: What — one of the things in this lawsuit that you mention is there's the accusation that you are essentially — that you're a — that you're a predator of some sort, that you've had these relationships with three other American young girls that have gone bad. Do you want to respond to that?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, that's something that — everything in that lawsuit is (DELETED). That's something that, you know...
GRETA: That is not true?
VAN DER SLOOT: All those accusations are — nothing in there is true at all. And I mean, they're going to have a hard time. I don't know how they're going to prove that, if nothing of that is true. I mean...
GRETA: Have you ever been accused by a girl...
VAN DER SLOOT: Never. Never.
GRETA: ... or something — never?
VAN DER SLOOT: I mean, you can talk to any girl I've ever been with, and they can say I always treated them in the right way. I mean, I never laid a finger on a girl without her wanting to. I've never done anything like that before ever with any girl.
GRETA: What's the anger management stuff, though? At some point, correct me if I'm wrong, that you were getting some sort of — you know, that — were you going to some courses or classes or something? Was there a problem with that?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, I never went to any.
GRETA: Nothing like that? Never been an anger issue?
VAN DER SLOOT: No. Never. No.
GRETA: That's just all made up?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: Totally — totally fiction?
VAN DER SLOOT: Totally made up.
GRETA: OK.
VAN DER SLOOT: Totally fiction.
GRETA: In terms of the lawsuit, any sort of thoughts on what are going to do about it, or is it too soon?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't know, you know? I mean, it's going to — it's going to — I want to — there's nothing I'd rather do than go there and defend myself against that lawsuit. There's nothing I'd rather do. But I mean, they have — they have John Q. Kelly as their lawyer, and it's going to cost probably $100,000 to go there and defend yourself. It's money I don't have. It's money, you know, my dad doesn't have. It's not going to be easy to — you know, to go there into a U.S. court and go defend yourself. But there's nothing I'd rather do. If I have to get on a plane and go there and defend myself alone, without a lawyer, I mean, I'll go do that. I'm going to go defend myself against that. I mean, those accusations are sick, and I had nothing — I didn't do anything of the kind in there. There's nothing I'd rather do than go there and defend myself.
GRETA: Beth Holloway — what's your thought feeling about Natalee's mother?
VAN DER SLOOT: I mean, like, we — like we talked about before, too, I don't have any — I don't have any bad — I mean, not regrets, I mean, I don't think badly of her. I mean, if my daughter — or I don't have a — I mean, if my daughter was missing, or my brother or my mother, you know, if someone was missing that I loved, and there was some kid with them last, you know, I'd probably feel — and everything's that's here in the media, I'd feel that way, too. I mean, I'd be — I'd be pretty upset, too. But the things — the actions she's taking are wrong. Those are — the things she's doing is wrong. This is something that doesn't belong — this isn't supposed to go through the media. This is something that, you know, a lot of emotions are involved from a lot of people, and this is something that, you know — that should be handled outside of the media. This is something that shouldn't be done through the media. This is something that, you know, if — I've always said — I've always said, and I said it to ABC, too, but they never put it in their piece — that if Beth Twitty or Dave Holloway were to say, Joran, I want to come to Holland and talk to you, I mean, I'll invite them into my house. I'll answer any questions they have. I mean, I'll understand if they don't — you know, if they're mad at me, I mean, I can understand that all. I can understand if they hate me, or they despise me. I understand all that, all. But when I was in jail, I signed the paper for them to come talk to me, and then my lawyers and my parents said, No, you can't — you can't talk to them because they can come out saying anything, that you said anything. And you know, I've always — I've always wanted to talk to them. And I know they might not listen to me, and you know, they don't — they might not believe me. But I'll talk to them and tell them anything they want to know, answer any of their questions, do anything of that. I mean, I think the actions they're taking are definitely wrong, The things that they are doing from outside of (INAUDIBLE) thinking I had something to do with them, that's — I don't blame them for that at all. I mean, like I said, if I was — if I was looking at this from the outside, I'd think I had something to do with it because, you know, a lot of stuff happened that's just weird, that just doesn't make sense, either. But what is important is that the actions, the other actions they're taking, I think, are just wrong. I don't agree with them at all.
GRETA: How do you describe yourself?
VAN DER SLOOT: Myself? I'm just — you know, I'm someone that — I'm very outgoing. I like — you know, I think — I love doing sports. Most important thing for me now is my school. I mean, that's all I have going for me, in Holland. I mean, that's the most important thing for me now. That's what I'm really concentrating on. And yes, I mean, I get along with people really well. I talk to people really well. And you know, I've never had anyone with me that, you know, didn't seem to like me.
GRETA: And your dreams are, at this point, to do what?
VAN DER SLOOT: I'm studying international business management at my school. And yes, my dreams are just to finish that study, and you know, go on with my life. And I just hope this get solved, for everyone, for everyone involved. For everyone's sake, I really hope that this get solved. And like I said, I mean, I'll use every second of the time that I get to talk. I mean, just if anyone knows anything, just please, please go forward to the Police and tell them everything that you know. I mean, it's just so important.
GRETA: What's your theory? What do you think happened?
VAN DER SLOOT: I mean, I'm not going to — I mean, I have 20 of my own theories. I mean, I've thought so many things that could have happened. I mean — but I'm not going to — all people have done is speculate. That's all people have done, and that's wrong. I mean, so I'm not going to go on and speculate and say what I think happened, either.
GRETA: Think it's going to be solved?
VAN DER SLOOT: I think it'll be solved. I think...
GRETA: Why?
VAN DER SLOOT: Because there's — there's — I mean, it has to be solved, for everyone involved. I think Aruba is doing everything they can to solve it, and I think it will be solved. I really believe deep down inside that it'll be solved.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Coming up "On the Record"...
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN DER SLOOT: No evidence at all to prove anything, not to say that she's alive or not to say that something happened to her. I mean, deep down — deep down inside, I don't think — I don't know that she's — she's alive anymore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: More of our interview with Joran van der Sloot. Plus, find out if the Aruban teen plans on talking to the Police again. And later: Did this interview change your mind about Joran's guilt or innocence? Our legal panel is here, and their answer to that question may surprise you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRETA: Nine months ago, Natalee Holloway disappeared. Since then, Police arrested and released seven people in the case, four of whom have been cleared, but Joran van der Sloot, Deepak Kalpoe and Satish Kalpoe are remain suspects in the case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Any way to describe your experience over the last year and this sort of ongoing...
VAN DER SLOOT: Well, it's been — I mean, I was 17. I'm 18 now. It's been, like, a good experience for me. I, you know, look at life in a way — different way now. I mean, I don't take things for granted anymore that I take for granted. And I changed my lifestyle a lot, as well. I mean, I've looked at all this stuff, and I mean, it's just so much (INAUDIBLE) You feel like you have a whole, you know, load on you, as well. And at night — I mean, we've talked before, too, that you say, you know, it seems like you never sleep. I mean, this is part of my life, too. This is something that — you know, it's a big part of my life, and I want to get this case — I want this case to get solved, too, so I can move on with my life.
GRETA: Is Natalee dead or alive?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't know. I mean, there's nothing...
GRETA: What do you think?
VAN DER SLOOT: There's no evidence at all to prove anything, not to say that she's alive and not to say that something happened to her. I mean, deep down — deep down inside, I don't think — I don't think that she's alive anymore. But I mean, there's every — anything — anything could have happened. Anything could have happened. I mean, I really don't know.
GRETA: You had something else you wanted to add.
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes. I wanted to say, like, what a lot of people don't understand is the differences between the actual legal systems, the American legal system and the Dutch legal system. If this would have happened in the States, I would have never ever even been arrested, would have never even been questioned. So I mean, now, at the end, if I look at it, I mean, now that you're playing, you know, (INAUDIBLE) telling everyone exactly what happened, and you know, just trying also to get, you know, people to, you know, listen to what happened, maybe someone knows something. They hear me asking them if they know something, and they come forward. If this would have happened in the United States, no one would have been arrested and no one — no one — they wouldn't have even been able to arrest someone in this case. There's absolutely not any — any evidence of anything, not of any foul play, not of anything like that. There's not any evidence to show that she's alive. There's not evidence to show that something happened to her. I mean, the only — you know, there's not any evidence at all in the entire case. I mean, it's something that I can't — you can't understand yourself, either.
GRETA: When you left her that night, were there any people around who might have seen something? You make the plea for people to come forward. Did you see anybody in the immediate area?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, that's exactly what I said. I mean, there were couples there on the beach. I mean, you know, please, come forward. You know, talk to the Police. There was a couple that walked by when we were there on the beach. I mean, it's not — it's not like it's a deserted beach. It's a crowded area where there's a lot of people. You know, just come forward and talk to the — you know, tell the Police everything you know. It's just very important.
GRETA: Is there any piece of information or any person who you think the Police need to talk about, who they haven't spoken to?
VAN DER SLOOT: No. I don't know — I don't know anything about that. I only know what — what — you know, what I did, what I had to do with, and I can't speak for anyone else. And I don't know anyone else that I think they should go talk to. I don't know.
GRETA: And no other piece of evidence or, like, you know, surveillance or phone calls or e-mails or anything else?
VAN DER SLOOT: No. They have all the surveillance and they have all the phone calls and all the — all that stuff they have. And you know, that's all — that's all been looked by them, as well. (INAUDIBLE) all that's — you know, that can help solve this case is, you know, the person that knows something to come forward and talk to the Police. I mean, it's just important for everyone, so everyone can move on with their life.
GRETA: Are you willing to talk more to the Police, to Karin Janssen, if they ask you?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, I'm not — I'm not going to talk to the Police anymore. I mean, I've — they put me through a lot, as well, you know? And they were trying to solve the case, but I don't trust the Police anymore, either. I don't trust the Police here anymore, either.
GRETA: How about the prosecutor, Karin Janssen?
VAN DER SLOOT: No, I think she has a personal — you know, I don't think — I think she took this case personal from the beginning, and she didn't like me at all. And I mean, you know, I won't talk to anyone, any of them.
GRETA: So how do we sort of move forward, if they want more information from you, if they think that'd be beneficial in some way?
VAN DER SLOOT: I mean, I don't know. I mean, I've told them everything I know, and that's all — that's all I can do. And it's up to them now to solve the case, for them to do everything they can to solve the case so just everyone, you know, this can get solved and everyone can just get on with their life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Coming up: How was Joran treated during those interrogations? And is he bit better his three months behind bars?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN DER SLOOT: If anything, I deserved the days in jail because — just for being so — yes, so stupid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRETA: Joran van der Sloot says he told Police everything he knows about the Natalee Holloway case and will not submit to more questioning. We asked him about his experience being interrogated in Aruba.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRETA: Treated fairly or unfairly by the system here?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, that's — you know, that's a hard question to answer because now that, you know, since you've been — you know, you lied — you lied to the Police, I mean, how can you say — if anything, those days in jail, when I thought about it, I deserved those. I mean, it's all been a learning experience for me, too. If anything, I deserved those days in jail because — just for being so — yes, so stupid, so — you know, just thinking about yourself. And I think, if anything, that, you know, my father being in the legal system worked against me.
GRETA: Why?
VAN DER SLOOT: I don't think — they took it harder on me because of that.
GRETA: In terms of hard, which way?
VAN DER SLOOT: Not treating you, you know, fairly, not treating you in the way they should have — they should have treated you because even the Police did a lot of things that Police shouldn't do during interrogations. I mean, everyone has the view that the Police, you know, treated us in a different way because of that, but that's definitely not the case. I mean, we weren't treated well by the Police at all. I mean, not in any way, not in any aspect.
GRETA: How? Give me an example.
VAN DER SLOOT: I mean, one of the Police officers hit me during interrogations. When he took me out of the room, he said, (DELETED) the cameras, and he hit me. I mean, they would come to talk to me in rooms, you know, when there's no — when there's no cameras and they're not taping everything. They'd come and talk to me, and you know, fill (ph) your whole — almost make you — you know, make you go crazy. You know, they yell stuff at you, say stuff to you and — you know?
GRETA: The interrogation started at what time of day usually?
VAN DER SLOOT: At the beginning. I mean, (INAUDIBLE) the beginning, sometimes they'd interrogate from 8:00 in the morning until 10:00 at night.
GRETA: Under what conditions?
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes, in a room with a videocamera on you and two interrogators in the room.
GRETA: So they'd turn off the camera, and one hit you when they turned the camera off?
VAN DER SLOOT: They'd — that happened one day, when they'd hit me. And when they went back — when I went back to the actual — back to the jail right away, I had the — of course, I had the doctor look at it. I had everyone there, the social worker look at it, and they all saw that and put up their reports. And when I got back to the actual jail there, everyone's, like, you know, What happened to you? And you know, that's something — again, I mean I can understand the Police frustration, too, because, you know, we lied to them, and they don't know what to do next, either. I mean, I can understand that frustration, too, but to go hit someone doesn't solve anything.
GRETA: How badly were you hit? Where — how were you hit?
VAN DER SLOOT: I was hit — I was just — I was sitting in a chair, and I was hit with an open hand across the head.
GRETA: Any other way that you were mistreated while you were in jail?
VAN DER SLOOT: When I was in jail, no. I mean, the people there — that were there in jail with me were also, you know, great. I mean, they were — you know, I got along with everyone there, and I wasn't treated badly there. The guards were — always treated me well. I mean, I wasn't treated there bad in any way, either.
GRETA: Other than the lie about the "Holiday Inn" and the two guards (INAUDIBLE), did you lie to the Police at all?
VAN DER SLOOT: That's what I said to you about that, that Deepak Kalpoe and Satish dropped me off at my house. That's (INAUDIBLE)
GRETA: So two lies, essentially.
VAN DER SLOOT: Yes.
GRETA: Any other lies?
VAN DER SLOOT: Any other lies? No.
GRETA: Know anything else about this?
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
GRETA: Nothing about what happened to Natalee?
VAN DER SLOOT: No.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
3-4-06
On 3-4 DAVE HOLLOWAY stated to FOX News (video HERE)
3-5-06
By 3-5 the “Texas EquuSearch” website had posted on its home page:
IT'S TIME TO BRING HER HOME!
Big wheels keep on turning
Carry me home to see my kin
Singing songs about the South Island
I miss Natalee once again
And I think its a sin, yes
Well I heard mister Joran sing about her
Well, I heard old Joran put her down
Well, I hope Joran will remember
A Southern momma won't let you live it down anyhow
Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet home Alabama
Lord, I'm coming home to you
In Birmingham they love her mother
Now we all did what we could do
Now Arubagate does not bother me
Does your conscience bother you?
Tell the truth!
3-6-06
On 3-6 DAVE HOLLOWAY stated to FOX News (video here)
In GRETA VAN SUSTEREN’s 3-6 response to an emailer to her “Gretawire” blog, SUSTEREN wrote:
E-mail No. 21
Miss Van Susteren,
I almost dropped dead when i heard you say you believed that punk, van der Sloot. He had six months to make up a story. How can you be so gullible? No one else who seen your interview with this punk believed him.
You backstabbed Mrs. Twitty, you should be ashamed of your self, you brainless idiot. You just lost six viewers.
Mr. Santo
ANSWER: I almost dropped dead at your e-mail — to use your words. Apparently you have a potato in your ear. I did not say I believe him. What I said is that I am "inclined to believe him... that this is an ongoing investigation and a new fact could arise which would change all my views." I don't believe anyone until this is solved. No one should. I have my eyes wide open but if someone provides me information that is worthy of belief (consistent with known evidence), I am inclined to believe it but I leave the door wide open in case other evidence points at guilt. That is what I said ("get that potato out of your ear!") Backstabbing arises if I am intellectually dishonest. A criminal investigation is not about picking sides, it is about trying to get the facts. Beth knows that I want to solve this case — but we need to make sure we get the truth, whatever it is. She wants the truth. I want the truth. Incidentally, I have worked hard to help find the facts. Can you explain to me what you have done to help Beth and her family? So far it appears your time on this matter is limited to sending a nasty e-mail? If you can't think of any way to help, let me help you come up with an idea. You could start by helping Texas EquuSearch. They need financial help. Go online to their Web site and contribute
On 3-6 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:
Joran: a veritable factory of lies
I don’t know if Joran is guilty or innocent of what happened to Natalee Holloway, but there is one thing that I have no doubt about: he is a machine who fabricates lies. And another thing I’ve convinced of is that ‘experts’ on Greta van Susteren’s show have a habit of talking for the sake of it, because none of them made the necessary effort to bring forth comparative and valid points. For instance:
1. Joran declared that Deepak and Satish dropped him and Natalee on the beach and then they (D&S) went home, because he called them afterwards on cell phone for one of them to go pick him up, and none of them wanted to. Both Kalpoes stand behind what they said that none of them went to pick up Joran at the beach! And Joran says the contrary! Who then went to pick him up in the wee hours of the morning to take him home?
2. Now, if the ‘experts’ put the contradictory declarations between the 3 suspects next to the declaration of Joran to 4 Police officials on the 13th of June that Deepak went back to the beach, approached the girl and that he believes that he raped and killed Natalee, they have to conclude that Joran is lying greatly and trying to shift the blame onto Deepak.
In my opinion, this movement is an essential part of his strategy, and a fundamental reason (besides the money) for the interviews he is giving. His fear of the truth emerging (of the localization of Natalee’s remains) is forcing him every time to divert attention from him again and again, and sending it directly towards Deepak.
3. The interview with “A Current Affair”. Why would Joran give a series of interviews to radio and television repeating the same lies? Because he lives with the fear that the truth will emerge and that with or without concrete evidence, everyone will point the finger towards him as the guilty party of whatever happened to Natalee.
He, himself, clearly said in an interview on Nov. 26 2005 ‘my worst nightmare is that something bad happened to Natalee and everyone will blame me. It could be Deepak, or Satish…’ This is twice that he wants to shift the attention directly towards Deepak!
Whether Deepak is guilty or innocent, I don’t know that either, but Joran is insisting more and more to incriminate him of whatever could have happened to Natalee! And until now, we have not heard Deepak defend himself publicly of Joran’s insinuations! This also forces us to ask: Why?
Another remarkable thing is that one day Steve Croes (the DJ) is Deepak’s friend, and another day, he doesn’t know him! Joran said that he doesn’t know who is Steve and that he had no sort of friendship with him and that it was Deepak who came with him to give his false testimony that they dropped off Natalee at the "Holiday Inn," incriminating the two security guards unnecessarily. And so the lies and contradictions continue to turn like a tombola in all his interviews.
Personally, none of the declarations that Joran is now making on television and radio has convinced me that he doesn’t know what happened to Natalee.
According to the testimony and evidence that I know of so far, Joran is the last person who was in Natalee’s company the day she mysteriously disappeared.
And Joran confirmed ‘On the Record’ that he doesn’t believe Natalee is alive. That is to say, that he is also convinced that the girl is dead. Because, he always insisted that he left her sleeping on the beach? How does he now believe that she is dead? Because he told the 4 Police officials on the beach that Deepak went back to the girl and that he believes Deepak raped and killed Natalee? If he expressed his thoughts on the 13th of June, how is it that now (8 months later) he comes back to confirm publicly his suspicion that Natalee could be dead?
What’s now missing is an interviewer who knows all the details of the case very well, who is aware of all the declarations of Joran, Deepak, and Satish to the Aruba Police, who knows Joran’s background since he was 10 years old, and knows his sociological profile, to ask him cardinal questions that neither Current Affair, nor Nova, nor ABC, nor Greta were able to ask.
Despite the multiplication of his lies, he was able to handle the interviewers how he wanted, because he has the ability to look the interviewer in the face and without flinching, lie how he deems fit! Greta disappointed me in the fact that she didn’t ask any (follow up ) questions about superficial and well rehearsed answers from Joran, because Greta has done a magnificent job until now of delving deeply in the facts surrounding the disappearance of Natalee.
Again, I am not accusing Joran of nothing other than being a chronic, habitual and pathetic liar. Because he admitted openly of lying does not excuse the duty to reveal the truth that he continues to hide in his box of secrets.
He knows much more than he wants to admit and none of the interviewers has the necessary ability to rip the truth away from him. It could be that he didn’t admit anything to any interviewer, but I noted the absence of an insistent and legitimate effort to arrive at the truth on the part of all interviewers that I’ve seen sit in front of Joran, who gave the impression that he is behind the wheel, that he is the captain who is in charge of the ship, not the interviewer!
Innocent or guilty? This will come forward soon. Meanwhile, his factory of lies continues to produce his harvest of lies, one on top of the other, and was able to create by himself a mountain of lies higher than Hooiberg!
On 3-6 FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN reported on her “Gretawire“:
…
We have recievedmany, many e-mails about our unedited interview with Joran van der Sloot. I am reading them all, but am not able to respond to all of them because of the volume. I spent several hours over the weekend reading and answering e-mails.
After conducting the interview of Joran, I now have some additional thoughts about what should be the next step in the investigation. A good Investigator always knows to keep the door open on many possible scenarios — you should not be married to one theory until a crime is solved. You follow the facts. You also need to be willing to adjust your thinking as the facts warrant. You can think one person is responsible — or not responsible – then get additional facts and discover you were wrong in your original thinking. A week later another fact arises which causes you to refocus back to your original suspect, etc. Bottom line: We all have the same goal: to solve the mystery behind Natalee's disappearance and to get her justice.
If I were the Aruban Police, I would take our two-hour plus interview and compare it to all the other statements given in the case by Joran and others. I would look for inconsistences— not insignificant ones due to time and memory issues, but big ones that undermine credibility. Likewise I would look for consistences and evidence which might corroborate what Joran said to us in the unedited interview. My goal would be to determine if Joran was lying or telling the truth.
I received an e-mail over the weekend from a known and reliable source who said that Aruban Deputy Police chief Dompig said he had not watched Joran's unedited interview with us and said, [lifted quote from the e-mail to me] "these things don't mean anything to us. We have a serious investigation. We wouldn't use it in the investigation. Aruban courts will not use it." If this is indeed Dompig's view, it is a flawed investigative one and should alarm Arubans and anyone else interested in finding out what happened to Natalee. Our interview should be important to Dompig — it will tell him for certain whether Joran is lying (if it establishes inconsistencies with previous Joran declarations and evidence in Police custody) or telling the truth (in which case they need to change the direction of their investigation.)
I hope the e-mail I received with Dompig's quote is wrong — a misquote. If not, this is serious. It would suggest to me that ego is getting in the way. I hope I am dead wrong on this. This is an important investigation. I am hoping that Dompig is just making those statements publicly to distract (in other words for a good investigative reason) but behind the scenes is studying the Joran interview carefully. My guess is that he IS studying the interview. This would be extremely basic investigation — Investigation 101.
On 3-6 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:
Joran van der Sloot:
‘I want to go on with my life’
Jorn [sic] van der Sloot was seen on Fox News for three nights in a row.
ARUBA – His phone continued to ring during the interview. “That’s Larry King calling. He doesn’t understand that I do not want to be in his show. He keeps telling me that this is once in a lifetime.” Joran van der Sloot gave two TV-interviews recently: one with ABC and one with Greta van Susteren (Fox News). He now calls it quits. “I have told my story and now I want to go on with my life. I don’t feel like repeating my story in thousands of interviews.”
He is not satisfied with the ABC interview. “They have cut the things that I thought were important.” The interview with van Susteren was therefore broadcasted in full.
He wanted to tell his story, skip from one subject to the other, and stumble over his words. He wanted to step into the limelight earlier, but his lawyers adviced [sic] him against. “I have nothing to hide and I am of the opinion that I should be able to just talk to people. I talk now because I am angry about everything that had happened, especially with my parents. My father lost his job, people do not want to talk to him, while he is a good person. It’s terrible for Aruba and I feel responsible for that. I feel like an Aruban citizen. I speak better Papiamento than Dutch.”
“Everybody in Aruba supports me. Even the American tourists are nice to me. Most of them tell me that they are not really that stupid to believe everything the media says.”
He gets very upset talking about the Police and the Public Prosecutor (OM). “I will never again say anything to the Police or the OM. I do no longer trust them. A Police officer even hit me. They do everything to make you talk. You have to tell your story one hundred thousand times. When I figured out that they were looking for contradictions, that they wanted to screw me, I decided to stop talking. They had the camera constantly running. Then they turned it off and talked some more. Later they come up with a report with things that I have said.”
Joran says that the Police tried to use the brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe against him.
The Police told Joran that the brothers Kalpoe said that Joran had killed to girl. Later it turned out that they have never said that. “That’s the reason why at certain point I told the Police that the brothers have dropped me off at my house and drove off with the girl.”
He looks forward to the trial in the US. He will be represented by the American lawyer Joe Tacopiña. He will be the defending lawyer in the case against Joran and represent him in TV-show. He is a well-known criminal lawyer that appears on a regular basis in talkshows on MSNBC. Joran says that Tacopiña works pro bono. “Tacopiña doesn’t like the way the case gets blown up and wants to help me. I am of course very happy with that.”
3-7-06
On 3-7 http://joranvandersloot.blogspot.com reported:
Motion To Be Filed
Defense attorney Joe Tacopina is expected to file a motion to dismiss the civil suit against Joran van der Sloot tomorrow. Tacopina will appear On the Record with Greta tonight and most likely make media rounds on Wednesday. Exclusive court documents might be available here. Stay tuned....
On 3-7 MSNBC reported:
DAN ABRAMS, HOST: Everyone else is going to stick around. Related topic here, some people are suggesting or saying that Imette is to blame here. Take some of our viewers who e-mail us. Remember Danielle Abramson said she was a volunteer not a victim. There are a lot of victims but she wasn‘t one of them because of her staying out late and drinking.
Keith M., everyone should be responsible for their actions. She‘s the victim of a crime. That does not absolve her of responsibility.
Most people begin it by saying I‘m not blaming the victim but, like Boston radio host John DePetro who has publicly questioned what Imette was doing drinking at 4:00 a.m. He said anyone who‘s out alone at 4:00 a.m. drinking with strangers is—quote—“asking for trouble.”
My viewers know I believe, you know I believe saying I‘m not blaming the victim but is to blame the victim. And he joins me now, Boston‘s WRKO radio host John DePetro. John, thanks a lot for coming on the program. Appreciate it.
JOHN DEPETRO, WRKO, BOSTON RADIO HOST: No problem, Dan.
ABRAMS: Would you be making the same comments if a young guy was killed after drinking late at night at a bar?
DEPETRO: Well that‘s not what happened here.
ABRAMS: Right.
DEPETRO: I mean I‘m not...
ABRAMS: I‘m asking, would it be different?
DEPETRO: I don‘t think it‘s fair to say is anyone blaming her. I mean I think most people look at this and say she made a mistake and I think there is a difference between a young woman and a young man. There were a lot of people in that bar that night. Why did he target her?
Would he have targeted her if she was on a date? Would he have targeted her if she was with another girl? It‘s seemingly if everything fits together he targeted her because it was 4:00 a.m., she was alone and drunk and seemed vulnerable.
ABRAMS: So what is the curfew for women that they shouldn‘t go—what time should they not go out after?
DEPETRO: Well she was with her friends. I mean there is no curfew and, Dan, this is a matter of common sense. No one—anybody you know can answer that question on their own, but you tell me. Is it safe to go out and walk your dog at 8:00 as the same as it is at 3:00.
ABRAMS: But again...
DEPETRO: This isn‘t a matter of curfews.
ABRAMS: But see, asking those questions now and talking about Imette is not like saying to your kid in private, hey, be careful. It‘s basically saying Imette did something wrong. You are admitting that, right, that you are claiming Imette did something wrong?
DEPETRO: I think she made a mistake.
ABRAMS: Right and that‘s blaming the victim. How else you can characterize that?
DEPETRO: Well, how do you characterize Natalee Holloway who got drunk...
ABRAMS: It‘s her fault, too, right?
DEPETRO: ... and drove off with three guys. I think they heighten their risk for something bad to happen. That‘s what I think.
ABRAMS: And you think it‘s useful, it‘s useful to sit here and talk about what these young women did wrong because, why?
DEPETRO: You don‘t think we should draw attention to this? You don‘t think we should draw more awareness to this?
ABRAMS: Absolutely not. I will not. I will not...
DEPETRO: You think it‘s an act of God, could have happened to anybody any place, any time?
ABRAMS: Absolutely.
DEPETRO: I don‘t believe—no way.
(CROSSTALK)
DEPETRO: Nobody believes that.
ABRAMS: So let me ask you this. All right. So then when someone gets hurt in an accident driving cross-country, right, as opposed to flying, do you say to them why did you drive? Driving is so much more dangerous than flying?
DEPETRO: What about a drunk driver? Do they mean to kill anybody...
ABRAMS: No, but that‘s a different issue...
DEPETRO: ... or hurt themselves?
ABRAMS: I‘m asking...
DEPETRO: Why is it different...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Because drunk driving is illegal. Imette didn‘t do anything wrong. She didn‘t do anything illegal.
DEPETRO: Drunk driving...
ABRAMS: Don‘t compare what Imette did to a drunk driver. It‘s not the same. It is the same to say someone who chooses to drive cross-country because they thought it would be nice to just take a drive, and then you say they got killed in an accident driving across the country. It‘s a lot more dangerous than flying, is that a fair question to ask then?
DEPETRO: No. Dan, you are wrong. Young women are under attack and young women are the target here.
ABRAMS: Drivers are dying...
DEPETRO: ... she was with her friends...
ABRAMS: ... every day on our highways. Why don‘t you ask the same questions of people who drive cross-country? I‘m making a point here.
DEPETRO: Not a fair...
(CROSSTALK)
DEPETRO: You are not.
ABRAMS: I mean, look, just in terms of our debate, I mean you understand the point I‘m making. The point I‘m making...
DEPETRO: Yes.
ABRAMS: ... is that you are unfairly isolating this because she is a woman. And you are basically saying young women shouldn‘t be out drinking, period.
DEPETRO: I‘m not saying young women should not be out drinking, period. I‘m saying they heighten their risk for something to happen when they are alone at 4:00 a.m. and they are drunk.
ABRAMS: Should young black men not go into primarily white bars if there is a concern they might get attacked racially?
DEPETRO: You know it‘s not a matter of what—you know should they, should they not...
ABRAMS: That‘s what you are doing. I‘m saying let‘s not ask should they or should they not. I‘m saying I don‘t care what happened. She is an innocent victim. You are saying we should ask why was she there? What should she have done differently? You‘re the one asking the should you.
DEPETRO: No, Dan, this is—most people‘s reaction is she was with her friends, she was safe then. Women are safe in a group. Women are a target. Young women are a target. You can‘t ignore that. Look at the date rape drugs. They are looking at whether or not she was drugged. It is not the same for a man or a woman. It‘s more dangerous for women and women have to be aware of that.
ABRAMS: And, again, it‘s more dangerous for women to go out to a bar at night?
DEPETRO: No. It‘s more dangerous for young women to be alone drunk in a bar at 4:00 a.m. at night.
ABRAMS: And they should expect that it is possible they will be raped, murdered, have a stock—a sock stuffed down their throat and have packing tape wrapped around their face.
DEPETRO: God forbid no they should not. But I‘m in Boston, which is a big college town and the colleges always warn the young girls about life is different in a big city. Life is different on a college campus. And you cannot just ignore this as an act, random act of God that could have happened to anybody anywhere, 10:00 in the morning, 6:00 at night. No one believes that.
ABRAMS: But when you start talking that way and, look, my problem is when you start using Imette as an example to start talking that way, whether you say I‘m not blaming the victim but or not at the beginning of the sentence, you are blaming the victim.
DEPETRO: But, Dan, look at—one of your guests said that maybe they should name a law after her. I mean why not create more awareness of this. The same way we have more awareness now for children or up here there was the...
ABRAMS: So you want to use Imette as a poster child for what women around America should not do? Fair?
DEPETRO: It‘s not—no. It‘s not use her. It‘s let‘s look at this as what can happen when you are alone and you are a target and it‘s 4:00 a.m. and you are intoxicated. It is different between men and women.
ABRAMS: All right. Let me do this. Let me take a break. John, if you could just stick with us for a minute.
DEPETRO: Yes.
…
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ABRAMS: Coming up, we continue our debate and discussion over whether rape and murder victim Imette St. Guillen should be a lesson to other women about what not to do. I say that‘s crazy. We will continue in a minute.
(NEWS BREAK)
ABRAMS: The question: Should this woman serve as a lesson to other women on what not to do? Don‘t go out late drinking until 4:00 a.m. Don‘t go to a bar by yourself. I have been saying on this program now for days that I find that offensive because that effectively blames the victim. We have been talking with Boston‘s WRKO radio host John DePetro who says that he thinks it‘s an important lesson for people. Fair characterization, John, of your position?
DEPETRO: It is Dan. I mean it takes sometimes an event like this for people to really pay attention and the phrase asking for trouble. I will tell you what. In two months you come up to Boston, we‘ll go to Fenway, you wear a Yankee hat. That‘s asking for trouble. What—the real way to look at this is you heighten your risk for something to go wrong when you put yourself in that position. And when you were talking about driving cross-country, if a woman...
(CROSSTALK)
DEPETRO: ... I have four sisters (INAUDIBLE), if a woman asks me do you think it‘s safe for me to drive cross-country or should I fly? I would say I think you should fly...
ABRAMS: Right...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: But the question is once they died driving cross-country, would you then be saying see, this is why people shouldn‘t be doing this. No, you would show respect to the people who died and you say you know what? This is not the time or the place to be talking about the fact that flying is safer than driving. And I don‘t think this is the time or the place to be saying, oh, well, should women—and in such a sexist and condescending way—should women be out there having drinks at a bar until 4:00 a.m. Let me let you get one more word in, then let me bring in the panel.
DEPETRO: Well the whole thing of heightening the awareness, I mean the family has thanked the media for paying attention to the story and talking about the story. I run a general talk show. Because she is from Boston that‘s why it was being discussed. It‘s not a legal aspect...
ABRAMS: No, this is not...
DEPETRO: ... whoever did this...
ABRAMS: This is not.
DEPETRO: Whoever did this, let‘s be clear, is 100 percent responsible for what happened. But I don‘t think it does, Dan, young women a service to look at this and just look at it as a random act of God.
ABRAMS: Susan, what do you make of this?
FILAN: I think it‘s disgusting. What am I supposed to tell my daughters, my sister, all women everywhere. Look, if you go out and exercise your right to associate freely you have the right to expect to be raped, strangled, murdered, killed, brutally sodomized.
DEPETRO: This isn‘t about rights.
(CROSSTALK)
DEPETRO: It‘s about personal safety...
(CROSSTALK)
DEPETRO: ... and common sense.
FILAN: Why aren‘t we telling the men don‘t you dare touch a woman, don‘t you dare murder. Why don‘t we put them in jail for the rest of their lives or execute them according to the death penalty. But to tell women that if you go out and do whatever...
DEPETRO: Because there are sickos and weirdoes...
(CROSSTALK)
DEPETRO: ... out there and predators.
FILAN: ... murdered, raped...
DEPETRO: Not expect.
FILAN: ... that‘s an absolutely morally reprehensible position.
(CROSSTALK)
DEPETRO: Do you go out alone at 4:00 a.m.?
FILAN: Don‘t make this personal about me. Let‘s talk about...
DEPETRO: All right.
FILAN: ... what you‘re saying. Let‘s talk about the message that you are sending to women. And let‘s talk about the message that you are sending to men. Men, you have the right. You are entitled...
DEPETRO: That is hardly the message.
FILAN: ... you see a sweet young lady in a vulnerable position...
DEPETRO: No one...
FILAN: ... late at night...
(CROSSTALK)
FILAN: ... have at it...
DEPETRO: No one is preaching that.
FILAN: ... it‘s fair game. She put herself there.
DEPETRO: That‘s offensive.
FILAN: It‘s her fault.
DEPETRO: That‘s offensive...
FILAN: You‘re absolutely...
DEPETRO: ... no one said...
FILAN: ... crossing the line in a way...
ABRAMS: All right...
FILAN: ... that I think calls your morality into question.
DEPETRO: You‘re offensive.
ABRAMS: Clint Van Zandt...
DEPETRO: There are criminals and sickos out there. If you want to ignore them and pretend they don‘t exist then that‘s your problem and your daughter‘s problem, but young women need to be warned it is very dangerous. She is 5‘2”, 115 pounds. That is different than a man.
FILAN: So it‘s her fault...
DEPETRO: A man would have a fighting chance.
FILAN: ... sweet little girl it‘s her fault.
ABRAMS: Michael Sapraicone...
DEPETRO: Doesn‘t matter whether it‘s her fault.
ABRAMS: Michael Sapraicone, you wanted to get in.
SAPRAICONE: I‘m not—we don‘t want to blame the victim. We certainly don‘t want to do that...
ABRAMS: It‘s the but—but we don‘t want to blame the victim, but...
SAPRAICONE: Don‘t want to blame the victim...
ABRAMS: But, but...
SAPRAICONE: But in my years...
ABRAMS: But...
SAPRAICONE: ... of experience...
ABRAMS: Yes.
SAPRAICONE: ... working as a detective and going back years ago as an old transit cop, we would have men and women who would go out drinking at night, get on any kind of train, subway system and by the time they fell asleep and got to the last stop had become victims because they weren‘t aware of what was going on around them and because they were intoxicated. So, no, we don‘t want to blame this victim but, again, with the but, we do want to use it as an example.
ABRAMS: But why? Why...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: Why don‘t we use this as an...
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: I have no problem with someone in their home saying, look, honey, I don‘t want you going out late tonight. Remember what happened to that girl et cetera?
(CROSSTALK)
ABRAMS: I don‘t really have a problem with that. I do have a problem with people publicly right now with this family grieving, where we—no one has been arrested yet, that people are already saying what was she doing out so late?
SAPRAICONE: I‘m not saying we should be saying what she was doing out so late...
ABRAMS: Of course you are. You are saying why was she drinking...
SAPRAICONE: What I‘m saying—no I‘m not saying why was she drinking? What I‘m saying is though just like we all have professions and jobs, so do these people who prey on people who are vulnerable, people who are intoxicated, people who are alone...
ABRAMS: Yes.
SAPRAICONE: That‘s their profession. That‘s what they do.
(CROSSTALK)
SAPRAICONE: That‘s what they are looking for.
ABRAMS: I got to tell you, I haven‘t heard about that many cases like this about a woman alone who then gets raped and murdered because she went to a bar until late...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well...
ABRAMS: ... because—I mean, we hear about all sorts of different scenarios whereby people get brutalized in this country and it doesn‘t happen to be an epidemic about women going out alone to bars being a problem.
SAPRAICONE: It‘s not about women going out to bars alone. It‘s about people thinking about what‘s surrounding them and what‘s in their best interest. That‘s what it is about. Because there are predators out there...
ABRAMS: Right.
SAPRAICONE: ... who are waiting for to us make mistakes and that‘s what they prey on.
ABRAMS: All right. I will leave that as a final word. John DePetro thanks a lot for coming on the program. Appreciate it.
DEPETRO: Thanks, Dan.
ABRAMS: Michael Sapraicone, Clint Van Zandt, Gary Casimir, and Susan Filan, appreciate it.
3-8-06
On 3-8 FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN reported in her FOX News “Gretawire” blog “When it rains, it pours. I spoke to Beth Holloway-Twitty yesterday and she told me she broke her leg. On the good side, if there is a "good side" to a broken leg, she is a good sport about it. Beth is a strong person. I am sure that having a broken leg is insignificant when your child is missing.”
On 3-8 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:
Holland will also air Joran’s interview with ABC
This will be on SBS
ORANJESTAD (AAN): After Joran van der Sloot going on American TV and giving interviews to ABC and FOX News Channel, he went on a radio station in Aruba, where the people got the opportunity to call in and ask a few questions.
Joran expressed that he decided to talk because he was tired of hearing that he was a rapist and a murderer, while the American media, along with Beth Twitty, were also accusing Aruba, for the whole matter surrounding the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
After the start of the case, it was difficult to find information about what the suspects would be saying or not saying, now only one of the suspects is talking.
Despite that Joran in the first instance did not show much interest in doing interviews in Dutch TV, because in Holland he was not bothered and was practically not recognized, now, after he did an interview with NOVA, the interview he did with ABC will be aired on the Commercial Dutch Channel SBS.
In the program ‘Show Nieuws’, they will air his interview on ABC in two parts, on Thursday and Friday.
Given that Joran van der Sloot said that the young Surinamese brothers are still lying about him, two questions are raised.
The first question is, when will the Surinamese youth come forward and tell their side if the story; while the other question is, if none of the three youngsters have anything to do with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, why lie now?
Whether it be Joran who is lying or the Kalpoe youngsters, people are asking themselves whether the Public Prosecutor will soon ask that they be interrogated again.
On 3-8 the “AP” reported:
Dutch lawyer moves to toss Holloway suit
NEW YORK - The lawyer for a Dutch youth questioned in the disappearance of a young Alabama woman in Aruba moved on Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by her parents.
Attorney Joseph Tacopina filed papers on behalf of Joran van der Sloot and his father, saying the lawsuit, which was filed in Manhattan, should be thrown out because the case has no connection to New York.
State Supreme Court Justice Barbara Kapnick agreed to hear arguments on the motion on May 17.
Natalee Holloway, 18, was last seen May 30 leaving a bar on the Dutch island with van der Sloot and two friends. Her body has not been found and no one has been charged.
Last month, Holloway's parents sued van der Sloot and his father, Paulus, for unspecified money damages in connection with her disappearance.
Elizabeth Ann Twitty, of Alabama, and Dave Edward Holloway, of Mississippi, say Joran van der Sloot imprisoned and sexually assaulted their daughter and was responsible for her disappearance.
The van der Sloot's were served with a summons while in New York, where the son gave television interviews about the case.
Tacopina's motion papers say the van der Sloot's deny the allegations.
"My clients and I are sympathetic to the fact the plaintiffs do not know the present whereabouts of their daughter," Tacopina said in the papers. However, he says, "neither the plaintiffs' hardship nor the vast media attention" this case has attracted "should serve to prevent the proper dismissal of this case."
The papers say Aruban law must be applied to the case.
Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and Satish Kalpoe, 18 were arrested June 9 on suspicion of involvement in Holloway's disappearance. Joran van der Sloot admitted he was with the teen but denied any wrongdoing. All were released.
Tacopina said Joran van der Sloot had returned to school in Holland and his father was home in Aruba.
A lawyer for the Holloway family did not return calls for comment.
On 3-8 JOE TACOPINA told MSNBC
COSBY: Well, the prime suspect in the Natalee Holloway case is now fighting back big time, making a filing of his own through some attorneys. Now, remember, the parents for the missing Alabama teen slapped Joran van der Sloot with a civil lawsuit during a trip to New York three weeks ago. Now, the 18-year-old has gotten a lawyer of his own and he's just filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing in part that the state of New York has absolutely no interest in this matter. This case belongs in Aruba, period. LIVE & DIRECT tonight is Joran van der Sloot's American attorney, Joe Tacopina. He also represents the van der Sloot family. You know, you argue, Joe, that it doesn't have any place in New York. What do you base that on?
JOE TACOPINA, JORAN VAN DER SLOOT 'S U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, two things, Rita. Fact: There is not a single nexus to New York State. There's not a witness who resides in New York. None of the parties reside in New York. The instance alleged in the complaint didn't occur in New York. There's absolutely no basis for there to be any litigation in New York. There's no subpoena power from New York State courts to bring people in from Aruba. I mean, I could go on, and on, and on. That's the fact. Then I base it also on the law. The law is very clear in the state of New York. The motion we filed that the judge granted a stay in the proceedings this afternoon, to sort of proceed first and foremost with this threshold issue, Rita, which is the motion to dismiss this complaint on what they call a forum non conveniens. There's five steps. The highest court in the state of New York has laid out five factors. You need to meet just two of them on balance. We meet all five, in the sense of getting this case dismissed. And it's really as simple as that.
COSBY: Now, Joe, you know, why do the motion to dismiss versus just respond to the allegations? You think you can get it thrown out outright? Or why not take the chance and respond and say, “Look, this is ridiculous”?
TACOPINA: Well, that, you know—we may, Rita. Look, I'm not taking a victory lap here. I'm not presuming we're winning. I mean, you know, this is a litigation. They have their position; we have ours. I think I'm right. I'm sure John, who is a very good lawyer, thinks he's right. You know, if there comes a time where we have to answer the allegations, the merits, believe me, there is absolutely no concern about doing that. I mean, quite frankly, the facts alleged in this complaint, that start, you know, where the first charge in the complaint is on page 12. The first count, if you will. But these are imaginary. I mea, there is absolutely no witnesses who will come into court and put life to those words in that complaint. So I'm not concerned about it. And look, again, what we're saying is this belongs in Aruba, period. That's where all the witnesses are. That's where the transaction that is in dispute, and legally that's what it's called, that's where it occurred. And, again, this is not to try and deprive the Holloway family of doing what they think they need to do to resolve this mystery. I just hope there comes a point in time when, after all these months of looking only at this one individual, that, you know—and realizing not a stitch of evidence has arisen that points towards him at all, you know, forensic evidence, witness evidence, all this investigation that's been done, Rita, I just hope that people heed the advice and start looking elsewhere, because, you know, I want them to get closure. And I'd also like this to be resolved.
COSBY: But, Joe, Joe, and we literally have, literally, 10 seconds, but you understand their frustration, because Joran had made some inconsistent statements and lied. Don't you understand this poor family?
TACOPINA: Oh, I absolutely do. And Joran has copped to that in his interviews. He's an 18-year-old kid who said, “I know I caused this problem for myself,” but it doesn't make him guilty of what they're saying. We have Les Levine, who's an Investigator. He's involved in this case. We'd love to help them resolve this, because, let me tell you something, I want to get the monkey off this kid's back. And we, you know, quite frankly, hope and pray that this family gets some peace.
COSBY: And we all do hope for that. Joe, thank you very much.
On 3-8 “Forbes Money Magazine” wrote “The lawyer for a Dutch youth questioned in the disappearance of a young Alabama woman in Aruba moved on Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by her parents. Attorney Joseph Tacopina filed papers on behalf of Joran van der Sloot and his father, saying the lawsuit, which was filed in Manhattan, should be thrown out because the case has no connection to New York. State Supreme Court Justice Barbara Kapnick agreed to hear arguments on the motion on May 17.”
On 3-8 CNNHN reported:
PAT LALAMA, GUEST HOST: OK, to tonight`s "Trial Tracking." A legal showdown in the
Natalee Holloway missing girl case. Lawyers for the family of chief suspect Joran Van
Der Sloot respond to a civil suit Holloway`s parents recently filed against them. The Van
Der Sloots ask for a delay of proceedings, and the response challenges New York state
Supreme Court as the jurisdiction of the case since Holloway disappeared on a trip to
Aruba. The Holloway lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
3-9-06
On 3-9 FOX News reported:
Motion to Dismiss N.Y. Holloway Lawsuit
NEW YORK — The lawyer for a Dutch youth questioned in the disappearance of a young Alabama woman in Aruba moved on Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by her parents.
Attorney Joseph Tacopina filed papers on behalf of Joran van der Sloot and his father, saying the lawsuit, which was filed in Manhattan, should be thrown out because the case has no connection to New York.
State Supreme Court Justice Barbara Kapnick agreed to hear arguments on the motion on May 17.
Natalee Holloway, 18, was last seen May 30 leaving a bar on the Dutch island with van der Sloot and two friends. Her body has not been found and no one has been charged.
Last month, Holloway's parents sued van der Sloot and his father, Paulus, for unspecified money damages in connection with her disappearance.
Elizabeth Ann Twitty, of Alabama, and Dave Edward Holloway, of Mississippi, say Joran van der Sloot imprisoned and sexually assaulted their daughter and was responsible for her disappearance.
The van der Sloot's were served with a summons while in New York, where the son gave television interviews about the case.
Tacopina's motion papers say the van der Sloot's deny the allegations.
"My clients and I are sympathetic to the fact the plaintiffs do not know the present whereabouts of their daughter," Tacopina said in the papers. However, he says, "neither the plaintiffs' hardship nor the vast media attention" this case has attracted "should serve to prevent the proper dismissal of this case."
The papers say Aruban law must be applied to the case.
Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak Kalpoe, 21, and Satish Kalpoe, 18 were arrested June 9 on suspicion of involvement in Holloway's disappearance. Joran van der Sloot admitted he was with the teen but denied any wrongdoing. All were released.
Tacopina said Joran van der Sloot had returned to school in Holland and his father was home in Aruba.
A lawyer for the Holloway family did not return calls for comment.
On 3-9 the DUTCH news-sourced "Expatica" reported:
Judge asked to dismiss Holloway lawsuit in NY
AMSTERDAM — A lawyer for Dutch youth Joran van der Sloot and his parents has asked a judge to dismiss the civil case filed against them in New York by the family of missing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway.
State Supreme Court Justice Barbara Kapnick agreed to hear arguments on the motion to dismiss on 17 May, US media sources reported on Thursday.
Lawyer Joseph Tacopina argues the lawsuit against his clients refers to a case that has no connection to New York. All the people involved in the lawsuit are non-residents of the state and the causes of the case arose in Aruba.
Natalee Holloway, 18, disappeared last May while she and her friends were holidaying on Aruba to celebrate their graduation from school. Joran van der Sloot, now was the person last seen with her on the night she vanished.
He and two of his friends were held in custody for weeks and questioned about her disappearance. They gave contradictory accounts of their time with Holloway but consistently denied harming her. The three young men were eventually released without charge and Joran van der Sloot returned to the Netherlands.
Holloway's parents are convinced Joran van der Sloot is responsible for their daughter's disappearance and they have spearheaded a campaign to find the truth.
The van der Sloot's were served with notification of the civil lawsuit when they came to New York for an interview with broadcaster ABC.
On 3-9 ARUBAAN's news-source "Bon Dia" reported:
Superior Court rejects attorney Carlo’s demand
Penal investigation against Joran van der Sloot is not closed
ORANJESTAD – Last Monday, attorney Carlo started a case in which he asked the Superior Court to close the penal case against his client, Joran van der Sloot.
For this case, a judge from Curacao traveled to Aruba, in which Mr. Carlo as well as the representative of the Public Prosecutor widely debated in court. Treatment of the case took place behind closed doors, which made it difficult for Bon Dia Aruba to cover it. However, an investigation conducted by Bon Dia Aruba shows that Mr. Carlo, among other facts that there is no new developments in the investigation, argued that they have to close the penal investigation against Joran van der Sloot.
Tuesday, the Superior Court handed down the sentence in Curacao and yesterday, the verdict was finally known. Bond Dia Aruba has understood that the Superior Court denied Mr. Carlo’s demand. This means that the Superior Court is not closing the penal investigation against Joran van der Sloot.
On 3-9 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:
Judge denies attorney Carlo’s request to declare Joran van der Sloot no longer a suspect
ORANJESTAD (AAN): Wednesday, the judge’s decision became known, in the case which attorney Carlo brought forward, representing Joran van der Sloot.
Attorney AntonyCarlo started a case a few weeks back, to request that the Public Prosecutor declare that his client Joran van der Sloot is officially no longer a suspect in the case of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, or to instruct the Public Prosecutor to set a period of time within which they have to start a case against his client.
Both petitions were denied by judge Smid of Curacao.
3-10-06
On 3-10 the "Aruban Boycott Blogspot" reported:
Dear Mr. Holloway:
It was nice to speak to you again yesterday. I appreciate M.A. putting you in touch with us. Please find attached, our report on Joran’s “Primetime” interview. The report covers most of the relevant issues, but, Joran was deceptive on many additional issues. We are always available to discuss the full analysis and answer any questions.
In both the Current Affair and Primetime interviews, Joran deliberately spends a lot of time getting into the specific details of the early and middle parts of the evening. He is then quickly passing over “the beach” period and moving to more comfortable subjects like what happened the next day.
We must get him to go through the minute by minute, location by location, timeline of what happened from the moment she got in the car and, supposedly, to the beach and how the evening ended.
As we discussed, we are also relatively skeptical about the idea that everything/anything took place on the beach or that it was the primary crime scene. Joran had big reactions to discussions about his house, the lighthouse, and the area where the “sharks” would be. The likelihood of one of these areas also being a crime scene cannot be ruled out.
I believe you should ask any media who are going to interview Joran or the Kalpoe brothers, to very specifically focus on the details of going to the “beach,” and what happened at the “beach,” and what happened after they left the “beach.” Personally, I believe Joran continues to point us to the “North” or “shark” part of the island to find Natalee. He has been very consistent and show high emotions in speaking on this subject. I think he believes that if people look up there she will be found and quit asking him. Again, this is a personal opinion.
Based on this report we should, also, have reporters zero in on the issues of his “hurting” Natalee and “seeing her in distress.” LVA analysis clearly shows he is deceptive on these two important questions. Also, feel free to pass it onto any authorities or media who may want a copy. If you have any questions about the report, have any questions about Joran’s statements not covered in the report, or want to catch up on any other issues, please don’t hesitate to call me 24/7. Again, it was good to catch up with you yesterday. Please let us know what else we can do to help. As always, you, Beth and Natalee are in our thoughts and prayers.
John Taylor
Vice President
Layered Voice Analysis Report on Interview of Joran van der Sloot
File: Joran van der Sloot on ABC’s “Primetime”
Report Date: February 28, 2006
By: V
980 North Michigan Avenue
Suite 1400
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Contact: Richard D. Parton, Ph.D.
President and CEO
LVA Definitions:
LVA 6.50 analyzes statements and places them on a TRUTH spectrum output that indicates the statement’s distance from 100% mathematical accuracy. The further down the LVA spectrum the statement falls, the further the statement is from the complete truth.
This spectrum runs as follows:
TRUTH – NOT SURE – INNACCURACY – PROBABLE FALSE – FALSE STATEMENT
LVA software also has a DECEPTION spectrum output. The further down the DECEPTION spectrum the statement falls, the higher the indication the subject is being deceptive.
This spectrum runs as follows:
NO DECEPTION INDICATED – INCONCLUSIVE – INC+ (HIGHLY SUSPECT FOR DECEPTION) – DECEPTION INDICATED
Use of the above terms, from the TRUTH and DECEPTION spectrums in ALL UPPER CASE letters represents the data outputs of the LVA software.
Use of these terms in lower case letters indicates the LVA analyst’s findings based on the data outputs, training and experience using LVA.
While the definitions of these LVA indications have very specific meanings as qualified by a variety of data factors, for the purposes of this report standard dictionary definitions of the above terms are sufficient to accurately convey the meaning of these LVA indications.
LVA Data Outputs:
Joran’s statement indicates heightened use of IMAGINATION throughout the interview.
Reporter asks, “You were not courting her, you were not pursuing her?”
Joran responds, “Not at all, not at any point.” (LVA Segment 49)
LVA Analysis: INACCURACY / HIGHLY SUSPECT for DECEPTION
Reporter asks, ”Were you trying to get Natalee drunk?”
Joran responds, “Not at all.” (LVA Segment 57)
LVA Analysis: INACCURACY / HIGHLY SUSPECT for DECEPTION
Joran explains, “I told Deepak to drive to the lighthouse.” (LVA Segment 92)
LVA Analysis: INACCURACY / HIGHLY SUSPECT for DECEPTION
Joran claims Natalee said, “No, no, no, I don’t want to go to the hotel.” (LVA Segment 122)
LVA Analysis: PROBABLE FALSE / DECEPTION INDICATED
Reporter asks, “Was Natalee more drunk than you’re letting on?”
Joran responds, ”No, not at all.” (LVA Segment 274)
LVA Analysis: INACCURACY / DECEPTION INDICATED
Reporter asks, “Did you harm Natalee Holloway?”
Joran responds, “No.” (LVA Segment 303)
LVA Analysis: PROBABLE FALSE / DECEPTION INDICATED
Reporter asks, “Did you see Natalee Holloway in distress?”
Joran responds, “No.” (LVA Segment 305)
LVA Analysis: INACCURACY / HIGHLY SUSPECT for DECEPTION
Joran states, “There is not one girl who will ever come forward and say something like that, because it’s just not true.” (LVA Segment 444)
LVA Analysis: INACCURACY / DECEPTION INDICATED
Reporter asks, “Have you ever gotten a girl drunk, so, you could make advances on her?”
Joran responds, “No, never.” (LVA Segment 446)
LVA Analysis: INACCURACY / HIGHLY SUSPECT for DECEPTION
LVA Analysis:
LVA analysis of Joran van der Sloot’s statement, the ABC’s “Primetime” interview by reporter Chris Cuomo, indicates that Joran provided deceptive and/or inaccurate answers on the relevant questions throughout the interview.
In the above results on relevant segments of the interview relating specifically to his involvement in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, LVA analysis consistently indicates that Joran van der Sloot is deceptive and/or inaccurate in his statements:
Joran indicates inaccuracy or deception in many statements related to Natalee’s state of mind and/or level of intoxication.
Joran indicates inaccuracy or deception in many of his statements related to his level of interest in Natalee and his description of her pursuing him throughout the evening.
Joran exhibits stress and high tension in discussing his house as it relates to his intentions to take Natalee there. Joran indicates deception when saying that Natalee didn’t want to return to the hotel. Joran exhibits excitement in discussing his intention to have sex with Natalee.
Joran exhibits extreme stress in discussing his conversations with Deepak in the car the evening Natalee disappeared. Joran indicates inaccuracy when stating that Natalee wanted/agreed to go to the lighthouse and shows high stress when he mentions not going to the lighthouse.
Joran indicates inaccuracy when stating that he has not taken advantage of other girls and used alcohol to help his efforts.
Report Conclusions:
LVA data outputs and analysis indicate Joran van der Sloot is deceptive and inaccurate in his account of the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
LVA data outputs and analysis indicates Joran van der Sloot is deceptive and inaccurate in his account of the role he played in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
Joran indicates PROBABLE FALSE / DECEPTION INDICATED and INACCURACY / HIGHLY SUSPECT for DECEPTION data outputs on the relevant questions about ‘harming’ and ‘seeing Natalee in distress’ respectively. These responses are not consistent with truthful and accurate responses and deserve the greatest scrutiny.
Joran van der Sloot should be considered a suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
3-11-06
On 3-11 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:
Now it’s Mariaine Croes who is heading the Natalee Holloway case
Gerold Dompig left for Holland along with Public Prosecutor’s PR (public rep)
ORANJESTAD (AAN): Information we have received indicates that this weekend, Gerold Dompig along with the public representative from the Public Prosecutor, Mariaine Croes left for Holland.
The reason is the case of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway where they will go look for and bring some data that finally Holland will send a Dutch ground with some more specialized dogs than EquuSearch has to Aruba to look for some trace of the body of Natalee Holloway.
This means that Police believe that Natalee Holloway died in Aruba.
The question arises as to what exactly the reason is for Mariaine Croes’s travels.
Although not official, we have found out that Mariaine Croes will head the group that left for Holland and likewise will give information and attend all meetings in this case along with commissioner Gerold Dompig.
This is strange because the chief prosecutor is the one who heads the case, and perhaps if the chief prosecutor could not go, the attorney general could go in her place.
However, the mother found that her daughter would represent the public prosecutor better than the chief prosecutor, and then Mariaine Croes is the one who will go to Holland.
There are times where you hear comments on the street that the public prosecutor is being directed by a mother with children is more reason to give those who think this good reason.
Perhaps this will not be the reason, if they take us to court again, but what else to think?
We will remain aware of what comes out of this and when this delegation comes back from Holland, see what the results of this meeting were.
3-12-06
On 3-12 TRACY ALLEN stated to FOX News:
MEGYN KENDALL, HOST: You have a timeshare at the Marriott, you had an experience where you were accosted. You were out in the morning looking for shells?
TRACY ALLEN, ARUBA TOURIST WHO CLAIMS SOMEONE ATTEMPTED TO FORCE HER INTO HIS CAR ON May 24, 2005: Yes, I walked towards the fisherman's hut, I was walking on the beach, there was a car running, there's a picnic structire there on the beach... the car was running with lights on, some of the fishermen drove on the beach to load their boats. As I passed the picnic structure there was a man, it was little odd to me. The next structure is wind surfing shop, I walked there ..as I walked past the windsurf shop, the gentlemen had pulled his car around and walked to the beach and was preventing me from going to the hotel.
KENDALL: Okay, and what happened after that? This guy had on only a shirt and nothing else, correct?
ALLEN: Yes, a shirt, that's it. He said I'm not going to hurt you, that alarmed me. Then he started to try to back me towards his car and tried to grab my arm couple of times. The firshermen were in my sightline, I didn't know if they could see me though.
KENDALL: What time of day would that have been?
ALLEN: 6:45 a.m. He was blocking my way when I tried to pass, the fisherman were there, this gentleman, I decided there would have to be a physical struggle if he continued to try to back me towards his car. I'd back up towards the water so the fishermen could see me.
KENDALL: Did you report this incident to the Police?
ALLEN: I did report right away, I was with him about 4 minutes trying to diffuse the situation, he got agitated, threatened me and went to his car...I went to my hotel. The Police came out that day, I gave my statement, they said it's the wrong detective. The Police have not contacted me and I got information from the Holloway family that this man has been spotted....they turned over his license to Police, nobody has contacted me.
KENDALL: Not the F.B.I. not ALE have done anything about it correct?
ALLEN: I'm hoping someone catches this man, he's dangerous.
KENDALL: David Koch is joining on the telephone from Aruba. The big news this week is Joran's interview..have you seen it.
DAVID KOCH, LAWYER FOR CURRENT SUSPECT DEEPAK KALPOE : I've seen that interview and also others that he gave on other TV stations. First of all I was surpised he did that, but it's his judgment call. Although somethings we are not in agreemnet with because they simply are not true.
KENDALL: The biggest discrepancy, was what happened after Joran and Natalee were left at the beach, but the boys split stories when it comes to how Joran got off that beach. He said he called Deepak who then sent Satish. Your clients deny it, why should anybody believe your clients?
KOCH: You should ask the Q in another way. why would anybody have to belive Joran...Deepak and Satish after they were arrested, they told the same story while it took Joran several stories to admit he stayed behind with Natalee.
KENDALL: Jamie Skeeters, an Investigator has Deepak Kalpoe on tape saying Natalee was a slut, she had sex with all three of those boys, the authenticity of that tape has been questioned. Skeeters says he stands behind it.
KOCH: We have forensic lab reports indicating in the States as well as HOlland that the tape has been manipulated,...just for him saying he stands behind the tape, is not realistic.
KENDALL: Dompig has lent some credence to Skeeter's story, Dompig has said the tape is in pristine condition.
KOCH: Those parts that he refers to, it's been proven beyond any doubt that its' doctored.
KENDALL: How can you doctor him saying she's a slut?
KOCH: I'm more referring to the sex, it's not that all the tape is doctored, but just some crucial parts, especially the part where he supposedly says they all had sex with Natalee.
KENDALL: You admit he called her a slut?
KOCH: The way she dressed was not appropriate is what he was suggesting.
SPILBOR, DISCUSSION PANELIST: When he says part of the tape has been doctored...I guess that's good lawyering on his part I guess, but not very honest.
KENDALL: The part that doesn't get him in trouble legally is ok, but the part where he says they all had sex with her they claim is doctored.... That admissing is significant...that evidence of him being willing to make those comments, tell those lies that are so callous.
KENDALL: It may be that the Police will take a harder look at the Kalpoes...meantime Joran is facing a civil suit in New YOrk...you think it doesn't have any merits.
SPILBOR: It has no legs. Zero...there's no jurisdiction, no subject matter jurisdiction either...nothing this should fall flat. Procedurally it will fall flat, should it fall flat? NOW WAY...are there merits....ABSOLUTELY. You may or may not believe Joran, but it's a civil suit. All the jury needs is a preponderence of the evidence...
KENDALL: On the merits, this claim is not wrongful death it's for sexual assault, the Investigators got an admission from Joran that she was fading in and out of consciousness and that he had sex with her...let's assume Beth Twitty can get evidence to prove that.
SPILBOR: A jury would buy that, then she could get a judgment, it was very smart not to claim wrongful death. He seems like likeable kid but I dont believe him.
SPILBOR: He lied about the sex, 17-year-olds just don't care about condoms.
Summation of FOX News TV program “The Big Story” on 3-12: (Thank You and Hat Tip to “Jacqueline”)
Woman comes forward with story that she was accosted in aruba just days before natalee went missing.......
(what took her so long???)
Is there a sexual predator.
woman says she was assaulted 5 days before n went missing.
Tracy Allen: has timeshare by marriott.
i was walking towards the hut, i noticed a car running, with lights on, and as i was walking, i thought it might he one of the fishermans cars.
as i walked to wind surfing shop, man got out of his car and prevented me from going back to the beach. wearing a shirt. he said i am not going to hurt you, and then he started to back me towards his car, tried to get me in his car. the fisherman were about 30 ft away. it was about 6:30 am in the moring. I knew they could see us, there would have had to be a struggle for him to get me in his car.
did your report this?
I did report it to Police right away, this happened for about 4 minutes, he got agiated and threatenend me. i ran back to the hotel. they called the Police. they sent one detective. so far the Police have not contacted me and i got info from tim miller saying this man has been spotted and they turned his name over to the authorities. he is dangerous, still out there and he will probably assault other people.
Satish attorney:
kock:
I have seen the interview and other s of joran. first of all i was surprised he gave them and some of the things he said are simply not true.
I think , why would anyone believe joran over the kalpoe bros.
it took joran a couple of stories to admit he stayed behind. there is no indication to believe joran over the k2 bros.
Jaime: claimes to have deepak on tape saying she was a slut and they all had sex.
your position?
No, we have no forensic lab reports stating that the tapes have been doctored, it has been proven beyond any doubt that there are some parts that have been doctored.
i am refering to the sex part, not the case of it being doctored in all of it. especially part of it about sex. but he did say the way she dressed was not appropriate.
Summation of FOX News TV program “The Big Story” on 3-12: (Thank You and Hat Tip to “San”)
David Kock on the Phone:
Kendall asked have you seen the interview and what was your reaction to it? He has seen the interview and also other interviews he gave on other TV stations. He was surprised that he decided to do that but that was his judgment call.
Kendall said one of the biggest points of discrepancy between JVDS and the Kalpoe brothers appears to be what happened after Joran and Natalee we left at the beach there is no dispute that the Kalpoe’s dropped him off at the beach. There is no dispute that the Kalpoe brothers dropped the two of them off at the beach together but the boys split stories when it comes to how JVDS got off that beach. He says that he called Deepak and asked for a ride and Deepak sent Satish to come picked him up and that how he got off. Kendall said your clients deny it. Kendall said why should anybody believe the Kalpoes over JVDS at this point. KOCK: said well I think you should asked the question in another way no? I mean why would anybody have to believe JVDS above the Kalpoe brothers from the third day since they were arrested after beginning telling the story that Joran told them changed and separately told the exact same story while it took Joran a couple of stories for him to admit that he say behind with Natalee on the beach so I mean there is really no indication to believe Joran on top these two brothers.
Kendall said David let me ask you something else in this case. Jamie Skeeters an Investigator claimed to have Deepak Kalpoe on tape saying Natalee was a slut saying that she has sex with all three of those boys that night. Deepak questioned the authenticity of that tape but Jamie Skeeters stands behind it. Your position on the validity of that tape and your clients alleged remarks. KOCK: said no they have forensic lab reports in the States as well as in Holland indicating that the tape has been doctored. KOCK: said you know just a simple statements that he stands behind the tape I mean that is not really a realistic standpoint to take. Kendall said well but the chief Investigator Gerald Dompig in Aruba has lended some credence to Jamie Skeeters story that the tope was delivered to him in pristine condition. Do you still dismiss that tape was completely doctored and nothing on there was legitimate. KOCK: said no no I’m not saying noting on it no but I mean those parts those parts that he refers to I mean it’s really been proven beyond any doubt that those parts of the tapes have been doctored. Kendall said how do you doctor a remark by Deepak Kalpoe saying Natalee was a slut she dressed like one and acted like one. KOCK: said well he was more referring to having sex with him then like he said it’s not the case that all the tape has been doctored just certain really crucial and very important aspects of it especially the part if they had any contact or any relations with the girl. Kendall said so you admit that he called her a slut. KOCK: said he said she something in the reference of that the way that she dressed was not appropriate you know nothing else.
3-13-06
On 3-13 the "Aruban Boycott Blogspot" reported:
This was brought to my attention recently from a Natalee Holloway forum member in which Jossy shared some facts and personal insight via email with a member of that forum:
Facts from Jossy:
The Kalpoe brothers, contrary to Joran, are heeding their lawyers and assuming a very low public profile. Steve Croes has faded from the public eye and little is known about his present whereabouts.
Deepak Kalpoe is staying home after he quit his job at the Internet café, and Satish is continuing his studies. The mother, Mrs. Ramirez has gotten a new job in a Security company and is about to start working.
If pushed far enough by Joran, Deepak may start to talk in his own defence, and may reveal important facts about Natalee's disappearance. Diario will talk to the Kalpoes including the Mom, a person on the beach that night is talking, Joran is in deep doo doo! And, that is about all I can figure out.
Jossy's Personal Insight:
Of course Greta turned on Beth and Dave, for some reason I cannot comprehend, but has made me lose respect for her"
"I agree with you that Greta must have made promises not to press for certain answers in order to get the interview. This does not speak well of her, for she traded the truth for ratings."
Regards, Jossy
On 3-13 TACOPINA told FOX News that he is not working for free for Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , and is being paid by Former Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT , members of the Murder Suspects VAN DER SLOOT family, and supporters of the Murder Suspects VAN DER SLOOT’s (TACOPINA had previously claimed he was working pro-bono). TACOPINA also claims when the civil suit against him and the ARUBAN Police investigation are over that it could be arranged for Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT to appear on the FOX News TV program “The No Spin Zone” to be interviewed by BILL O’REILLY.
Starting on 3-13 FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN started reading a 6-9 statement made by Current Murder Suspect DEEPAK KALPOE to the ARUBAN Police Investigators into NATALEE’s disappearance. FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN stated that FOX News has obtained 1000’s of pages of case-related documents--most of which are written in DUTCH--and FOX News is having them translated into English. Here is the complete 6-9 statement of Current Murder Suspect DEEPAK KALPOE that FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN read parts of on 3-13, 3-14, and 3-15 (Thank You and Hat Tip to the "Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community" forum):
I was informed by you that I was not obliged to make a statement even though I am aware of that I am still prepared to make a statement. I have previously made a statement about what happened on the day in question. My statement will be no different than the statement I made then. I have forgotten details. I will try to remember as much as possible. I must inform you that I was approached a few days ago by a (person) called Steve. Steve told me he had seen us in May 30, 2005 when we dropped the girl off that night. His telephone is xxx-xx-xxxx.
On May 29, 2005 I received a call just before the closing of the company where I work from Joran. I was working we close at about 22:00 hours. I presume that Joran called me at 22:50. Joran asked me if I was working the following day. I said I had to work the following afternoon. He then asked me if I wanted to accompany him to Carlos & Charlies as he had met some girls and to the meet them again at Carlos and Charlies. I agreed and told him I would pick him up later. I drove home just before 23:00 hours. I ate something at home and talked to my bother Satish. Then I vacuumed the carpet in my car. My younger sister Angela was all ready asleep. My mother was not home she was at work. The man who my mother is married was also at work. While eating I asked Satish if he wanted to come along to Carlos and Charlies. When I was done vacuuming I took a shower slightly before midnight. I drove to Joran's house. Joran lives at Montanja. He lives in his own apartment. We, Satish and I, went inside at Joran’s as he was not yet ready. He was busy finishing an assignment. We were inside Joran's apartment for about 15 minutes. Then we drove to Carlos and Charlies. I parked my car back in the parking lot of Carlos and Charlies facing the wall. We got out and walked to Carlos and Charlies. It was then about 12:30. We went straight to the bar. Joran bought drinks for us. We didn't discuss what we wanted as he all ready knew what we wanted. He bought three yards with whisky and coke. The stage is a raised floor where people dance. We stood there looking on. I guess there were about seventy people present or more perhaps. We stood there chatting amongst ourselves the three of us. A little later, I guess three or four minutes, Joran was called by a girl by a movement of her hand. Judging by the way girl was dancing she was pretty drunk. Joran had indicated signaling by hand that he did not want to go over to her. After the song was finished the girl waked over to Joran. The girl walked swaying to Joran. I could see that it was a pretty girl. I saw that the girl was talking to Joran. I heard that they were talking about dancing. I saw Joran laugh and saw him reply to her. I couldn't hear what Joran replied. I looked around and didn't follow their conversation. A friend of mine came walking over to me. His name is Ali. I don't know his surname. He used to be in the same class with me at the middle school. Ali stood and talked to me for five to ten minutes. Ali then walked away. When I turned around Satish and Joran were no where to be seen. They hadn't told me where they were going. I looked for them briefly couldn't find them. I was briefly in the rest room. I was not patient enough to keep looking for them. After I left the rest rooms I looked around a bit. I went to the bar and passed the glass area where souvenirs of Carlos and Charlies are sold and walked outside. When I walked outside I heard the announcement that it was the last chance to buy alcohol. That is always announced before closing time. I walked to my car. My car was the only car parked behind in the parking lot. I went and sat in my car to wait for Satish and Joran.
I had no more phone credits to be able to call them. I had the car door open. I was listening to the radio and adjusted the volume. The door on the right side opened and I looked up and saw it was Satish and sat down next to me. Then the back door opened. Joran got into the car. He got in on the right side. The girl also got in on the left side. She sat behind me in the car. I greeted her. I said hi to her. She greeted me back and said her name. I immediately forgot her name. I didn't mind she was sitting in my car. It was not the first time I had girls that were on holiday in my car and dropped them off at their hotel. I looked in front of me again and I asked Joran in Papiemento what were going to do. Joran answered in Papiamento “drive around.” I backed out left the parking lot and then drove by Carlos and Charlies. I had the radio in the car really loud. In order to understand each other we had to raise our voices. During the two times we drove around Carlos and Charlie I hadn't spoken to the girl. I had only spoken to my younger brother. When I wanted to drive by Carlos and Charlie for the third time I saw a Police van on the corner. I wasn't wearing my seat belt and therefore changed direction. I decided instead of making a right to make a left in the direction of (chose a name). When I turned left I was crawling as there was a row of cars in front of me. As we were crawling along the girl put her head out the window and shouted something. I didn't understand what she shouted. I looked in the direction she had shouted. I saw a group of people standing both boys and girls. There were more than ten people. I presumed that the people heard her. One of the boys reacted and walked back towards us. I heard the boy say “What are you doing? Are you crazy? Get out of the car.” She didn't want to get out though. I didn't react. I continued on crawling along and stopped the car past the crosswalk. I did that because I thought it was better that she went with her friends and not to have any problems. After all, the friends didn't want her to go with us. In response to your question as to what problems I thought of I can only make the following statement: The problems in which I'm now caught up in. People would think she went with us against her will. She was after all drunker than before. I thought she talked too much. She talked pretty loud. I couldn't understand what she was talking about. I said to her in English that if her friends thought it was better for her to go with them then she should go with them. She said I could also drop her off as I had a car. When I talked to her I turned down the radio a bit otherwise I would have had to shout at her. I then drove on. I turned on the first street after “Choose a Name” [the name of a bar]. This street leads to Main Street. I turned the volume of the radio in the car up again. When I arrived on Main Street at the crossing I turned left towards the main road. At the main road I turned towards Royal Plaza. I was planning to drop the girl next to her friends anyway. When I arrived where he friends had been standing earlier they were no longer there. It was then about 1:20 AM. I then asked in general in English what were going to do. She said in English she wanted to see the sharks at the lighthouse. I assumed she wanted to see the lighthouse. I didn't think anything else. I drove at a speed of seventy to eighty kilometers per hour an hour towards the lighthouse. I know that because its a habit of mine to look at the speedometer. I drove along the main road towards the lighthouse. On the way I looked in my rear view mirror and saw that Joran and the girl were French kissing.
That was in the neighborhood of the old Hooters. I looked repeatedly in the rear view mirror for traffic. The times that I looked they were French kissing. They weren't constantly kissing as I also heard talking. When they were kissing I just thought it was Joran’s girlfriends and thought nothing much of it. I drove only on tarred road. I am careful with my car and do not drive on roads with many holes and bumps. It was the first time I had driven to the lighthouse with this car.
At the lighthouse I followed the tarred road. This leads you past the restaurant back again past the lighthouse. I already drove slower. Just before I passed the restaurant I said in English this is the lighthouse. Nobody reacted. I looked at the back of the car and saw that Joran and the girl were French kissing again and Joran had his hand under the girls dress. I think it was his left hand. I didn't find it unusual. I had this type of thing quite often with my friends who brought girls along in my car. I immediately looked in front of me again and gave Satish a what should I do look. Satish said in Dutch to drive on. All of this happened in the vicinity of the lighthouse. I saw that there were two cars parked at the lighthouse. A green colored jeep with four doors. I think open roof soft top it looked like a Suzuki Vitara, and a white, four door car. I drove slowly down again. Once I passed the hills I increased my speed again to between seventy to eighty kilometers per hour. In this section where there is no street lighting Joran said very loudly that the girl had fallen asleep. I looked in the back and saw that she was really sleeping. I asked Joran in Dutch, “How is this possible?” I told Joran to wake the girl up and ask her where she was staying so I could drop her off. At that moment I was very tired. After I asked Joran where the girl was staying it took a while, a minute or two, before Joran told me she staying at the "Holiday Inn" hotel. To make sure I repeated "Holiday Inn." Joran said to me yes. Satish also asked "Holiday Inn." After this I picked up speed to about ninety kilometers per hour. The exhaust pipe on my car makes a lot of noise. I had a slight head ache. The faster I drive the more noise it makes. I turned into the first street that leads to the "Holiday Inn." At the "Holiday Inn" I stopped under the roof in front of the lobby. I stopped my car under the roof of the most easterly lane of the two lanes that lead past the lobby of the aforementioned hotel. The roof is supported by columns thus divided into two.
She was sleeping. Joran woke her up. I think Joran said to her we were at the hotel. She got out. I didn't see that. I heard something fall. Then heard Joran saying in Papiamento “(Expletive), she fell.” Joran got out through the same door where she fell to help her. That was the right back door. I saw the girl on the ground. I saw Joran help her. I saw the girl turn around and push Joran against my car. I heard her say something to Joran. I couldn't hear what she said to Joran. The radio was by then softer; volume was at number nine or so. Joran looked surprised. She walked away towards the lobby. I did not see her enter the lobby. I saw that she leaned with one hand against a pillar. By then Joran had gotten back in the car and was sitting behind Satish. In the lobby I saw a man walking towards the girl. I saw he had a radio in his left hand. I presumed he was talking to someone over the radio because he held it close to his mouth. It was a dark skinned man. He was fairly tall. He was wearing a black t-shirt and black pants. I started to pull up slowly. I saw there was contact between the girl and the dark skinned man. Contact in the sense of verbal contact. I didn't see the man touch the girl. The man was standing very close to her. I assumed she was in good hands when I drove off. She was pretty drunk when I dropped her off. I guess it was about 2:10 AM when I dropped her off at the hotel. I took the shortest route to the main road. I drove straight to Joran’s house and dropped him off there. It took me about fifteen minutes. I guess it was about 2:25 AM. After dropping him off I went straight home. It took me about fifteen minutes. Joran doesn't live very far away from me. Satish went straight to bed. I turned on the TV in the living room. I also turned on the computer in my room. I went in and out of my room. I watched a little TV and then worked on the computer again. I stayed up at least an hour after I got home. I made a phone call after I got home. After that I didn't talk to anyone until I woke up I woke up around 14:00 hours. I didn't have a girlfriend and never had one. In response to your question as to whether I felt the girl up?: “No.” I didn't see Satish feel her up either. On the way to the lighthouse and from the lighthouse to the hotel I didn't stop anywhere. The windows of the car were closed and the radio was turned up loud.
3-14-06
On 3-14 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:
Former Air Holland executive before the judge
The trial of the former directors of Air Holland Cees van Dormael and Paul Gruythuysen has begun in Rotterdam. They are suspected of laundering more than 10 million guilders in drugs money at the beginning of this century.
Three years ago, the Dutch charter company caused a stir by being first in the world to introduce budget flights on the long-haul.
The lawyers of the suspects have asked for a respite in order to hear more witnesses and suspects. The judge allotted 9 days for the case.
The drugs money that was put in the needy company belonged to a Surinamese cartel that dealt in XTC-tablets and cocaine. The millions were invested in the company that had a lot of financial problems. The injection of millions of guilders didn’t help, because Air Holland went bankrupt in 2004. The OM considers financial director Gruythuysen as the brain behind the money laundering. The directors deny knowing anything about the drugs money.
When Air Holland started with the flights to Curacao three years ago, the then member of the board of directors, the Surinamese Normann Kleine, was the general manager. He was never considered a suspect in the money laundering operation, neither Edward Heerenveen who went to work for the Curacao establishment, Air Holland Travel, in October of that year. Heerenveen is now busy starting the airline company Insel Air that will fly on inter-insular and regional level.
With her budget flights, Air Holland conquered in short times a place on the market in Curacao, Aruba, and St. Maarten. The existence of the company was supposed to be guaranteed with the expansion of these flights. According to the then management, the Antilles was very important for the pre-existence of Air Holland.
On 3-14 FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN reported in her “Gretawire”:
Back to the Beginning
We have obtained copies of all — at least we are told it is all — of the statements made by Joran van der Sloot, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe while in custody last summer. The statements are in Dutch and we have begun the process of having them translated into English.
Monday night, we presented part of Deepak's first statement — the one Police say, per the documents, he made to them upon his arrest on June 9. Note that the statement is not signed (he declined to sign it until he spoke with his lawyer about it), but the Police say it is what Deepak said to them that first day.
We expect to present more of the June 9 statement on tonight's show and then the rest of the June 9 statement on Wednesday. We will then either move on to his next statement made while in custody or present the first statements of Satish and Joran. Like Deepak, Satish and Joran made many statements — beginning with their June 9 arrests. How we present them is a decision to be made by my producer. We have hundreds and hundreds of pages of statements from the three and from others the Police spoke to during the first few months, so it is a challenge to decide what to do with them. What the statements do give us is the inside track on the investigation — not just what was said, but the direction the Police were taking, etc.
The interrogation statements are important in that they allow Aruban Investigators to compare and contrast each statement with statements made at later times by the declarant or allow for comparison to statements made by the others. You should expect minor inconsistencies among the statements — no one has a perfect memory. In fact, you should be suspicious of "perfect" memories. Investigators instead look for significant differences. Significant differences show lies... and provide clues. Also, in studying the statements you should consider that they were made while in custody and the age and experience of the declarant.
When an investigation hits a wall — and it seems that this one has — a good Investigator goes back and starts over. You need to re-look at everything. You need to start with a fresh slate — without fixed ideas. These statements are extremely valuable in that they are a history of the investigation. But, it is likewise important to continue to consider all other possible theories. In starting over, you really start over... with an open mind.
On 3-14 ARUBAAN's news-source "Bon Dia" reported:
Wants to obtain documents of penal investigation against Joran
Court doesn’t want to hand down verdict yet in the case of Mr. Paul van der Sloot vs. the Government
ORANJESTAD – The Court from Curacao wishes to obtain more information on the case, especially that of Joran van der Sloot, before making a decision in the case of damages for prejudice brought forward by the van der Sloot family against the Government.
In an exclusive interview with Bon Dia Aruba, attorney Swaen, who is Paul van der Sloot’s lawyer, made it known that the judge from Curacao, who represents the Court, made an interim decision in the case.
Mr. A. Swaen, who represents the five members of the van der Sloot family in the case, explains that after he convinced the judge from Curacao, who represents the Court, that not only Mr. van der Sloot but also the whole family could file for damages for prejudice, on the 13 and 30 of January of 2006 the case was dealt with in Court. The final word was that this month would yield a decision, however it now turns out that there is an interim decision.
Mr. Swaen explains that the judge demonstrated that during the treatment of the case there was a discussion between the Public Prosecutor and Mr. Swaen whether the Court has to obtain all documents of all plaintiffs. The conclusion among the parties was finally that the very limited documents which Mr. van der Sloot presented to the Court would be acceptable.
On the part of the Public Prosecutor, it was demonstrated that the judge will be able to obtain all documents of the case investigation which will be finalized in March 2006 and when the Public Prosecutor will take a decision about the penal prosecution.
The judge found that it would be desirable to obtain this information, given that one of the plaintiffs is Joran van der Sloot, who still has a pending penal investigation. This means that Joran’s position, in the case of damages for prejudice, is different compared to the other members of the van der Sloot family.
The judge wishes to obtain more information, that is to say, documents of the penal investigation against Joran, in order to be able to determine the claims made. Mr. Swaen demonstrated that different claims were presented to show the damages that the family has suffered.
The judge’s decision means that the Court has given the Public Prosecutor time to deposit all information and said that there will be a verdict on May 1st. Mr. Swaen indicated that he also will have to obtain all these documents and also has a right to react to them if he wishes to do so.
On 3-14 FOX News reported that a “new search team” (not affiliated with “Texas EquuSearch”) has landed in ARUBA with advanced search equipment and the team will be conducting a search of the “California lighthouse” sand dunes suspected area for NATALEE’s remains.
On 3-14 FOX News BILL O’REILLY reported that for the recent FOX News interview of Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT that FOX News “paid him nothing.”
3-15-06
On 3-15 the “Central Bank von Aruba” website reported:
The Aruba Tourism Authority has recently published tourism figures up to and including November 2005. Data on December 2005 and January 2006 have not yet been published.
The available information shows that in the months August, September, October and November 2005 the number of stay-over visitors dropped by 7.8 percent, 8.7 percent, 9.1 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively, compared to the corresponding months in 2004, while their nights spent on the island decreased by 6.5 percent, 4.7 percent, 7.9 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively.
On a cumulative basis for the year up to November 2005, the number of stay-over visitors and their nights spent on the island rose by respectively 1.2 percent and 1.3 percent, compared to 13.5 percent and 11 percent during the corresponding period a year earlier.
The occupancy rate in the months of August, September, October, and November 2005 went down by 0.5 percentage point (to 83.7 percent), 6.4 percentage points (to 69.1 percent), 2.8 percentage points (to 79.9 percent) and 2.5 percentage points (to 79.5 percent), respectively. In January 2006 the average occupancy rate of the hotels fell by 3.6 percentage points to 82.3 percent.
On 3-15 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:
More money to marketing and promotion of Aruba
ARUBA – In order to combat the decline in the tourism, Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association (Ahata) will spend an extra 1.2 million dollars in marketing, said Otmar Oduber (AVP), chairman of the Parliament-committee Tourism. “Instead of cutting costs, the government body Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA) should also invest more in marketing and promotion.”
According to Oduber, the month January showed a tourist decline of 4.3 percent compared to last year. The decline has to do with the Natalee Holloway-affair. The Parliament-committee had a meeting with representatives of Ahata recently.
Oduber says that it is a good idea that, same as all other government services, also the ATA gets 6 percent less on the budget in relation to last year. “Experts within the ATA say that an extra 7 million dollars is needed to reverse the declining situation of the tourism. The measures that Ahata is taking show that the private sector is willing to cooperate. We need extra money now for more marketing and promotion.”
Where is the action plan established by the Strategic Communication Task Force and ATA? This action plan was supposed to be sent to minister Edison Briesen (MEP) of Tourism and Transportation a month ago. Briesen would then forward it to Parliament.
The Parliament has sill not received the plan though.
Oduber praised the work of Ahata. According to him, the members of the committee were pleasantly surprised with the work of the security-committee of Ahata that supports the Visibility Team in the hotel zone as well as in the town-centre. The committee also appreciates the work of the milieu-committee of Ahata. According to Oduber, it’s more than necessary that this committee devotes herself to reversing the decay of the beach and sea quality.
On 3-15 the "Aruban Boycott Blogspot" reported:
FACT:
KLM confirmed that on June 1, 2005, Flight KL0783 had three van der Sloot's on board. They arrived in Aruba 5:15 PM.
LIE:
VAN DER SLOOT: And yes, so my dad had come with me. And halfway through, he — because my mom at the time was in Holland, halfway through, he had to go back home to my little brother because he was home alone.
FACT:
There are no FREE Texas-Hold'em Tournaments in the "Holiday Inn" Excelsior Casino, as Joran stated. In fact, the tournaments have $25 buy-ins. The Tournament on Sunday's starts at 4:00 pm, and you cannot substitute players at any time.
LIE:
Joran stated that he and his father were there together at this tournament and Paulus had to go home because his little brother was home alone (which you see from above is a LIE). Joran then stated he took his father's spot in the tournament, which would be considered 'substituting players' and that is obviously against tournament rules.
More revealing lies coming soon to a computer near you...
On 3-15 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:
Islands: ‘Don’t make maintenance of law and order the responsibility of the Kingdom’
CURACAO/ST. MAARTEN – All the island territories are in agreement: maintenance of law and order must not become the responsibility of the Kingdom. The new countries will operate the same way the Country Neth.Antilles is operating now and cooperative arrangements will be settled for the small islands.
According to the island territories, the Statute gives enough guarantees that everything goes according to the rules of good governing. But no agreement has been reached yet on the distribution of the debts amongst the islands.
Yesterday morning, under the chairmanship of Minister Richard Gibson (DP St. Maarten) of Constitutional Matters, the island summit started in the Sonesta Maho Resort in St. Maarten on the political structure.
During this summit the moot points of the Preparatory-committee Round Table Conference (V-RTC), especially the mutual differences of opinion on some subjects, came up for discussion. The islands reached total agreement on a great deal of points, so that the plenary meeting concluded around 19:00. A smaller group of civil servants and politicians continued in order to go into the rest of the moot points. During that meeting that lasted till 22:30, the islands agreed on all points, with the exception of the distribution of debt. Yesterday’s results were fully discussed this morning. A press conference will follow later.
This was the 9th meeting in 18 months on the political future of the islands. “It’s a unique process”, says Gibson in his opening statement yesterday morning. “We are going for a challenge we have never experienced before, namely the creation of two new countries within the Realm. All the islands are ready for that. But we must stay focused.”
According to Gibson, the Netherlands keeps coming with demands and the islands have to comply with.
On 3-15 ARUBAAN's news-source "Bon Dia" reported:
This Monday the verbal proceedings will close
Public Prosecutor has to decide if it will prosecute suspects in the case of Natalee Holloway
ORANJESTAD – There is a strong indication that the Public Prosecutor will close the investigation in the Holloway case. This can be concluded by the interim decision of the Curacao judge in the case of damages for prejudice that the van der Sloot family brought against the government.
In an interview with Bon Dia Aruba, the attorney for the van der Sloot family, Mr. A. Swaen, revealed that the Curacao judge said that he wants to obtain more information before he can take a decision about the van der Sloot family lawsuit.
The judge showed that the Public Prosecutor informed that this month the verbal proceedings of the investigation will come to an end and afterwards, in a short period of time, they will have to decide if they will prosecute the suspects.
This clearly shows that the Public Prosecutor has to end the investigations and that now they will have to decide, on the basis of the investigation results, if they will prosecute the suspects.
Mr. Swaen explained that the reason why the Curacao judge wants to obtain the final verbal process and also the Public Prosecutor decisions whether they will prosecute the suspects or not, is to evaluate if there were forms of pressure used, and if this could have caused harm to the van der Sloot family. The judge showed that the fact that there is an ongoing penal investigation against Joran van der Sloot makes Joran van der Sloot’s position different that the other members of the family.
The judge instructed the Public Prosecutor to hand over the verbal proceedings and the decisions about the prosecutions to the court clerk, at the latest on Monday, April 3.
The Public Prosecutor also has to hand over a copy of the verbal proceedings to attorney A. Swaen who can react to it. The judge stipulated that if Mr. Swaen wants to react, he has to do so in writing and this has to be delivered to the court clerk at the latest on April 17. The judge from Curacao will evaluate this and will hand down the verdict on May 1st. By the interim decision, it can be concluded that this month, the Public Prosecutor has to decide whether it will pursue the suspects in the Holloway case or not.
On 3-15 MSNBC reported:
COSBY: And we have some exclusive details to tell you about in the Natalee Holloway case tonight. LIVE & DIRECT has learned that a new search is now under way on the island of Aruba for the missing Alabama teen. Just today, a team headed into an Aruban cave looking for clues. And tomorrow they‘re headed back to the sand dunes.
On the phone with us right now tonight from Aruba is Fred Golba. He‘s with the search group, called Child Watch Canine.
You know, Fred, why the caves? Everyone‘s going—it sounds like this is the first time we‘ve heard of caves being searched. Why there?
FRED GOLBA, CHILD WATCH CANINE: Well, these caves are out in the Baby Beach area on the other side of San Nicolas. And what I do each morning is I go to the Police department, and I check in with them, and they give me defined areas to go and search.
And this was an area that they suggested that I go into and search to rule it out. And what we did was we went out there. And it looks like, you know, a desert field on the top, with cactus and some grass out there, which is very easily accessed from the main road. You could drive a regular motor vehicle out to the area.
And as you walk out there, there‘s these air shafts that go down into these gold mines and phosphorus mines. And some of these holes go down 50 feet, 100 feet, and you cannot see the bottom down in there, in some of them.
So what I did was I took your producer with me, and we did a repel down into the caves. And we walked around, you know, down below ground in these caves, checking below these air shafts, to see if somebody had discarded the person that we‘re looking for down there.
COSBY: Was there anything—as we‘re looking at some pictures, by the way, Fred, of you and your dog right now—anything that you saw of interest? And were Aruban Investigators with you during this search?
GOLBA: No, they knew that I knew the area. So, you know, they let me go out there. When they have an area that I‘m not aware of, they will escort me out there and, you know, show me defined areas, such as my last trip in December, I was out in the Indian burial grounds, which isn‘t far from Deepak and Satish‘s house.
And we went out there, and there was a real big well that was, you know, a very old well that was out there. And we weren‘t able to search it, you know, in any way, shape, or form, and not with a dog, because the sides of the wells were—you know, it‘s not accessible by a dog.
So what we did was we went there today with the infrared camera, and we put a camera head down to the bottom of the well and searched the bottom of the well and came up negative. So we have ruled out the Indian burial grounds, and we ruled out the air shafts and the caves out by Baby Beach, which is almost right across the street from the prison.
COSBY: Now, I know you‘re also going to be looking at the sand dunes. And we have some old pictures, sort of, of the sand dunes. But why do you think that you would have success? It seems like a lot of people have combed that area before. What makes you different? And what do you expect out of it?
GOLBA: Well, what‘s different now is we went out there and we searched these areas last time in a grid-elimination process, you know, just picking an area that looked good and accessible. And we went out, and we aerated some large areas, which was very tedious work.
It‘s very hard to aerate, but aeration is a very good technique. You know, if you‘re in the right area, you‘re going to find the person. It‘s just very hard, laborious work to do.
COSBY: How long—real quick. Real quick, Fred, because we just have a second. How long do you think it‘s going to take?
GOLBA: I don‘t know. There‘s an area about the size of two football feels, and it‘s on the opposite side of the dune that we did last time when we were here in August. And we‘re going to do these defined areas.
We have ground-penetrating radar coming in, which is part of Child Watch as a resource. And we‘re going to do the aerating, dog, metal, because Natalee was believed to have some jewelry on her, so we‘re going to use three or four different techniques in each grid that we do. And if she‘s out there, we‘ll find her.
COSBY: All right, Fred, well, we wish you a lot of luck. And thank you so much for being with us.
So how and why did the Aruban government decide to hire their own team to complete a new search of the island? How did this time get involved? LIVE & DIRECT tonight is Steven Cohen, special adviser to the Aruban government.
You know, Steve, we‘ve had Tim Miller from EquuSearch, all these different guys on there. They were all sort of turned down by Dompig and it seemed like the Aruban government, of course, the chief of Police there. Why this team?
STEVE COHEN, ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE” MEMBER: Well, it‘s a process, of course, that goes back to the Forensic Institute of Holland. Chief Dompig has been back there twice now.
And I think what was happening was a determination of just exactly what techniques, in terms of specificity, could one Investigator bring to bear versus another? And, of course, Dompig and Fred have established a strong rapport and a great deal of trust between them, and that‘s why he is there.
But of course he‘s not the only person that‘s going to be searching. Dompig is coming back with a very meticulous search grid, and understanding, as well, in terms of the specialized dogs. They‘re going to do some cadaver searching.
And, you know, we‘re hopeful, but we‘re not going to get our hopes up that we will find some remnant of either physical evidence or actual DNA evidence that would lead further in the case.
COSBY: You know, Steve, you know, we were hearing all these things about—as we‘re looking at a picture of the island, we‘re looking at the beach there—we were hearing these tips that this person who knew Joran coming forward with a tip, that Dompig seemed to be putting a bit of stock in.
How credible do you think these tips are? And why wait so long for someone to search?
COHEN: Well, I think the waiting is somewhat obvious now. You know, we thought that we might be able to get in there at the end of February, but I think the chief Investigators really felt they wanted to do everything they could to plot it out and be very meticulous. And also, they wanted to await this subsurface radar. It‘s called an SIR-3000. It‘s a special device to help us.
At the same time, I think that they had to accumulate different testimony from witnesses. And I don‘t mean testimony, in terms of the court, but just in terms of people coming forward and speaking to Investigators. That took many months. As you know, from basically December until the end of February, they were still talking to people on the island.
And we were able to finally get sort of a fix on this dune area, which still is the primary search area, Rita. Although they have been looking in caves, as you heard this morning, really the dune area is still the most likely area where there would be some remnants, if Natalee, in fact, met her demise in that area.
COSBY: Well, we certainly hope this case is solved. Steve, thank you very much.
COHEN: Thank you, Rita.
On 3-16 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:
Preliminary investigation Holloway-case almost wound up
ARUBA – From the interlocutory injunction in the damages case of the family van der Sloot it is understood that the Public Prosecutor (OM) expects to wind up the preliminary investigation in the Holloway-case this month. Without insight into the criminal preliminary investigation, the judge does not want give a verdict. The file of the criminal preliminary investigation can only be released to the judge when the investigation is wound up. The family van der Sloot claims 531.000 florins [USD$296,648].
The family indicated that the compensation for emotional damages as the result of the criminal preliminary investigation on Joran as well as on his father Paul van der Sloot is 350.000 [USD$195,531] florins and the material damages 144.000 [USD$80,447], an additional 25.000 [USD$13,966] florins due to means of coercion, and 11.935 [USD$6,668] florins in legal costs.
According to the OM, 25.000 [USD$13,966] florins compensation is enough for the family.
During the hearing in January, an important question was whether the judge should be acquainted with the entire file in order to decide on the claim for damages. The OM indicated then that the entire file will be made available in March and that shortly after that, they will decide on further persecution. The judge decided to wait for this, especially because Joran is also one of the claimants. The criminal preliminary investigation against him is still open. Based on the file, the judge also wants to be able to determine whether ‘other means of coercion’ are applied and if those have caused damages, like the family says. The judge decided first that only Paul van der Sloot would possibly qualify for damages, but the Court of Appeals decided that all the five members of the family can qualify for damages.
3-18-06
On 3-18 CBS TV wrote in a promotion for its program “48 Hours,” “(CBS) Saturday, March 25, 10 p.m. ET/PT. Natalee Holloway: New Clues In Paradise Exclusive new details from inside the Police investigation into the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. Correspondent Troy Roberts reports.”
3-19-06
On 3-19 the BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA “Birmingham News" reported:
Alabamians shun Caribbean resorts on spring break
Alabama families and students taking spring break trips this week are shunning Caribbean resorts and opting for safer alternatives, continuing a trend that began last summer after Natalee Holloway vanished in Aruba last year, a leading travel group says.
Jennifer Caton, manager of travel services for AAA-Alabama, said visits to Disney World, cruises, Europe and short trips to the beach have emerged as the vacations of choice for parents since the disappearance of the Mountain Brook high school senior during a graduation trip last May garnered international attention.
"From the trips booked through our agents, people are going to beaches at Gulf Shores or Florida, taking cruises or going to Disney World," Caton said. "No one has purchase a trip to a land resort in Jamaica or Aruba this year."
She said it is too early to tell if Gov. Bob Riley's call earlier this year for Alabamians to boycott Aruba is having an effect. However, Caton said, it is clear that Alabamians are looking at what happened to Holloway and making safety and security a priority when it comes to vacations.
A spokeswoman for Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines, which sails the Holiday from Mobile to the western Caribbean and has several ships sailing to Jamaica, Aruba and other eastern Caribbean islands from Florida ports, wouldn't reveal numbers, but says the number of cruise passengers are definitely on the upswing.
Caton said cruises are popular because they have rules requiring high school students be roomed with adult chaperones.
"And they are safe ways to see spots like the Caribbean whereas when staying at resorts students have a tendency to want to venture off and enjoy themselves," she said. "What happened to Natalee in Aruba shows it can happen anywhere."
The Holloway disappearance pointed out the importance of proper planning when it comes to vacationing, regardless of whether you are on a small family trip or with a big student group, said J.D. Appling, owner of The Travel Scene.
"From what I read, that was a poorly chaperoned trip," he said of the Mountain Brook graduation trip to Aruba. "When you take a vacation, you need to have enough adult supervision, set rules on curfews prior to departure and someone to enforce it by checking the rooms at night. And regardless of where you vacation, no one should ever be allowed to go by themselves. There should be a buddy-system in place."
Riley said his Aruba boycott call has been well received by Alabamians as well as governors in other Southern states. "I don't know why any parent would allows their high school graduate or other children to go Aruba," he said. "Aruba has already proven that if anything happens to one of our loved ones, their justice system does not work for us."
Glen Winsor, general manager of Doubletree Guest Suites in Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World Resort, is not surprised that so many people are seeking safer spring break and graduation vacation spots. The Holloway disappearance, he said, is tragic and points out the importance of spending quality time together in safe, family-friendly places.
"Disney World is the perfect destination with something for family members of all ages to enjoy," he said. "All of the hotels at Disney do a great job of catering to families."
Kelly Knowlen, Doubletree Suites' director of sales, said Disney's amenities as a self-contained resort with restaurants, rides and plenty of hotel amenities to keep you busy, make it "the perfect venue for both family vacations and the graduation market.
Walt Disney World spokesman Dave Herbst said spring break is traditionally one of the busiest weeks of the year at the Orlando amusement park, the nation's most popular tourist attraction. Disney's Magic Kingdom has also put a lot of emphasis on promoting itself to high school seniors through a program called Grad Nite, he said.
Essentially a private party for high school seniors and their dates, it features musical entertainment and special hours from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m., Herbst said. This year's Grad Nite parties are slated for April 28-29 and May 5-6.
Safety and security are emphasized, with senior classes from participating high schools coming as a group and arrangements beginning with a responsible adult from their schools, he said.
"The seniors and their dates arrive as a school group that is chaperoned and there is a dress code," Herbst said. There are more than 750 high schools planning to come this year, including nine from Alabama."
3-20-06
On 3-20 DAVID KOCK stated to MSNBC:
RITA COSBY, HOST: Good evening, everybody. Tonight, we have breaking and exclusive developments in the Natalee Holloway case. Will justice finally be served? The attorney for suspects Deepak and Satish Kalpoe tell us that his clients and Joran van der Sloot could be charged with murder by June. And after months of waiting, prosecutors may finally bring the case to trial.
We’re going to get reaction to this bombshell from the Holloway family in just a moment, but first, the Kalpoes’ attorney, David Kock, sat down with our producer, Darren Mackoff, in this exclusive interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID KOCK, KALPOE BROTHERS’ ATTORNEY: We don’t think there’s much reason for them to wait that much longer. Of course, it’s a call of the DA. But from the information that we are getting, it seems like, you know, they know, too, they have to round this up. I won’t be surprised if, you know, summer, June, July the case will be presented.
DARREN MACKOFF, LIVE AND DIRECT PRODUCER: And will it be presented, do you feel, against all three boys?
KOCK: I think the DA will do—will present the case against all three boys, yes.
MACKOFF: And will that be with charges of—how does it work here, first-degree murder, second? How does...
KOCK: You have a spectrum of accusations that the DA can present, from first degree to, you know, manslaughter to accomplice.
MACKOFF: Yes.
KOCK: It’s too early for me to give you an indication what it will be, next to the fact that it’s not my position. And the DA can also present, let’s say, the first instance and the heavier charge and the subsidiary. If that cannot be proven, then—and if that cannot be proven, then to lighter forms of crimes.
MACKOFF: Can you also work out a plea, a plea bargain?
KOCK: No. In our system there’s no plea bargain.
MACKOFF: Would they be arrested prior to the trial?
KOCK: Not if there is not anything new of really significance.
MACKOFF: So if there’s a trial for murder...
KOCK: Yes.
MACKOFF: ... against your clients, they wouldn’t be imprisoned again during that process?
KOCK: Correct. During the process, no. I mean, out on bail, though.
MACKOFF: (INAUDIBLE) first-degree murder cases, though—if it’s first-degree murder...
KOCK: Yes. Yes. I don’t know that will even—that will not even apply theoretically.
MACKOFF: Yes.
KOCK: You have to have an intent to do something. And if you just look at the facts, even if you would want to construct something, I don’t think you can even construct first-degree murder.
MACKOFF: Do you feel that they—you know what they’ve got so far, or you assume you know what they’ve got. Is it purely circumstantial stuff that places your clients there?
KOCK: Yes. My client? Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And joining us with their reaction to this announcement is John Q. Kelly. He’s the attorney for the Holloway family. And live on the phone with us is Natalee’s father, Dave Holloway.
John, what do you think of the fact that these boys could be charged with even something like murder by June?
JOHN Q. KELLY, HOLLOWAY FAMILY ATTORNEY: Well, it’d be good. It’s my understand that what Mr. Kock was saying is the DA still has to present the case, and then there’ll be a determination whether there are actually charges brought on the murder one charge or some lesser charge. But you know, hope springs eternal. It’d be terrific if that’s what’s going to happen down the line. And certainly, Mr. Kock has inside information from his clients as to their exposure and what could happen in this case.
COSBY: Yes, it was, like, he was using the terminology, John, saying he wouldn’t be surprised, and he’s getting some indication, it sounds like, maybe from the DA’s office or somewhere, June or July. What’s your thought on the timing, too, John?
KELLY: Well, that would make sense. I mean, they’ve got complete the search of the island. They’ve got to get the search of the sand dunes completed. Hopefully, if there’s—you know, Natalee was ever found, the hope would be there’d be forensic evidence that would link one, two or all three of these young men to the crime, also. But they need the forensic evidence. They need the body. They have to complete the investigation, and that should not take too much longer. So the timing is right. It should be June or it should be sooner, if they’re going to charge them.
COSBY: Dave, how do you feel about it? I mean, this is the first time we’ve heard. We were quite surprised to hear, as I’m sure you were, that maybe charges—and again, we’re not sure what the charges could—but coming before a trial, June or July, that’s not too far away, Dave.
DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY’S FATHER: That’s true. It’s about three months away. You know, back about six months ago, when I met with the prosecutor in Aruba on one of my last trips there, I had indicated to her that I’d rather wait a little while and you have a strong case than just present this without—little or insufficient evidence. So I’m hoping that they’ll have a strong case. Dompig has indicated that he’s going to solve this case. So you know, we’re optimistically hopeful that they’ll do that.
COSBY: Are you hoping that maybe a trial could solve what happened to your daughter finally, or maybe one could turn against the other, as we’ve seen a little bit recently, Dave?
HOLLOWAY: Well, that’s what it’s leaning—looking like right now. But who knows? If they’re arrested and charged, you know, they may start pointing fingers again.
COSBY: John, what about changes? You just talked about it. In fact, we heard David Kock, the attorney for the Kalpoe brothers, saying he doubts first-degree murder because he said there’s no sign of premeditation, no sign of planning, from everything that he has seen. If there were to be charges—and again, he seems, you know, leaning in that direction, that it’s coming to a trial in June, July, getting the inside track there—what kind of charges do you think could be brought against these three boys?
KELLY: Well, I wouldn’t discount the murder one charge.
COSBY: You don’t? Now, why not, John?
KELLY: Why not? Because we don’t know, you know, if they had, you know, engaged in a date rape drug, if Natalee was drugged in some way and she was taken off, you know, against her will, you know, as part of a plan these boys had put together ahead of time. (INAUDIBLE) premeditation there. There’s no indication that this did not take place, and that’s one of the scenarios we’ve been exploring.
COSBY: You know, Dave, let me put up some of the things, too, because they—as he pointed out, the system’s different. It’s a European system. We know that there’s no jury. It really just goes before a panel of judges. No plea bargains. Based on that—is it stacked sort of for the defendants? And what charges would you like to see, Dave?
HOLLOWAY: Well, obviously, if they’re guilty of murder, I’d like to see the murder charge presented against them.
COSBY: And do you hope it’s a murder charge?
HOLLOWAY: Well, no, not really. I would hope that we would find Natalee and she’s safe, but you know, all indications point the other way.
COSBY: Well, let’s hope you guys get some answers. And Dave, it looks like—it sounds like things are coming to a head, at least, so let’s see what happens there, guys.
Let’s bring in, if we could, our legal experts, former prosecutor Wendy Murphy and also defense attorney Mickey Sherman.
Wendy, what do you think? Reaction that it could be—we’re hearing, again, it sounds like you’ve got some inside information, could be charges coming as early as June or July.
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes, you know, I must be the most cynical person on the planet because I’ll believe it when I see it. I’m just not persuaded that there isn’t another agenda here, Rita, that there isn’t a reason—they’re trying to delay the civil case or they’ve got something else going on where they just want us to be quit until June for some strategic reason that I’m unaware of.
Either that, or the Kalpoes have been squeezed successfully with a threat of prosecution for something that they can’t get out from under because there was no way this case was going to be solved without one of them turning on the other. And as far as we know, that hasn’t happened. It may well have happened behind the scenes, but unless one of them got squeezed or there’s some other agenda, they’re just trying to sort of blow smoke for a while until we all calm down about the civil suit. I’ll believe it when I see it.
COSBY: Wendy, is it possible that they’re saying, OK, let’s do this, sort of get it—get the case, look like it went through the system, and then it’s over and done with, it’s off the island, we don’t need to worry about tourism, make it look like it’s a bit of grandstanding?
MURPHY: Yes. I mean, I wouldn’t doubt that for a minute. There have been too many shenanigans already. Oh, we’re really moving forward. Oops! The whole thing is—is gone away. I’ll believe it when I see it.
I can’t believe that they’ve got, all of a sudden, a rock-solid case that they didn’t have a month ago. Where did it come from? We would have heard something. I can’t believe we’ve heard nothing, and all of a sudden, it’s a prosecutable case. And we’re hearing it from one of the suspect’s lawyers. I don’t think I trust him at all!
COSBY: Although, I would tell you, so far, he’s been pretty straightforward, at least with what he’s given us in the past. And he seems to say he’s getting some inside information. As you heard from John, he’s certainly in touch with the DA. The question is, the timing of this, Mickey. What do you make of it?
MICKEY SHERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It’s bizarre. And I—it kills me to agree with Wendy, but I have to.
(LAUGHTER)
SHERMAN: If there was genuine information coming out of there, we would have heard it from other source.
COSBY: Well, then, is it possible, Mickey, that they’re doing it just to sort of brush it off the island, and OK, we’ve gone through the system...
SHERMAN: To make it a better, more attractive vacation spot? I think that ship sailed, or rather, that ship hasn’t sailed to Aruba. I think that damage is done. It’s going to be a long time before that ever comes back. But...
COSBY: So Mickey, if it does go to charges, what charges do you see? If it goes to charges and a trial, what kind of charges, realistically, could go up against these three?
SHERMAN: Well, they either—they either—they or someone either killed her or they didn’t. I have to agree that it’s either going to be murder or something—or nothing. I mean, I disagree about with John’s lawsuit about the kidnapping. I mean, either one or more of these boys or somebody else is responsible for her death. So I think if there’s going to be a charge, it’s not going to be kidnapping or rape, I think it’s going to be murder or one of the lesser forms of murder.
The Aruba system—I’m not saying it’s worse than ours, but it’s so darn different that it’s hard to imagine that these people haven’t been charged, yet all of a sudden, within 60 days, they’re going to be on trial for murder.
COSBY: Yes, it’s an unusual system, guys. All right, both of you, thank you very much.
And up next, some more exclusive details, what the Kalpoe brothers claim really happened the night that Natalee disappeared, and why they are now saying Joran made a, quote, “flagrant lie.” Is there a break in the case? That’s coming up, and that’s not all.
Still ahead: For the first time tonight, a witness in the murder investigation of Imette St. Guillen breaks his silence. A bartender working the night Imette vanished from the New York nightspot reveals what he saw.
And Police make a stunning arrest in the brutal murder of a young nursing student in one of Florida’s vacation destinations. Wait until you hear how they found him.
And these California housewives are anything but desperate. They’ll tell us why they’re letting the world see them at their best and their worst.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is so hard to find a really good guy out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: It’s coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOCK: Just because of friends, you know, I mean, sometimes friends lie for each other. I mean, sometimes not. I think a lot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: Well, you just heard the bombshell news that the attorney for the Kalpoe brothers believes that his clients, Satish and Deepak, and Joran van der Sloot may go to trial as early as June or July in connection with Natalee Holloway’s disappearance. And that’s not all that David Kock is telling exclusively to LIVE AND DIRECT. He told our producer, Darren Mackoff, that Joran hasn’t been telling the whole truth in his recent interviews about some of the crucial events from that fateful night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOCK: During the interview—let me put it like this. You know that he gives her different statements. I mean, he didn’t go marching (ph) to those statements. I mean, the one that he changed. But he indicated, yes, that they lied, you know, at the first instance. He indicated in his statement that he changed his story, for example, that yes, he said that they dropped—Deepak, Satish, Natalee and Joran were in the car, and they dropped Joran first at his house, and that’s (INAUDIBLE). I mean, if you are compelled to tell the truth, why didn’t you from—did you change the story from (INAUDIBLE) and you admit now that you were with her on the beach, why didn’t you go directly to that? Why all of a sudden you want to turn (INAUDIBLE) and said, I had nothing to do with it. They took her.
MACKOFF: He said a lot of things, and to me, it pointed at your clients. Did they feel he has lied to national television audiences in the States?
KOCK: Oh, yes. To start it, they didn’t pick him up. Yes? So that’s a flagrant lie, if you say that. And he’s saying that that’s the story, that they—they—that he called Deepak, and afterwards, Satish came and picked him up, yes? That’s a lie.
Second of all, he indicated that, yes, he left his shoes on the beach, but then Satish would say, No, come, I’ll drop you all the way to your home, like, 2:30, 3:00 o’clock in the morning, then I’m going to come and look for your shoes. I mean, how logical is that, you know? It’s a beach. I don’t even know where your shoes would be. And then why would I take you home, OK, and I would come and look for your shoes?
He stated that his shoes were very old shoes (INAUDIBLE) before (INAUDIBLE) his trip in the States, you know? So I mean, there—there are very—of certain facts, my client cannot say if he’s lying because they were not there and did not see, you know? So he can present his stories as he would want. But on certain things that pertain to my clients that's simply not true.
MACKOFF: What do your clients maintain happened? Take us from the phone call—whatever the first phone call was from Joran.
KOCK: So after they left, that’s why, because you know, they were together that night, dropped him there, went home.
MACKOFF: And that was it?
KOCK: That was it. There was a phone call from Joran to Deepak, and afterwards, there’s chat—a chat message from Joran to Deepak.
MACKOFF: But no one ever picked him up?
KOCK: No. Not them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: Well, just what does Joran van der Sloot’s American attorney think about all of this? I talked to his lawyer, Joe Tacopina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE TACOPINA, JORAN VAN DER SLOOT ’S U.S. ATTORNEY: I am not concerned about any fact-finding litigation in this Holloway-Van der Sloot matter. I’m just not. Joran’s always said and maintains he had nothing to do with Natalee’s disappearance and didn’t harm her in any way. He does maintain that. There’s no evidence to the contrary.
And if they want to bring this case to trial, Rita, for the sake of getting a monkey off their back—and I’m talking about the Aruban law enforcement and government, not the Holloways—you know, I think that would be a huge perversion of justice. I mean, if this case is supposed to be resolved with a quick shotgun trial just to say, Hey, we made arrests, we brought it to trial, and there’s no evidence, so there was an acquittal, and Aruba thinks now the monkey’s off their back, you know, I think that’s despicable to do to the Holloway family. And I don’t think that’s fair to do to Joran and his family or anyone else, for that matter.
COSBY: If it does go to trial, who would Joran call as witnesses?
TACOPINA: I can tell you there are probably about 75 to 100 I’d have on my witness list right off the bat that are very, very helpful to Joran. And I really hope that Aruban law enforcement is investigating all leads, not looking just to make a case (INAUDIBLE) target to get this monkey off their back because, Rita, what’s out there, what’s not been on the airwaves and in the media, is so powerful as far as being, you know, really clues to what happened to Natalee, I hope—and I mean this, and I know they’re not going to appreciate it, but I hope there’s some resolve to this case for them, as well as for my client.
COSBY: The attorney for Deepak and Satish says, in terms of picking Joran up that night, neither one of them did it. They say it’s “a flagrant lie.”
TACOPINA: Well, Rita, you know, again, without pointing fingers and starting casting aspersions at people, I will point that attorney back to his own clients’ very first statement to law enforcement that they maintained for some time, which was that they picked up Joran van der Sloot at the beach. So their story’s changed, as well. And we’ve dealt with the changing of stories and the, you know, stated reasons for it.
But I will say this. Joran has told his story, and it has not changed and wavered since the initial days of this incident. And you know, I’ve heard that he’s given 20 different versions. The Police force in Aruba, who’s no friend of Joran van der Sloot, has said he’s only—there have only been small variations in his story. Over 20 statements, there have been three deviations in it. And you know, he explained why he did—he was a 17-year-old kid under pressure.
COSBY: There’s been a mention that Joran would talk to the Holloway family in private. Do you think that’ll happen?
TACOPINA: I’ll tell you what, Rita. Joran has said it. He maintains that position. And as crazy as it sounds, you know, John Kelly is a good lawyer, he’s a friend of mine. Obviously, we don’t, you know, break bread over this case, but you know, if John and I were to have a conversation where he wanted to set something like that up, I’m absolutely certain we can do it without a media event, not on TV. Once this civil lawsuit is disposed of, you know, without these—with these allegations that are ridiculous—you know, if they really want to do that, Joran will sit down with them, for sure.
COSBY: So Joran would sit down with them face to face...
TACOPINA: Myself, Joran, John and anyone he wants to bring from his team, including his clients, and we’ll answer all their questions in a private setting, where they—if they really want answers from Joran, they’ll get them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSBY: And we’re joined again by John Q. Kelly. He’s the attorney for the Holloway family. John, you just heard Joe Tacopina, the attorney for Joran, offering—making an offer for you and also the Holloway family to meet with Joran. Will you accept it?
KELLY: Well, I’d be more than happy, at some point, to sit down with Joran and his father. That’s gracious of Mr. Tacopina to offer that. One thing I would want to make sure is that Joran’s under oath and that we have it all recorded because we wouldn’t want him to be saying afterwards that he was misunderstood or misstated something or we misrepresented something. So as long as he’s comfortable with the fact that he’d be recorded, so we could memorialize what he said once and for all, the final version, and it’s under oath, then I think that’s terrific. That’s a fine offer, and I’m more than happy to take him up on it.
COSBY: What would you like to ask him, and what would Beth like to ask him, if, and hopefully, when you get that opportunity?
KELLY: Well, we’d like go through all the details in terms of what happened from the moment they left Carlos and Charlie’s that night. I mean, you have David Kock, the Kalpoe’s attorney, saying that Joran’s flat out lying on national and international TV when he says that Satish picked him up, and he was flat out lying about what happened with the shoes, too. Those are two of the most crucial elements of the circumstantial case that are being said that are not true to a worldwide audience. So you know, we’re a little skeptical about some of the things he said, and we’re not ready to go into a love fest with Joran for a PR reason to you know, wipe away his guilt.
COSBY: What are do you make of the fact—you hit on the lying, and I thought it was pretty strong language, John. You know, we’ve—I’ve talked to David Kock before, and he said, No, he’s not maybe telling the real story. But he went on camera with our crew there, with Darren Mackoff, our producer, and said—used the words “flagrant lie.” That’s pretty strong language to say Joran’s lying.
KELLY: Well, yes. And as I said, they’re the most critical aspects of the case. You know, the shoes, what happened to the shoes, which would, you know, determine locations and things like that, and also how he got home and when he got home that night and what happened in between. These are two very critical things that, you know, we’re being told Joran just is not being truthful about at all. So you know, to sit there and say he’s being forthright and forthcoming and honest, and you know, baring his soul on the circumstance of the case is just not, apparently, true.
COSBY: And I do hope you guys have that meeting and can ask whatever you’d like to ask. John, thank you very much. We appreciate it.
KELLY: Sure, Rita. Thank you.
COSBY: And let’s bring back in our legal experts, former prosecutor Wendy Murphy and also defense attorney Mickey Sherman.
Wendy, let me start—this is sort of the list of inconsistencies, and this is according to Dave Kock. He’s the attorney for Deepak and Satish Kalpoe—some of the inconsistencies that he says that they claim with Joran’s—you know, you’re seeing this clear split now between the Kalpoe brothers and Joran, saying that Joran lied in the interviews, that they did not pick Joran up. And they also said that these were new shoes, so there would be no reason for Joran to have left them on the beach. Remember, he said that he suddenly left his shoes. And in one of the interviews, he said that, you know, I didn’t want to go back. We were in such a rush.
What do you make of all these inconsistencies, Wendy?
MURPHY: Look, it’s not news. We already knew that Joran made a host of inconsistencies and changed his story I don’t know how many times. That is not new, so...
COSBY: What do you make of the fact that they’re now, you know, using some strong language, a “flagrant lie”?
MURPHY: Right.
COSBY: They’re not dancing around anything anymore.
MURPHY: But what I’m trying to point out, Rita, is that this isn’t new, and yet this lawyer is suggesting that all kinds of new things are developed. Look, there’s no question that the Kalpoes have lied, too, a lot. And they lied about serious things. They not only originally said they did drop them off at the beach, then they took her back to the hotel, and they are the ones who first implicated the black security guard as somehow being involved. A big, fat lie!
So I don’t know—you know, were they lying then or are they lying now? They’re not entitled to the presumption of credibility. But I’ll tell you, it’s very good for the prosecution, it’s good for the Holloways to have them start to break down because although the cross finger-pointing problem can make a mess of things, making it impossible to have a legitimate prosecution ever, because they can all say the other one did it, but it’s very good that at least they’re not liking each other as much anymore.
COSBY: Yes, so Mickey, who is lying? You know, one of the things that David Kock says, the attorney, in terms of that story about the—
Steve Croes coming forward, pointing to the security guards, all that stuff he’s saying that the guy came to him. So it’s kind of confusing, you know, that they came to Deepak, not Deepak going after him. You’re hearing so many different versions. Who’s telling the truth?
SHERMAN: And nobody is under oath here, and everyone has an agenda, both the lawyers and the principals themselves. And you know, the problem is none of these lies really, I think, incriminate them. But the mere fact that someone’s lying during the investigation of a murder, it’s really similar to the case that you’re going to cover right after this here in New York.
COSBY: But Mickey, who picked up who up is important because if Joran didn’t get home by them, he’s claiming that he did, that’s significant.
SHERMAN: Yes, but the bottom line is who killed her, who caused her to be missing, not who saw her last. I mean, everyone seems to think that whoever saw her last must be guilty. I don’t think that necessarily follows. And I think what Joe Tacopina and what Mr. Holloway said before - - and they’re on the same track—is very important, and that is that authorities would make an enormous mistake by trying to appease the people of Aruba and everyone else by having a trial just to get this out of the way. I think they’re better served by waiting until there’s a competent investigation with some real results and not just a lot of BS, and then, if they have people with credible evidence, then go to trial and not before.
COSBY: All right, guys. We’re going to be following this. Thank you both very much.
On 3-20 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:
DIARIO Editorial: An element called Tacopina
Last night, the attorney who is representing Joran in the US found it appropriate to explain, in a lowly way, that I am prejudiced against Joran because his father was in the team who handed over a few members of my family to the US.
There’s another element who does not know how to read Papiamento and has no notion what I have said about Joran. I have said on various occasions that I don’t know whether he is guilty or innocent! Furthermore, I don’t have any sort of prejudice against Joran or his father! I had no ide! that Paul could have been in any commission which judged who is part of my family. That’s news to me!
Joe Tacopina, with his witchy style of bring things forward, forcing a conclusion which doesn’t exist, wants to defend a habitual, chronic liar, who has a confirmed history of violence.
Joran was known in his school as a kid who bullied younger kids; he was described by a teacher as a habitual liar; he was caught with his hands in the lockers of other kids; he was under treatment for his inability to control his anger and the violent part of his character; he was gambling for money in a casino, at an age where it is prohibited to set foot in a casino, and a few times accompanied by his father!
Into what sort of ‘saint’ does Tacopina want to turn Joran? He doesn’t know that Joran lied that Deepak came to pick him up at the beach, and when Deepak stood up and said that it’s not true, he then changed to saying it was Satish. When Satish also stood up and said that it wasn’t true, he left the question hanging, and it will be good of Tacopina, in his great wisdom, to explain to us how Joran arrived at his house in the morning hours, with or without shoes!
Another point which Tacopina, in his febrile attempt to defend his client, does not take into account is the following: how Deepak could have come to pick up Joran at the beach, if Joran declared to 4 Police officers on the 13 of June 2005 that Deepak was with him at the beach, that Deepak went back towards the girl, where he had left her sleeping on the sand, and that he believes that Deepak raped and then killed the girl? Tacopina can be a good attorney, but in this case he is far from home!
And how does Tacopina explain the fact that Joran told Police that they had sex with Natalee when she was coming in and out of consciousness, and then on television he said that because he did not have a prophylactic he didn’t have sex with her! Who does Tacopina take us for?
For idiots? A 17-year-old kid with only one thing on his mind, is going to miss such an opportunity because he has no protection? And Tacopina believes Joran when he told Greta that he NEVER had sexual relations with a girl without using a condom? Come now, Mister Tacopina, give us at least a little more consideration and stop insulting our intelligence!
Tacopina also forgets, perhaps voluntarily?. That his client admitted to Police that they took Natalee to his apartment from Carlos and Charlies! How could he be at his apartment with Natalee and at the same time on the beach with her? It would be good for Tacopina to explain to us the mathematics of the timeline, because in our mathematics, you cannot be in two different places at the same time!
On one hand, I enjoyed Tacopina, because he made me laugh with his ridiculous statements. If in reality he is an attorney interested in the truth, he would not be planting so many lies which could even compete with those of his client.
Finally (for now) how does Tacopina explain the concrete fact that his client was the last one who was with Natalee at the time that she disappeared and suddenly, he doesn’t know what happened to her?
Was there magic involved? Tacopina believes that Yomanda, Negro Felipe or Maria Lionza could have been involved? Because it is impossible that Joran doesn’t know what happened to Natalee if he was the last person who was with Natalee in his apartment, or on the beach, like he has admitted on so many occasions!
The types of expressions out of Tacopina do not seem those of a serious person, and even less of those of an attorney who believes in the truth.
It could be his duty to defend his client, whether he believes he is guilty or innocent, but let it be done in a professional way, acknowledging Joran’s multiple lies, and not trying to reduce them to only two, like he tried to do last night! If he wants, I can explain how many lies and changing stories Joran offered Police. We are very well aware of everything!
On 3-20 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:
Everything indicates that not much time is remaining for the Public Prosecutor to present its case of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway
ORANJESTAD(AAN): Recently, DIARIO tried to get in touch with Satish Kalpoe’s attorney, to ask him how his client is doing, given that recently, Joran van der Sloot went on various TV and radio channels and said that he is no longer friends with the Kalpoe brothers, because they still don’t want to admit that Satish came to pick him up at the beach the night that Natalee Holloway disappeared, to bring him back home.
According to Joran, the Kalpoe brothers lied and because of this, he no longer speaks to them.
DIARIO was not able to contact attorney David Kock, given the fact that he is out of the country, however, information indicates that Satish stands behind his statement that he and his brother Deepak did not go to pick up Joran on the night in question, which is the same declaration they gave to Police during the time they were incarcerated.
It will be interesting to know if the Public Prosecutor will be able to start the case against these youngsters, because it is time that all important details, that perhaps we are not obtaining still, become known.
The hope is for the Public Prosecutor to close its case, that perhaps won’t be delayed much more, given that before the 3rd of April, the Public Prosecutor has to hand over all documents related to the investigation of this case to the judge who is dealing with the case of damages for prejudice brought by the van der Sloot family.
The Public Prosecutor cannot hand over the documents to the judge if they have not totally closed the case against Joran.
Given that they have indicated that before the end of March they will close to hand over the documents, this could be an indication that shortly after this, the Public Prosecutor can start the penal case against Joran van der Sloot.
Currently, the van der Sloot family is asking for more than 500,000 Florin [USD$279,330] for material and immaterial damages.
In the first instance, it was shown that Paul van der Sloot alone could sue for damages for prejudice; however, a judge from the Superior Court dictated that the whole family could sue for damages for prejudice.
After the Public Prosecutor indicated that before the end of March, the whole file of this case will be closed and handed over to the judge, the judge indicated that after he has had the chance to study the case file, he will give his verdict on the 1st of May.
On 3-20 “The Trinidad and Tobago Express“ reported:
Interpol agents on murder case
Local homicide officers have contacted Interpol to help them find two men they hope can help solve the strange case of a Rio Claro man who was invited to the United States, but who ended up in Jamaica and died in Aruba.
An initial autopsy in Aruba on the body of Bernard Ramsaran, 59, concluded that he died of heart failure.
A second autopsy done at the request of his family found something more sinister - traumatic asphyxia - which indicated he was strangled.
Ramsaran's family declined to speak to the Daily Express yesterday.
However, Investigators were told that in early February Ramsaran, of Agostini Road, Rio Claro, was contacted by a friend with whom he worked aboard a ship five years ago.
The friend reportedly offered Ramsaran a job in Texas. Ramsaran left the country, but on February 5, called his family from Jamaica to say he would be returning to Trinidad by sea.
On Carnival Sunday, a caller from Aruba contacted Ramsaran's family to say he had died and asked for two family members to come to the island to identify the body.
The family reported declined but an autopsy was done.
Ramsaran's body was returned to Trinidad on March 4, and an autopsy paid for by the family was done.
The finding was traumatic asphyxia and unnatural death.
The family reported the findings to Police.
Ramsaran's body was found to have several marks of violence. He was buried on Saturday after a funeral at his home.
San Fernando Homicide Bureau officers are investigating.
On 3-20 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:
Death aboard a ship seems to be a criminal act
ORANJESTAD (AAN): It seems that in Aruba, authorities immediately swallowed the story of the crew members of the ‘Rachel S’ ship, which arrived in Aruba the Sunday of Carnaval Grandi with a dead person on board.
There is a big possibility that the crew members ‘played a comedy’ which apparently turned bad, to cover up a possible crime that was committed on board.
The autopsy conducted in Aruba deduced that Bernard Ramsaran, 50 years of age, died of heart failure.
But now, an autopsy conducted in his country of Trinidad & Tobago, has deduced that Bernard died of something more sinister, ‘traumatic asphyxia’, which indicates that was strangled and choked! His death is nothing natural! It is a crime which took place on the high seas and now Interpol is involved.
The question is, how could Aruban authorities not discover this? The Trinidad & Tobago authorities discovered that Bernard’s body even had several marks of violence. Last Saturday, he was buried in his town of Rio Claro.
Interpol’s first mission is to find two of the crew members who possibly ‘lied’ about things turning bad immediately to divert the Aruban authorities who apparently also fell in the trap.
Again, a negative light is directed towards Aruba and its Police force.
On 3-20 FOX News (Thank You and Hat Tip to “Jacqueline”)
Greta: We recently sat down with joran. we asked what he thought of beth.
Joran: i do not think badly of her, if my daughter or a loved one was missing, i would feel the same way.
BETH: Hi Greta.
No, i don't buy what he says. we have spent too much time without any help fromhim. all we got were lies.
I watched all of the interview, twice.
It is difficult to watch joran and see how he coninually makes disturbing remarks about her. and when he goes thru the timeline, i see him having a great deal of difficulty in staying with you going over the timeline.
It was NOT difficult for me to watch him sit down with you. Any time we can get joran to speak it is a good thing. I would choose to sit down with him anytime, but would want himhooked up to a polygraph test.
I talked to him briefly the first night.
Not really that much different, he is just very arrogant, and not concerned from the beginning about any repurcussions.
I don't know what motivated him to come forward bu there is an agenda there. he is not coming with innocent hands. I don't know what it is, but i am sure there is an agenda.
Break now.
Is beth ready to talk to joran face to face after nine months?
Joran: i will be happy to answer any questions. I can understand if they hate me now.
Lawyers and parents told me not to talk to them while I was in prison.
BETH: Well, i don;t think we would have anything to lose to go without a polygraph, but what do we have to gain? I just don't think that we can decipher all of his lies. to let him speak freely, i don't think we are going to get anywhere with him.
Greta; but you are not going to get anywhere in a holding pattern. maybe he has some valuable info, and will slip up.
Beth; i think we would still have to have other parties there, it is not our area of expertise. If joran s ground rules were just dave and I, i don't hink i could get anywhere with him.
WHen i saw deepak at the Internet cafe, i never had any trouble, he would just not respond to me for 90 minutes. I would be curious to see if he would respond now. He was just so quiet with me, would not pick his head up or engage in any type of conversation with him.
Greta: deepak was openly hostile with me. he has been unable or unwilling to come forward. why has no one gotten to him.
BETH: i would like to talk to satish, i think he has quite a bit of involvement, and no one has been able to get to, and may be the easiest one to get info out of him.
Greta: the new search:
BETH: Well, i am glad to hear that they are conducting a search, when i hear about an upcoming trial, can we at least do a proper search first. all we want is the recovery of natalee.
No we are not going to give up, we are grateful for all the support, and eventually we will get to the bottom of it.
Greta: you and dave are entitled to answers. hope you get them.
3-21-06
On 3-21 the BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA “Birmingham News" reported:
Attorney: van der Sloot, Kalpoes Could Go On Trial This Summer
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Joran van der Sloot, Deepak Kalpoe and Satish Kalpoe, the three men last known to have seen missing Mountain Brook teenager Natalee Holloway, could go to trial for her death in Aruba this summer, the Kalpoes' attorney said in an MSNBC interview.
The Kalpoes' attorney, David Kock, told MSNBC that any or all of the men could face first-degree murder, manslaughter or accomplice charges.
"The (district attorney) can also present, let's say, the first instance, the heavier charge and then subsidiary. If that cannot be proven then, and if that cannot be proven, and then to lighter forms of crimes," Kock said.
Unlike in the justice system in the U.S., the three would not go before a jury but a panel of judges, and there is no possibility of a plea agreement.
Kock said the trial could happen in June or July.
"It's about three months away. When I met with the prosecutor in Aruba on one of my last trips there, I indicated to her I'd rather wait a little while and present a strong case rather than present this (with) little or insufficient evidence," said Dave Holloway, Natalee's father.
Kock said the evidence against his clients is all circumstantial.
"Sometimes, best friends lie for each other. Sometimes, no, I think a lot," Kock said.
Kock casts the blame on van der Sloot, who he said is still lying about what happened the night Natalee Holloway disappeared. Kock said his clients never came to get van der Sloot after he stayed at the beach with Natalee.
"They didn't pick him up, so that's a flagrant lie. If you say that, and he's saying that, and that's his story, and that he called Deepak and afterwards Satish came and he picked him up. That's a lie," Kock said.
Kock doubts that first-degree murder charges would stick because that would mean premeditation.
"I don't think that would even apply theoretically, first-degree murder, you know, because you would have to have an intent to do something, and if you just look at the facts, even if you would want to construct something, I don't think you can even construct first-degree murder," Kock said.
Kock said his clients would not go back to jail before or during the trial unless there was some significant evidence that was brought forward.
On 3-21 TOLEDO, OHIO ABC TV channel 13 reported:
Sylvania firm to help Holloway case
March 21, 2006 - The whereabouts of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway remain a mystery. But a Sylvania firm has been enlisted to help unravel that mystery.
A ground penetrating radar systems confirms it helped recently in the search of a beach area on Aruba.
That came after Arabian Police received a tip that Natalee's body was buried in the area. The firm uses specialized radar equipment. Natalee Holloway was last seen may 30th of last year while on a trip to Aruba.
On 3-21 BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated to FOX News:
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: We recently sat down with Joran van der Sloot, one of the prime suspects in Natalee Holloway's disappearance. We asked him what he thinks about Natalee's mother, Beth Holloway-Twitty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , CHIEF SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE: I don't have any — I don't have any bad, I mean, not regrets — I mean, I don't think badly of her. I mean, if my daughter — well, I don't have a daughter — if my daughter was missing, if I — or my brother or my mother, you know, someone was missing that I loved, and there was some kid with him last, you know, I'd — I'd probably feel — and everything that's here in the media, I'd feel that way, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Joining us from Birmingham is Beth Holloway-Twitty. Good evening, Beth.
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S MOTHER: Hi, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Beth, when you listen to that sound from Joran van der Sloot, how he feels about you and your feelings to him, do you buy it?
TWITTY: No, I don't buy it at all, Greta. Absolutely not. We spent too many frustrating days and weeks that turned into months searching for Natalee on that island with no help from Joran van der Sloot. The only thing we were getting from him was a litany of lies. So no, I don't buy any of it.
VAN SUSTEREN: Did you watch the entire interview? It was unedited. We did it on two successive nights, and then we did the third part, a small part, the next night. Did you watch it all?
TWITTY: Oh, yes, I watched them all, and I have seen it now a second time in its entirety.
VAN SUSTEREN: What was it like for you to watch it?
TWITTY: You know, it's so difficult for me to watch Joran and how he continually just makes all the disparaging remarks about Natalee. I mean, that is so difficult. And also, I noticed there in part two, probably the most difficult time is when Joran is pressed with the timeline from the night that they took Natalee. I could see him really having a great deal of difficulty in staying with you when he was having to give an account of the timeline of that night.
VAN SUSTEREN: Now, you and I have spent an awful lot of time together, talked together. You know my entire staff. Was it difficult for you that we sat down with him?
TWITTY: Oh, no. No, I mean, I think that any time that we can get Joran speaking, I think that he only incriminates himself every time. And you know, I've heard his offer that he is willing to sit down with myself or with Dave or the family, and absolutely, I would do it. I would go to Holland. I'd meet him wherever he would choose to. But you know, Greta, I would have to have one polygraph expert with me because, you know, just having Joran talk without any type of repercussions — I mean, I think those days are over for him. You know, I'd like to get to the bottom of where his lies are, and I think that a polygraph expert could help do that.
VAN SUSTEREN: When you look at his demeanor on the tapes — were you there — that first night, when you got to the island, I know that you were in the car outside his house. You had a chance to talk to him, is that right?
TWITTY: I did. It was very, very brief, though.
VAN SUSTEREN: Is there a way to compare and contrast the demeanor? Obviously, sitting down with us for the interview, you know, eight or nine months later is much different. But was — you know, how did it strike you?
TWITTY: You know, Greta, really not a lot — not really that much different. I mean, Joran has just been confident and very arrogant and just seemingly, like — you know, he's just not really concerned about any repercussions from the beginning. It's just like he's known that he was able to — or is known to be able to get away with anything that he chooses to.
VAN SUSTEREN: Why do you think he did talk to us?
TWITTY: I don't know. I don't know what motivated him to come forward. But you know, there certainly is an agenda there. I mean, we all know that. I mean, Joran isn't just coming on with innocent hands, and you know, just pleading his case to the media. There is an agenda behind this. I don't know what it is and I don't know when we'll find out, but you know, I'm certain that there's an agenda behind him doing this.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, Beth. Stand by. In fact, we'll play that sound where Joran does make that offer to you to talk to you. We'll play it for you after the break. We'll have much more.
And later: A young man accused of killing his law student girlfriend — what did he beg her to do in his last phone message?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: More than nine months after Natalee Holloway disappeared, is Beth Twitty ready to talk to Joran van der Sloot face to face?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VAN DER SLOOT: If Beth Twitty or Dave Holloway were to say, Joran, I want to come to Holland and talk to you — I mean, I'll invite them into my house. I'll answer any questions they have. I mean, I'll understand if they — if they don't — you know, if they're mad at me, I mean, I can understand that all. I can understand if they hate me or they despise me. I understand all that all.
But when I was in jail, I signed a paper for them to come talk to me, and then my lawyers and my parents said. No, you can't. You can't talk to them because they can come out saying anything, that you said anything. And you know, I've always — I've always wanted to talk to them. And I know they might not listen to me and they — you know, they don't — they might not believe me, but I'll talk to them and tell them anything they want to know, answer any of their questions, do anything of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: We'll continue with Natalee Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty. Beth, I know the last segment you said you'd like to do it but you'd want someone who's a polygraph expert. But you know, that's — that's not going to happen. He's not going to do that. But in the event that you might learn something from him, do you have anything to lose, just the two of you, without TV cameras, without anything but just you and Joran van der Sloot sitting down — because you're a pretty tough cross-examiner. Why not do that?
TWITTY: Well, I don't think we'd have anything to lose if Dave and I were to do that, but I just don't think that I'm going to gain one thing. And that's what concerns me.
VAN SUSTEREN: What do you lose? What do you lose by doing that? I mean, just on the off chance you do get some information or you get some sense of — you know, instead of going through this horrible pain, maybe you'd get lucky.
TWITTY: You know, I just don't think that we can decipher through all of his lies. I mean, I think that to get to the bottom of it — you know, just to let him speak freely, we're just — I just don't think that we're going to get anywhere with Joran. I really don't.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, you're not going to get anywhere in a holding pattern. I mean, he has — you know, he has spoken now for two-and-a-half hours with us unedited. He's not formally charged. He does have a civil case filed against him, but chances are, you'll never get him in deposition then. You know, maybe he has some valuable information, or maybe he'll slip up, maybe he'll convince you that he didn't do anything, maybe something.
TWITTY: I think if that were the case, if we were to find something like that, it would have to be somebody besides Dave and I. You know, we'd have to have some other parties there to help us do that because we're just not capable. We just — that is just not in our area of expertise at all. And you know, I just...
VAN SUSTEREN: I think you underestimate yourself.
TWITTY: Well...
VAN SUSTEREN: I think you underestimate yourself, Beth.
TWITTY: Well, I just — you know, if Joran's ground rules were just Dave and I, with no polygraph expert or no other individuals, I just don't — I just don't know that — I just don't think that I could get anywhere with him, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: You know, I'd like to talk to Deepak and Satish. I'd like to talk to them. How about you?
TWITTY: Well, you know, when I spoke with Deepak at the Internet cafe, I felt as if — for some reason, I didn't have any trouble in the 90 minutes that I was trying to engage in a conversation with Deepak. But the thing about it, he just would not respond to me at all. And you know, I'd be curious to see if he would respond now.
VAN SUSTEREN: You know, when I spoke to him in the cafe, as well, I thought he was openly hostile to me.
TWITTY: Well, you know, he was just so quiet with me. I mean, he would just not — he would not even — he couldn't even pick his head up and wouldn't even look at me, and you know, wouldn't engage in any type of conversation whatsoever. No matter how hard I tried or whatever I said, I could not get anywhere with him.
VAN SUSTEREN: I mean, I don't know what — how to interpret, you know, open hostility. A lot of people don't like me, I guess. You know — you know, I can't judge totally on that. But I — you know, he's been unwilling to step forward. And maybe his lawyer tells him not to. I know that Joran's lawyer told him not to. But I don't understand why neither he nor Satish has — you know, has sort of — you know, why we haven't been able to get to them. Nobody's been able to talk to them. Do you have any thoughts on that?
TWITTY: Well, I know that I would love for somebody to get to Satish Kalpoe because he seems like he's the one who's gotten off the easiest in all this. He seems to have just been the one that everyone's overlooked. We've always been thinking about Deepak and Joran, but I think Satish has quite a bit of involvement and knows exactly what happened. And I just hate that he's the only one that no one has been able to get to. And it seems like to me he might be the easiest one to get some information out of. We just don't seem to be able to find him.
VAN SUSTEREN: There's a new search that just started the other day. Is it — are you — are you thinking, like, I'm so glad this search is going forward, or are you thinking that this is a charade or something in between?
TWITTY: Well, you know, I'm glad to hear that they are thinking about or conducting a search because when I went — when I hear them mentioning an upcoming trial, I'm thinking it just doesn't fit. I mean, can we at least do a proper search before we even try to head to a trial? I mean, that is something the family — we have never pressured or even mentioned to the officials on the island of Aruba. I mean, you know, what we have been focused on is just the recovery of Natalee.
VAN SUSTEREN: This is terribly tough. You're not going to give up, are you.
TWITTY: No, and you know, we've just been so grateful for everybody's support, Greta, and just staying with the family and just trying to get information as best as we can. So I think that, eventually, we will get to the bottom of it, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, everyone's pounding on it. All the different cable news outlets, newspapers, everyone's been pounding on it. You certainly are entitled to answers, whatever they may be, Beth, and I hope you and Dave and everybody else gets them. Thank you, Beth.
TWITTY: Thank you, Greta.
On 3-21 MSNBC reported:
RITA COSBY, HOST: Still ahead, the exclusive details in the Aruba mystery that you
heard first on LIVE AND DIRECT.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID KOCK, KALPOE BROTHERS‘ ATTORNEY: I won‘t be surprised if it goes
(INAUDIBLE) June, July (INAUDIBLE) presented.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: For the first time, Natalee Holloway‘s mother reacts to the surprising news by
the attorney for two of the suspects. Does she have new hope for justice? I‘ll ask her.
…
And next, for the first time, Natalee Holloway‘s mom, Beth, is responding to the new
details that we brought you here first that the attorney for the two key suspects believes
the boys will go on trial for murder in a matter of months. That‘s coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSBY: Well, tonight, those close to Natalee Holloway‘s case are reacting to surprising
new details that we brought you right here on LIVE AND DIRECT last night. As you may
have heard, the attorney for the Kalpoe brothers told us in an exclusive interview that he
expects his clients, as well as Joran van der Sloot, will soon be brought to trial, possibly
for murder charges, perhaps as early as this summer. This is some of what the Kalpoes‘
attorney had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID KOCK, KALPOE BROTHERS‘ ATTORNEY: From the information that we are
getting, it seems like, you know, they know, too, they have to round this up. I won‘t be
surprised if, you know, summer, June, July, the case will be presented.
But I don‘t think that will even—that will not even apply theoretically, first-degree murder,
you know, because you would have to have an intent to do something. And if you just look
at the facts, even if you would want to construct something, I don‘t think you can even
construct first-degree murder.
The DA can also present, let‘s say, the first instance, the heavier charge, and then
subsidiary, if that cannot be proven, then—and if that cannot be proven, and then to
lighter forms of crimes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: And joining us now live with her reaction to what may be a major development is
Natalee‘s mom, Beth Holloway Twitty.
Beth, what do you think about the news?
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, MOTHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: Well, it‘s kind of
frightening, Rita, when I think about them now, you know, having these suspects go
before a judge of instruction. And I think that what we have known all along was that there
had to be more evidence brought forward.
And I just don‘t know what has come forward to proceed forward with the trial. So, you
know, it‘s just really frightening, because, I mean, it‘s one chance. I mean, we don‘t get a
second chance at this. Once they go before the judge of instruction for the charges, that‘s
it.
COSBY: You know, you bring up a good point, because last night we had Joran‘s
attorney, Joe Tacopina, on the show. And he, you know, even said, look, if it happens
today, he believes his client would be acquitted. And he also believes maybe it‘s a way to
sort of, quote, “get the monkey off the back,” is the way he described it. Let me play his
comment, and I‘ll get your reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE TACOPINA, JORAN VAN DER SLOOT ‘S ATTORNEY: If this case is supposed to
be resolved with a quick, shotgun trial, just to say, “Hey, we made arrests; we brought it
to trial. And there‘s no evidence, so there was an acquittal.” And Aruba thinks now the
monkey is off their back, you know, I think that‘s despicable to do to the Holloway family.
I don‘t think that‘s fair to do to Joran and his family or anyone else, for that matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: You know, Beth, are you worried that maybe the Aruban government is just trying
to rush this through now and then make it case closed?
TWITTY: Well, you know, it is a concern. And like I said, it is kind of frightening to think
about, that this is our one chance. And I just don‘t know what new evidence has been
brought forward in order for us to go to trial.
So, you know, I think that—you know, I heard Dave speak last night that, you know, we
have never pressured them, as far as, you know, proceeding forward to a trial. I mean,
we knew that the evidence had to be collected. And, you know, I think that we haven‘t
even been able to thoroughly exhaust some of the searches on the island of Aruba.
COSBY: No, you bring up some great points. You know, we were surprised about the
timing, too, Beth.
You know, are you concerned also about the Aruban justice system? In this particular
case, it‘s obviously different than our system. There‘s no jury. It goes before this panel
of judges. They can bring up different charges, too. You can start with the higher-up
charge and then go to lower charges. Are you concerned at the way the system is going
to work?
TWITTY: Well, I am concerned. Because, you know, if we look at our track record on
filing for motions of appeal, you know, we have not done very well. None of them have
ever been—we‘ve never been able to be successful there.
So, you know, it is a concern, Rita. And I just hope that, you know, they have all the
evidence that they need and they‘re prepared to move forward and press charges against
these suspects.
COSBY: You know, unless new evidence is uncovered, then maybe we don‘t about at this
point, Beth. Do you think there is enough to charge these boys, convict them even, with
murder or something, even a lesser charge?
TWITTY: You know, Rita, I just don‘t know. I just don‘t know. I knew that, when we were
speaking with the officials during the summer, that they were saying that they had enough
charges that they could bring forth this sexual charges. But as far as anything further than
that, you know, we were just not given any information on that.
COSBY: You know, one of the things we are seeing, Beth, is that there seems to be a bit
of crack between the boys, between the Kalpoe brothers and Joran van der Sloot. And,
in fact, last night we showed a clip. I‘m going to play it again.
This is the Kalpoe brothers‘ attorney, and he had some very strong words for some of the
claims made by Joran van der Sloot, saying the brothers they don‘t agree at all with some
of the statements that Joran has said. Here‘s what he had to tell us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They didn‘t pick him up, yes? So that‘s a flagrant lie, if you say
that. And he‘s saying that‘s his story, that they that he called Deepak and afterwards Satish
came and picked him up, yes? That‘s a lie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: That‘s pretty strong words to say, a flagrant lie. It seems that things are getting
heated between them. That could be a good sign, right, if something‘s going to crack?
TWITTY: Oh, right. And, you know, we‘ve known that the suspects have divided as early
as June, and it escalated again in September.
And, you know, what Jug and I had discussed last night was that, you know, we go back
to the very beginning. And that‘s the reason why Paulus van der Sloot was arrested in
connection with Natalee‘s disappearance, because he had lied to the authorities by
saying that he had changed his pickup time.
He had initially told the witnesses that he himself had picked up Joran van der Sloot at
4:00 a.m. on the night of the 30th. But he later changed it about three weeks into the
investigation that he did not pick up Joran at 4:00 a.m. on the 30th.
So that was the reason why Paulus van der Sloot was arrested. And, you know, we think
back on that. And when we think that, you know, maybe Deepak and Satish were not
there to pick up Joran van der Sloot, but it was Paulus van der Sloot himself.
COSBY: Which begs a lot of questions. The question is: Who is lying tonight, Beth? And
I‘m sure wondering more than anyone.
Are you worried, if this does go to a trial, as the Kalpoe brothers‘ attorney is
suggesting—he‘s saying June or July—are you worried, case closed, that they‘re stop
the search even?
TWITTY: Well, I am worried. And I think that the track record speaks for itself, Rita. I
mean, we just have not been very successful when we bring forward these cases in
front of the judge of instruction.
I just hope that they have all the evidence that they need and are really ready to press
charges against these suspects. I mean, that‘s all the family can rely on.
COSBY: You bet. And you deserve it, Beth. And I do hope justice is served for you.
Thank you so much, Beth.
And now let‘s bring in, if we could, Steve Cohen. He‘s a special adviser to the Aruban
government. And joining us now live on the phone from the island is Aruban attorney
Arlene Ellis Schipper.
Steve, does the Aruban government want to see this case go to trial and wrapped up in
some shape or form, whichever way it is?
STEVE COHEN, ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE”
MEMBER: There‘s no question that the goal has always been to figure out what
happened to Natalee, who was responsible, if anyone, was there criminality? You
know, we want that result. But all that‘s happened here, Rita, is that you have an
aggressive producer who got hold of the attorney, and the attorney, just talking out loud,
thinking out loud, came up with these suppositions that are totally...
COSBY: All right, Steve. I got to interrupt you. I got to interrupt you on two counts.
First of all, our producer wasn‘t aggressive; he was doing his job. And second of
all, Steve, I can tell you, if you listened to the whole thing—I‘m not sure if you saw
the whole thing—he essentially said, “I‘m getting information that,” and it sounds
like it‘s coming from the prosecutor‘s office or somewhere. So he‘s providing this
information. You can‘t blame an attorney saying it, and you can‘t blame us for...
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: I‘m telling you that all that‘s happened is that this is conjecture, that there
is no one inside the case, either the investigators or the office of the prosecution,
that told this attorney what he said. So I have to say that...
(CROSSTALK)
COSBY: Are you saying just this attorney—I‘ve got to interrupt you, Steve. Are
you saying this attorney‘s just making it up? This is the Kalpoe brothers‘ attorney.
And why would he want to even say this, that his clients could be facing murder
charges? It doesn‘t make his clients look good.
COHEN: Because I think that, when you ask an attorney questions like he was
asked, he‘s going to offer his instinctive, you know, feelings. He‘s going to offer
what he thinks could happen. And it was about what he said could happen, not
what would happen.
(CROSSTALK)
COSBY: But, Steve, he did say, “I have inside information.”
COHEN: I have to be a little bit more—a little bit firmer with you. Nothing‘s changed in
this case. The investigation has not concluded. Until the investigation is concluded, the
office of the prosecution will not know exactly what they have with their case that they
then can present to the judge.
COSBY: All right, let me bring in Arlene Ellis, because let me be firm with you. Then
the question is: Why would this guy say he‘s getting inside information? Are you saying
that this attorney is lying, Arlene, and just making it up for some attention? I find that
hard to believe.
ARLENE ELLIS-SCHIPPER, ARUBA “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE”
MEMBER: Well, I listened to your sound bite. And I actually called up the attorney‘s office
today to get an explanation straight from the horse‘s mouth. And basically he confirmed
that he just speculated on information that he got.
It is his estimation and speculation. There‘s nothing confirmed, like Mr. Cohen said.
There‘s key elements missing in order to conclude that this case is going to trial.
And first of all, the police must feel that the investigation is complete. Then, they close
the investigation regarding these suspects, send the official and complete case files to
the prosecutor‘s office. And then the prosecutor has the sole capacity to decide on a
prosecutional decision that can be either to prosecute or not.
COSBY: And, Arlene, I agree that—and I agree with you and Steven in the sense that
I don‘t think that this is the right time, based on everything that we‘ve seen publicly.
But I will tell you that he was very clear—and it‘s even on camera saying I am getting
information, I‘m being told, and would not be surprised that. Is the Aruban government
putting heat on this guy for speaking forward, Arlene?
ELLIS-SCHIPPER: No, not at all. It is a common, known fact that the prosecution‘s office wants
to bring this case to trial, but they will only do so if they feel confident.
Because, as Ms. Twitty already said, there is the issue of double jeopardy. And no
prosecutor in her right mind will bring the case to trial if she feels not confident.
And, yes, he thinks—it is his estimation that, possibly, if they don‘t feel comfortable
about a murder charge, they could bring them up for lesser charges, if they feel
comfortable, but it‘s all estimation and speculation. And I do not want to feed any
expectations or raise any expectations, if we are still in the face of active and open
investigations, which we are still at.
COSBY: All right, well, both of you, thank you again. And, again, everybody, we just
want to tell you again what he said to us on camera, was he is being told that he‘s getting
information that he would not be surprised if June and July as you saw specifically on
camera, that there could be a trial starting in June or July.
And, again, of course, we hope that that‘s not the case, if there‘s not new information one
way or the other, for the family, of course. But indeed that is what he said on camera,
everybody. And our producer did do a great job. Hats off to our producer, Darren Mackoff,
who went down there.
3-22-06
On 3-22 the “Aruba Strategic Communications Task Force” reported:
Attorney Interview Causes Stir
An interview with an MSNBC producer has created a distracting side story in the understanding into the investigation of what happened to Natalee Holloway.
Kalpoe attorney, David Kock, told the producer he would not be surprised if his clients were charged with “murder” by the summer.
Talk show hosts, especially Rita Cosby, thought this was a break in the case. It was not.
As reported by Arlene Ellis-Schipper on that program, it was conjecture on the part of the attorney and only that. He did not have any information from the prosecution to suggest a change in the case.
A transcript for the March 20 interview is available at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11943269
At this point, here is what is actually happening:
1. The investigation has not concluded. Further probing of the site by the Lighthouse will begin in earnest with specialized dogs and sub surface radar.
2. Once the investigation is concluded it will then be reviewed by the prosecutor. Upon the prosecutor’s determination of the case it will then be brought to a judge.
3. Only at that point will the decision be made to have a trial.
A careful review of the case is ongoing and there is no rush to judgment on the case. The interviews of Joran, and now the interview with Mr. Kock, have had no influence on the disposition of the case.
On 3-22 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:
PG looses lawsuit
Theresa Croes-Fernandez
ARUBA – Members of Parliament are allowed to criticize the work of the Prosecution Council (OM). Unless well-founded, also the media can comment on alleged abuse.
Yesterday, Attorney General (PG) Theresa Croes-Fernandez lost the lawsuits that she instituted against AVP-members Arthur Dowers and Mike Eman and the newspaper Diario.
With this verdict it is certain that Eman and Dowers and Diario do not have to rectify what they have said about the independency, objectivity, and political influence of the OM. After analyzing what was said during the hearings, the judge indicated that the case is about the freedom of opinion and this can only be restricted if it is legally in the interest of the protection of the reputation or the rights of others, or to maintain the authority and the impartiality of the judicial power. For the freedom of press counts that the media can exaggerate and even provoke. The judge indicated though that the journalists should not insult people personally and should do thorough journalistic investigations. In this case the intensions were not to insult the PG and the comments in the media were in a column, in which the writer has the room to express his/her opinion.
The judge did criticize Diario’s lack of investigation though. On the other hand he said that the OM has a press briefing department that could have been involved to contradict the out of court statements.
The judge said furthermore that the Members of Parliament have diplomatic immunity, but that in a democratic society, the discussions took place for an important part outside the Parliament, amongst other in the media. But that doesn’t mean that Members of Parliament can say whatever they want, but that the judge must be reserved when prohibiting statements outside the Parliament.
On 3-22 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:
Mike Eman: ‘Constitutional state overcomes’
ARUBA –This is not a victory for the AVP, Mike Eman, or Arthur Dowers, but for the constitutional state. Within our constitutional state we have the necessary room to critically surveil the functioning of the OM in the parliamentary and public debate. With this, the judge has restored the confidence in the democracy that the OM has affected, said Mike Eman in a first reaction on the verdict, indicating that AVP, Eman, and Dowers do not have to rectify their concerns about political influence in the decision-making of the PG and the OM.
My fellow party members are witnesses of how often I had to convince the party council of the AVP that one should be very precise and careful when publicallyquestioning the work and the position of the OM”, said Eman. Often he had to tell the party that the OM has a tas+ that can damage the interest of the people, even take away the freedom, causing a suspect and his/her family a lot of pain and harm. “The society must therefore have full confidence that the OM performs his work in an objective manner.” In order to do his job, the OM must have authority in the society. But this same constitutional state that we defended when we gave the OM the benefit of the doubt, also forces us to consider which position we should take when it becomes clear that the constitutional state is in danger with an OM that had become biased ! That’s when we went public to express our concern about the objectivity of the OM. In our view, the OM proceeded arbitrarily.” Eman pointed out the cases that were not persecuted, and comparable cases that the OM took in hand, and all this with the pretence of political preference. “We are pleased with this verdict. It gives us room to expose dangerous tendencies with reference to such an important institution in our society. We are happy that we live in the Royal Dutch Kingdom, where party-political influence is frankly kept out of the administration of justice”, says Eman.
On 3-22 the ST. MAARTEN “Daily Herald” reported:
Pechtold coming for tough bilateral talks on March 27
PHILIPSBURG--Dutch Minister of Kingdom Affairs Alexander Pechtold will be in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba March 27-30 for what are expected to be tough bilateral talks on constitutional reform with all Island Territories, the Central Government and the government of Aruba.
Reports Tuesday said he would be seeking to establish new workable and efficient constitutional structures.
One of his main objectives during the talks will be to maintain a single judicial chain for all the islands in the wake of constitutional reform and the islands’ acquisition of new statuses.
He will also be pushing to ensure that there will be government supervision at a level higher than island level; to ensure that there will be independent financial supervision regulated by Kingdom law; and that there will be one Central Bank with one common currency for all the new entities and no borrowing authority, to prevent accumulation of new debts.
Pechtold will arrive in Curacao on Sunday, March 26. He will in St. Maarten Monday, March 27, to talk with representatives of the Windward Islands. He will return to Curacao Tuesday, March 28, to meet Curacao and Bonaire delegations.
A meeting with the new Central Government is planned for Wednesday, March 29. During that meeting it will be decided whether a Kingdom Summit will be organizedbefore the next Round Table Conference (RTC).
Pechtold will also get together with the three Justice Ministers of the Kingdom on Wednesday, March 29. He will go to Aruba for deliberations Thursday, March 30, before returning to the Netherlands.
Antillean Prime Minister Etienne Ys confirmed Tuesday that he had received a letter by e-mail from Pechtold informing him of Pechtold’s visit, but declined to give further details. This letter was sent to Ys on March 17 and was discussed by members of the Curacao Island Council Tuesday.
In his letter Pechtold referred to the decision to hold bilateral political meetings before a Round Table Conference (RTC) because there were still fundamental disagreements that had to be cleared up.
Pechtold also sent a letter to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on March 17 informing it of his upcoming visit to the Netherlands Antilles. In this letter he outlined his policy towards the meetings, which are basically based on the issues on which no consensus could be reached in the RTC preparatory committee.
Regarding maintenance of law and security, Pechtold’s point of view is that there should remain only one Common Court of Justice, including the Court of First Instance, and one Prosecutor’s Office for all the islands. Maintenance of the law should be a joint effort with equal laws and guaranteeing professionalism and quality of service within the judicial chain.
Referring to the aspect of good governance Pechtold’s focal point will be that the new entities must guarantee stable democracy with sufficient checks and balances. “An integrity policy according to the ‘Konfiansa’ report must be developed before the entities can obtain their new statuses and government supervision of a higher level than the island level has to be place.”
On the subject of finance and economics, he wants to put in place independent supervision on all public finances, regulated by Kingdom law. “There should be only one Central Bank with one common currency for all the new entities. No independent authority to borrow should be allowed, to prevent accumulation of new debts,” Pechtold stated in his letter.
Furthermore, he mentioned that financial management must be structurally ordered, for the Netherlands to give debt relief. Clear regulations must also be put in place concerning foreign and defencepolicy.
Pechtold was supposed to debate this letter with members of the Dutch Parliament yesterday, March 20, but the meeting was postponed because the minister could not attend due to illness.
On 3-22 the “AP” reported:
Aruba Reportedly Has Witness in Teen Case
(AP) Aruban Police reportedly have a new witness in the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway and plan to conduct another search for her body on the Dutch Caribbean island.
The witness provided specific information that prompted Investigators to organize a search in sand dunes along the northern tip of the island, Gerald Dompig, Aruba's deputy chief of Police said in an interview with CBS television's "48 Hours Mystery" program, which released a partial transcript of the interview on Wednesday.
Dompig said Investigators will use cadaver dogs to search near a lighthouse and believe that someone took steps to carefully hide Holloway's body--perhaps burying her twice.
The CBS interview was scheduled for broadcast on Saturday.
The witness said "he knew more about the whereabouts of Natalee," Dompig said. "The information that this person gave was too specific to just be a story that was just made up by someone."
Aruban authorities declined to comment on the report Wednesday.
Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty of Mountain Brook, Ala., said she's aware of the program.
"I'm just waiting to see it Saturday night," Twitty said.
Holloway, 18, was last seen leaving a bar with Dutch national Joran van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. No one has been charged in her disappearance and the investigation has produced a number of false leads.
In January, Aruban Investigators searched sand dunes on the northwest coast of the island with more than 50 officers. At the time, Dompig said Police have considered the dunes a place of interest since the investigation began and had searched them before.
On 3-22 the HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA “Huntsville Times” reported:
Justice for Natalee?
New reports from Aruba say charges may be filed soon
America's middle-class families - not to mention a lot of Alabamians - have taken an extraordinary interest in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, the Mountain Brook high school graduate who vanished on the island of Aruba last May.
Now there are indications that charges may be filed in Natalee's disappearance and presumed death.
This week, in a television interview, an attorney for two of the named-but-not-charged suspects, said he expects the case to come to court this summer. That would seem to indicate murder or homicide charges against one or more of the three: Joran van der Sloot, 19, and the brothers Deepak Kalpoe, 22, and Satish Kalpoe, 19.
The three were the last people to be seen with Natalee last May 30. They have been detained and questioned, but no charges have been filed to date, and Natalee's body has not been found. Other suspects have been questioned and dismissed.
Beth Twitty, Natalee's mother, said she hadn't been notified of any pending legal action but she was encouraged by the news. Since her daughter's disappearance, Twitty has doggedly pursued Aruban authorities, and she has personally confronted the three apparent suspects.
Several weeks ago, a suit filed by Twitty and Natalee's father against van der Sloot and his father appeared to shed some light on the case. The suit alleges that van der Sloot had previously undergone counseling for hostility toward women. van der Sloot 's lawyer has asked a New York court to dismiss the suit on the grounds that it has no connection to New York. A hearing on the motion is set for May.
In the suit, according to The Birmingham News, Twitty alleges that "van der Sloot is no stranger to sexual assault on young women," citing claims from three young Aruban women that he date-raped them. It also says van der Sloot's parents knew about his 'proclivities' and that he received counseling as recently as May. Twitty said Anita and Paul van der Sloot told her about the counseling when she met with them at their home on the island last summer."
One big problem remains in securing a conviction - whether of van der Sloot, the Kalpoe brothers or anyone else: Natalee has apparently vanished from the face of the Earth. Repeated searches on Aruba and in the Caribbean waters surrounding it have failed to find any sign of her. The lack of a body - and possibly the lack of any physical evidence - would make a conviction difficult in the United States and may do the same in Aruba.
The Twitty family, naturally, seeks justice in Natalee's name. And with that justice must come, at last, the whole truth about what happened last May after she was seen with van der Sloot and the two brothers at a bar.
It's indeed odd that three young men, two of them teenagers, could stay quiet for so long and after so much Police questioning. But the world can be a puzzling place. Let's hope the Aruba's legal system can bring some definitive closure to this case and accord some peace to Natalee Holloway's family.
On 3-22 FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN summarized a translated June 10th, 2005 statement made by Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT to ARUBAN Police.
FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN stated that instead of reading it from its entirety, here are some bullet points from Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT 's declaration:
- Joran says that when he, Deepak and Satish went out on May 29th, Deepak’s car looked clean.
- Joran says that it takes a case of beer to get him tipsy
- Joran says that when Deepak is drunk, he becomes aggressive and irritated
- Joran says that before Natalee went missing, he was being treated by a psychologist because he took money from his parents and broke his brother’s phone
FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN stated that in the June 21, 2005 un-recorded meeting between BETH, GRETA, Former Murder Suspect PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT , and ANITA VAN DER SLOOT inside the Murder Suspects VAN DER SLOOT home, that ANITA VAN DER SLOOT admitted to BETH and GRETA that before NATALEE vanished, his parents made Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT regularly meet with a psychologist before NATALEE vanished to try and learn to control his repeated public and private demonstrations of anger.
???? Did Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT meet with the anger psychologist starting before 2005???? Which psychologist???? Etc, etc????
GRETA further stated that in the same June 21, 2005 meeting ANITA VAN DER SLOOT detailed very graphically to BETH and FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN the sexual acts that Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT committed against NATALEE (while, as even Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT has admitted vocally and in writing, NATALEE was slipping in and out of consciousness). FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN also stated that while listening to ANITA VAN DER SLOOT graphically detail the sexual acts that Prime Murder Suspect JORAN VAN DER SLOOT admitted to ANITA VAN DER SLOOT that he had committed against a barely conscious NATALEE, GRETA personally felt like she wanted to crawl under the table and hide.
3-23-06
On 3-23 CBS TV reported:
Natalee Case In 'Critical Last Phase'?
Gerold Dompig, deputy chief of Police in Aruba and the man leading the investigation into the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, is breaking his silence on the case in an exclusive interview with 48 Hours correspondent Troy Roberts.
Dompig tells Roberts that Investigators believe Holloway's body is on the island, but suspects it was moved to avoid detection and then re-buried. Dompig says the probe to determine what happened to the 18-year-old is in the "critical last phase."
Dompig's remarks will be broadcast this Saturday, March 25, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Dompig tells Roberts that Investigators have credible information on a possible location of the body and will be employing ground radar and cadaver dogs in their search. Dompig says a critical new witness has surfaced: "He [the witness] wanted to talk about the fact that he knew more about the whereabouts of Natalee …concerning a specific burial location. … The information that this person gave was too specific to just be a story that was just made up by someone."
Based on the new information, Investigators will begin a new search on the northern tip of the island in the sand dunes near the lighthouse. The authorities' new theory is that someone took the time to carefully hide Holloway's body, perhaps twice.
Police say Holloway vanished on May 30, 2005, at the end of a graduation trip to the Caribbean island after a night of drinking with friends.
On 3-23 the “UPI” reported:
New lead in missing teen case in Aruba
Police in Aruba have uncovered a new lead into the mystery of a missing 18-year-old Alabama girl who was last seen May 30, CBS News reported Thursday.
In an interview with the network, Deputy chief of Police Gerold Dompig said a critical new witness has surfaced, and Investigators will begin a new search for Natalee Holloway on the northern tip of the island in the sand dunes near a lighthouse.
"The information that this person gave was too specific to just be a story that was just made up by someone," Dompig said.
He said ground radar and cadaver dogs would be used in the search.
Dompig said Investigators believe Holloway's body is on the island, but suspect it was moved to avoid detection, and then re-buried.
Holloway vanished on May 30, 2005, at the end of a graduation trip to the Caribbean island after a night of drinking with friends. She was last seen leaving a bar with a Dutch national and two brothers from Surinam.
On 3-23 FOX News reported that during his interviews in the upcoming 3-25 CBS TV show “48 Hours,” ARUBAN Police commissioner GERALD DOMPIG will state--even though the ARUBAN Police have not yet found NATALEE’s body, and despite ARUBAN Police commissioner GERALD DOMPIG sitting on what he has repeatedly been termed a very “credible tip” from 3+ months ago that her body is still buried in the “California lighthouse” sand dunes--that NATALEE was not premeditatedly murdered, but rather, it is ARUBAN Police commissioner GERALD DOMPIG’s opinion that NATALEE died of her own over-consumption of alcohol and/or drugs.
On 3-23 BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY stated to FOX News:
BILL O'REILLY, HOST: Beth, you're hearing most of this CBS thing for the first time.
BETH HOLLOWAY-TWITTY, MOTHER OF MISSING GIRL: I am, most of it for the first time.
O'REILLY: Is there any conduit you have to the authorities to give you a head's up?
BETH: When I think about the communication, now we have John Kelly to get communication, there may be something he knows, filtering it, he really had to put the brakes on in December, because we'd been on a such a roller coaster ride.
O'REILLY: If CBS goes to Aruba talks to Dompig and he says certain things that Julia told us about like a new witness, about a new theory, if he says that to CBS and they're going to air that, you'd think they would give you a courtesy call so you don't sit in your living room and not know anything.
BETH: Some of the info we've been getting, I have to filter it myself, we have just been riding this with them for so long, I don't put stock in anything anymore.
O'REILLY: It's brutal, professionalism dictates that if he believes this, he should have gone to your family first. I still can't believe it takes 2 months to excavate a site...has CBS been in touch with you, asked for an interview?
BETH: Yes, I was involved, we started a few months ago, I got a couple of calls today and yesterday, warning me of the info that would be coming out. I've been kept in the loop just briefly.
O'REILLY: You didn't participate in the story?
BETH: I did an interview with CBS some time ago, but I don't know what portion will be aired.
O'REILLY: At least CBS had the courtesy to keep you in the loop, you've been on this roller coaster too long. It's probably best that you step back. I'm disappointed and your governor is too in the Aruban performance. I don't want you to slam them, but this isn't the humane way to go about this, the way is to keep your family informed on what they have and what they're doing.
BETH: I think that all we have wanted is to stay focused on our girl, if they know where she's buried, let's get it under way and recover her and bring her back to the US.
O'REILLY: It doesn't make sense that it takes 2 months to excavate a site. Anything we can do Mrs. Twitty--let us know. If we can go down there and shake those guys up let us know.
On 3-23 FOX News reported:
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Deputy Police chief Gerald Dompig tells CBS News' "48 Hours" that he strongly feels Natalee Holloway died from alcohol or drugs, it wasn't murder. But how much did Natalee have to drink that night?
Joran van der Sloot told us Natalee did not seem drunk when they were on the beach together that night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN SUSTEREN: Are you able to estimate how long you were on the beach with Natalee?
JORAN VAN DER SLOOT , CHIEF SUSPECT IN NATALEE HOLLOWAY DISAPPEARANCE: Yes, it was probably an hour, maybe not even an hour.
VAN SUSTEREN: So besides walking north in the direction away from her hotel, what else were you doing?
VAN DER SLOOT: Nothing really, just holding hands and talking about, yes, everything.
VAN SUSTEREN: What was her condition?
VAN DER SLOOT: To me, she seemed like she had something to drink, but she seemed fine. You know, she knew what she was doing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAN SUSTEREN: Joining us from New York is former Westchester DA Jeanine Pirro. In San Francisco is former assistant DA Jim Hammer. Here in Washington, defense attorneys Ted Williams and Bernie Grimm.
Jeanine, I confess, I would love to have this interview that CBS beat us out for. What would be your reaction, if you were Karin Janssen and Dompig got on camera and said these things?
JEANINE PIRRO, FORMER WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY, DA: Well, you know, I have three reactions, Greta. Number one, I am very concerned about someone in law enforcement who gets on television and says, you know, We think she died not as a result of a homicide, not that anybody can even be sure of that, at this point, but rather the use of alcohol and drugs. I mean, that is slanderous in terms of this victim. What we're doing is, we're trashing the victim now.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, let me stop right here. Let me just stop right here, and let me run through this a little bit because I got a little bit of history on this. I've got in my hand a June 9 statement that Deepak made while he was in custody, and this was after they left the bar that night. Deepak says, "She was, after all, drunker than before. I thought she talked too much. She talked pretty loud." He's talking about her intoxication.
I have an F.B.I. 302 form — the F.B.I. would probably have a stroke if they know that we got these. But it says in an interview with one of her friends on June 3, her friend, Lee (ph), and she says, "During the early morning hours, they were drinking alcohol, something called red fires."
I've got another 302 of an interview done on June 2 with Catherine Whatley (ph), another friend, and says Holloway was drinking red fires, which had 151 in them. That's talking about Sunday night. There's no question there was alcohol, but she didn't deserve to die because she was drinking.
PIRRO: But not just the alcohol. And you have someone in law enforcement saying the alcohol and drugs, when he can't even say that she was using drugs. He can only say that a credible witness said that she possessed drugs. How dare you say she died of a combination of the two!
VAN SUSTEREN: Oh, I agree with that. I agree with that.
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: OK, we are not suggesting that she wasn't drinking. She was a college kid on vacation. But to say that it was the use of alcohol and drugs that caused her death, that's my first concern. I don't like it!
VAN SUSTEREN: Actually — let me stop there. I agree with you on that.
PIRRO: All right, second concern is this. If you believe that the body was buried and reburied, stop talking about it and go do something! Get it done instead of getting on television to talk about it. Number three is this, Greta. It's quite possible that law enforcement is using the media to smoke out more information or to get someone to start talking about or doing something while they are under surveillance.
VAN SUSTEREN: You're giving them more credit on number three, I'll tell you, because they don't even return my phone calls. In fact, I'm even a little bit wanted down there.
(LAUGHTER)
VAN SUSTEREN: So anyway, Ted?
JIM HAMMER, FORMER ASST. SAN FRANCISCO DA: There's an arrest warrant for you, Greta.
TED WILLIAMS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Let me just say this. This is the most disrespectful, most insensitive thing that Dompig and a chief of Police could do to this family. Look, you go, you find the body, and then you talk about the fact that she was on some drug.
PIRRO: Absolutely!
WILLIAMS: The mere fact that you go on television and you announce this without having a body — and then to say that she overdosed? Well, if she overdosed, did she then become alive and take herself somewhere and bury herself? This is ridiculous!
(LAUGHTER)
BERNIE GRIMM, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think Jeanine had 57 points. I agree with 47B13 that she made...
(LAUGHTER)
GRIMM: ...which is if you're doing an interview with "48 Hours" and you have specific information from a credible witness that he said — and he said it's impossible this person could have made this up, we believe that she's in place X — not to be crude about it, why they hell doesn't he have a shovel and dig in that place right now? I mean, it's time to get going on this! He had this tip a long time ago. May is sort of around the corner now.
VAN SUSTEREN: Yes, I'm anxious to see the rest of the interview. I mean, that's the stuff that we're hearing about now. And they're going to bring some of the tape tomorrow night, but they're going to show all of it on Saturday night. Jim?
HAMMER: You know, the person I want to hear from, Greta, the one we've not heard from these nine months, is Karin Janssen. I think, if, in fact, she said today what Dave claimed, Dave Holloway, that is, this is an old tip, that makes sense to me. If this were such a hot, credible tip, any cop worth his salt would be out there with a team of people digging in those sand dunes. I think it's probably not a fresh tip or a credible tip. But to drag the family through this, like Jeanine said, is really unforgivable. The first phone call ought to be to a victim's family, not to the news media.
PIRRO: Exactly.
HAMMER: And for this poor family repeatedly to have to learn on the news what's happening in this investigation — which is usually nothing, by the way — is unforgivable!
VAN SUSTEREN: You know, I honestly don't believe this sand dune tip for the simple reason is that in my wildest dreams, I cannot believe if Police have a tip where a body is, that they sit in the office and talk about it.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: And take it one step further. If you are going on "48 Hours" and talking about you know where the body is, well, the crook or the criminal knows where it is, so why doesn't the criminal go and move the body again?
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: That's so stupid!
PIRRO: Ted, that's exactly the point! It is so outrageous and so beyond the pale, that the only credible excuse you could give them for saying it is, maybe they're trying to smoke out the criminal to see if he's going to go dig out...
HAMMER: You're giving them too much credit, Jeanine.
WILLIAMS: Yes, you're giving them too much credit.
PIRRO: If we can't give them credit, then what we have to say is it's just plain stupid!
WILLIAMS: It is! It is stupid.
HAMMER: They make the Keystone Kops look like the FBI!
WILLIAMS: Let me say it for you, Jeanine. It is stupid and it's disrespectful!
VAN SUSTEREN: Is it stuck on stupid?
WILLIAMS: Greta gave me the words!
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIAMS: It's just stuck on stupid!
VAN SUSTEREN: Bernie, I'll give you the last word on this.
GRIMM: You know, we laugh about it, but I mean, we all feel terrible about it. And Beth Holloway's been in the studio and she's a very engaging person. But when she was asked, What do you know about this, and she said, I'll just have to watch the rest of the program...
HAMMER: That's outrageous!
GRIMM: No one's told her. No one's told her.
HAMMER: Outrageous!
VAN SUSTEREN: I mean, this family's got a broken heart, and this has been bizarre!
PIRRO: But this is part of the ripple effect that families go through. You know, when someone becomes the victim of a crime, it's not just the victim, it's the family. And the heartache goes on and on and on.
VAN SUSTEREN: Yes, but wait a second, Jeanine. Jeanine, not every crime can be solved. Not every missing person is a crime. But you can...
PIRRO: But they deserve dignity!
VAN SUSTEREN: Yes, right. You can do it with manners. You can stay in touch with the people.
WILLIAMS: That's right!
VAN SUSTEREN: You can show that if you have a tip that a body is buried there, you can get out there with a shovel!
WILLIAMS: You can conduct a professional investigation. You don't conduct an investigation like Dompig! And if anybody needs to boycott that island, they need to boycott it to get rid of this chief of Police!
(LAUGHTER)
VAN SUSTEREN: How do you really feel, Ted?
HAMMER: I thought you were against that, Ted.
WILLIAMS: I'm against the boycott of Aruba, but this chief needs to go!
(LAUGHTER)
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Panel, thank you. Ted takes the last word on that. He will not be going to Aruba.
(LAUGHTER)
According to Mountain Brook classmate FBI statements that FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN made available later for the TV cameras, NATALEE was drunk and was escorted to her “Holiday Inn” room on Friday night [5-27] by a male classmate friend.
On 3-23 “Texas EquuSearch” wrote on its Internet home page, “Dave Holloway wanted Texas EquuSearch to express the family's appreciation to those that continue to support the search for their beloved Natalee. He wanted you to know that we are currently on standby as we await Aruba PD's search of the sand dune areas. After that area is cleared, TES will be returning to Aruba to finish the search of the ocean. Dave feels this case will be resolved and that no one intends to give up until Natalee is brought home.”
On 3-23 the “Riehl World blog” reported, “Update: Some sources are claiming that the Dutch plan to send someone from Holland to take over the Natalee Holloway investigation in Aruba. That hasn't been confirmed, though it has been said to have aired on Dutch television today. The Nova program, I believe”
On 3-23 MSNBC reported:
RITA COSBY, HOST: But first, some breaking news in the Natalee Holloway investigation. In a shocking new CBS News report, the chief investigator in the case says Natalee Holloway may not have been murdered, and instead may have died from a drug and alcohol-related overdose. And for the first time, we are seeing this newly released photo of Natalee. It’s the last known image of the Alabama teen from the night that she disappeared.
Natalee Holloway’s mother, Beth, joins us now by phone with her reaction. Beth, what do you think when you hear all of this?
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY’S MOTHER: Well, Rita, I—you know, I’m hearing that—something just doesn’t seem to fit, if we’re talking about, you know, Natalee have—you know, having died from a drug overdose. I mean, you know, I think that the bottom line is, we’re looking at, you know, where is Natalee, you know? We’re looking at a recovery mission. And really, what we wanted to stay focused on, let’s get these searches under way on the sand dunes, and let’s find out if—we need to rule this in or out, find out where Natalee is, where they placed her.
COSBY: You know, they’re saying that there’s no proof of her using drugs in this report, Beth, and I’m sure it’s hard to hear, but they also say that she may have been in possession of drugs. And again, maybe somebody pushed it on her, slipped it in her drink. Maybe she had purchased it. It’s unclear.
Have you ever known anything with Natalee with drugs?
TWITTY: Oh, absolutely not, Rita. Absolutely not. And you know, we’ve always gone back to that night and the way Joran has described Natalee as coming in and out of consciousness and talking about a lot of strange things. And it has always been in our minds, thinking that it sounded as if Natalee had been drugged. And Natalee—it certainly, certainly would have been unknowingly. I mean, there’s—you know, and we think of the connections that Joran van der Sloot has on the island of Aruba. I mean, he’s very well connected to the well-known drug dealer that has the ecstasy—access to ecstasy. So you know, it’s always been in our mind that they had drugged Natalee, once they took her from Carlos and Charlie’s.
COSBY: And in fact, let me put up the quote. This is from the chief investigative, Chief Gerold Dompig. This is what he’s saying about sort of access to drugs. He says, “We do not have proof that Natalee used drugs but that witnesses saw her with drugs in her possession.”
Do you have any idea, Beth, who those witnesses may have been? Have your—has your attorney talked to those witnesses?
TWITTY: No. No, I have no knowledge of that, Rita, absolutely no knowledge of that being true at all.
COSBY: You know, one of the things that they’re suggesting is that it’s at a critical phase in the investigation and that there might even be some closure or something soon, is sort of the suggestion from Gerold Dompig. Are you getting any indications of that, Beth, that maybe there’s some breakthrough?
TWITTY: You know, Rita, we have just ridden this out for so long that it’s just hard for us to bite (ph) into too much as far as any kind of late-breaking news or any, you know, testimony of a new witness coming forward. I mean, we’ve just had to sit back and really filter through the information and not become—you know, not get caught up in this roller-coaster ride.
And you know, of course, we always hope that it is finally happening and they’re really about to conduct this search and—and get this under way, but I mean, you know, we just have to be (INAUDIBLE) because nothing has ever come to fruition so far.
COSBY: You know, one of the other things, too, is that he’s suggesting that maybe the boys panicked, that maybe something did happen, a combination of alcohol and drugs, and they panicked and tried to cover it up. Has that been something that was always sort of in your gut as to maybe what happened that night?
TWITTY: Oh—oh, absolutely. And I think that when we go back to that night, that, you know, that’s why these suspects continually have lied and that—you know, whatever transpired, whether they—you know, it still—it still shows these suspects are so guilty of involvement into Natalee’s disappearance, you know, from—from whether they drugged her and she experienced a drug overdose—you know, but then, how they have, you know, covered this up from the beginning and derailed the investigation to where we could never proceed forward (INAUDIBLE) for weeks into it because the suspects just kept lying to the authorities.
And you know, it’s just going to be hard for us to believe this was accidental or anything other than something that was planned. It will be hard for—I know, for Dave and I to ever think that—you know, you don’t cover up something that was accidental.
COSBY: Yes, the right thing to do is you come forward and not try to cover it up. One of the things we’re hearing, Beth, too, is Dompig’s suggestion—we’ve even talked about this on my show before, the suggestion that maybe she was buried in the sand dunes, buried twice, that they panicked, they moved her. Things keep going back to those sand dunes, Beth.
TWITTY: Well, you know, and that’s information we have known all along. I knew there was some concern early on that there was some activity in the sand dunes, as far as something was being extracted from the sand dunes, whether that was articles of clothing or—or something of that sort related to Natalee. But you know, Dave and have known about some suspicious activity. And of course, there were witnesses that had—that were coming forward to the family about the possibility of Natalee being moved. So this is not new to us. This is something we have been chasing down since the beginning.
COSBY: You know, and Beth, I know that your attorney’s planning on going to Aruba soon. What do you hope happens from this visit, especially in light of this news? What are you going to ask him? Especially, I would hope—I’m sure he’s going to try to meet with the chief.
TWITTY: Well, you know, I think the one goal that we have had, and we’ve really tried to stay focused on it, is just, you know, conducting these thorough searches. And I think that that’s all that we are looking for, is just let’s get these searches under way, whoever needs to be brought in. And you know, I think we need to—we’re in a recovery mode. And you know, as far as anything else goes, you know, I just don’t—I feel that we have stayed away from that, as far as whether they’re going to trial or—you know, we just want the search to be conducted so we can—so we can bring Natalee home, Rita. That’s all that we want.
COSBY: Absolutely. You know, as you look at the picture, this is sort of the last photo of Natalee taken out there, I believe on the dance floor. There she is that night. What goes through your mind when you see that, Beth?
TWITTY: You know, Rita, I—it’s just too overwhelming to even begin to get into. And you know, when I—you know, pictures such as that, and the last night that Natalee was seen, she was coming into the Excelsior Casino, and it just—it’s just so hard to believe that it’s been almost 10 months of a nightmare that we have been waiting and anxiously just seeing if we could get some information, some information out of the island of Aruba.
COSBY: Well, you deserve it more than anybody, Beth. Thank you so much, and our prayers are with you and we’re going to continue to follow this story for you.
And we’re now joined on the phone by David Kock. He is the attorney for the Kalpoe brothers, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. David, what do you make of this report that maybe Natalee was drugged or had some drugs on her?
DAVID KOCK, KALPOE BROTHERS’ ATTORNEY: I don’t know. It seems to be that there’s always again something new in the case or a new direction, trying to—to steer the case into. I must say that this information for what regards my clients is again new. My clients don’t have any knowledge of any drugs in possession or—by this girl or used by this girl. So for them, it’s something new again.
COSBY: That’s what I was going to ask you. Have you definitely asked your clients specifically, David, about this new report, to be able to say that never—did they ever see her with any indication of drugs or anyone around Natalee with any indication of drugs?
KOCK: You know, we have been trying so thoroughly to—and we have sat so many times with our clients, going over and over and over all their statements that they gave and all possibilities that maybe would have happened. So this is something that came up in the past. It was intimated once, so we already touched this subject. So this, again, on itself, it’s something that we know that that’s not the case with them.
COSBY: What about your clients, too, and the possibility of them using drugs? Are they involved in any capacity, David?
KOCK: No, not at all. My clients hardly even consume alcohol. I mean, they’re not drinkers. I might say there are things in the file about activities by vacationers who have been doing heavy drinking. But my clients, no. That’s not the case, Rita.
COSBY: Had they seen anybody with a date rape drug or an ecstasy?
KOCK: No. And once again, when we talk to them, we concentrate on this case, on the events of this case, the events of that night. So I mean, we do not go beyond that scope. (INAUDIBLE) so I can only tell you about as pertaining to this specific case and to these specific facts.
COSBY: You know, we spoke with you a little bit ago on camera, and I want to play a little clip because it sounded like things were moving forward in the investigation at that point, in some degree, or at least wrapping up one way or the other. Let me play that, if I could.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOCK: From the information that we are getting, it seems like, you know, they know, too, they have to round this up. I won’t be surprised if, you know, summer, June, July, the case will be presented.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSBY: You know, David, when you said that to use, were you hearing anything at all from the authorities? Because now Chief Dompig is quoted in this report with CBS saying that the investigation’s at a critical phase. Do you get that feeling, too?
KOCK: Critical? I mean, I think if you would go into your archive, you would see that this has been said in the past already. To or me, it’s not so much a critical phase, but the phase has to arrive where they’re going to close the investigation and decide if they’re going to present a case, yes or no. And as I told you in the past, I think that they, of course, are going to present the case, to leave it up to the judge to decide if and who would be guilty or not.
COSBY: David, finally, can your clients say with 100 percent certainty that Joran van der Sloot did not drug Natalee Holloway and then panic and bury her?
KOCK: No. They cannot say that because after having dropped her (SIC) and the girl at the beach, they do not know. They were not there, do not know what happened. So that particular question, I think there’s somebody else you will need to ask that.
COSBY: All right, David Kock, thank you very much. We appreciate you being with us, David.
And we’re joined now on the phone by Steven Cohen. He’s a special adviser to Aruba. Steven, what do you make of this news?
STEVEN COHEN, SPECIAL ADVISER TO ARUBAN GOVERNMENT: Well, Rita, I think that, as Beth and you have already talked about, this is not actually anything really new here. It has always been a consideration by the chief, as well as Karin Janssen, that a murder may not have occurred. Whether or not that is the final judgment remains to be seen.
But you know, I just want to underline that, you know, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe and Joran van der Sloot continue to be the primary focus of the main scenario of this investigation. That has not changed. It continues. And of course, the last time I talked to Chief Dompig, it was concerning the search by the dunes, which, as you know, we’ve talked before about how he is getting prepared to do that. And as Beth said, this is really our focus. And you know, this is just an interview that was done, I think, five or six weeks ago. It’s pretty much an historical interview. There’s not anything really new in it, as far as I know. I haven’t heard the whole interview, but I have talked to Dompig about his comments, and I think...
COSBY: But Steven, I have to ask you...
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: I’m sorry. I can’t...
COSBY: Why did he—why did he make these comments? You know, why did he make these comments? Because of course, he knows it’s going to cause a furor. Is it just to sort of look like he’s doing something? Is it all smokescreen?
COHEN: No, I think you know enough about the chief that he is a very hard-working, devoted individual on this case. He is someone who speaks his mind. He has a great sense of honesty and purpose. And I think when you see comments like this, you know, they’re not couched in anything but just as the way he sees it.
He is the primary source in this investigation. No one knows more about what has been seen and has been exposed in the file than the chief. So we really don’t want to be apologists for what he said at all. This is what he said, and the investigation is going to now continue to center on the search. And then from the search, we’ll move forward, as the attorney who just preceded me said, to a determination of whether or not there is any range of criminality, and if there is, that’ll be taken to a judge.
COSBY: All right, Steve, thank you very much. We appreciate you being with us.
And still ahead, everybody, a look further into the investigation of Natalee’s death. We’re going to have a lot more details coming up.
…
COSBY: ... saying that Natalee may have been in possession of drugs, according to witnesses, and may have overdosed. How hard or how easy is that to prove, Vito?
VITO COLUCCI, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: I’m not going to try to get too excited about this, Rita, you know, because it’s going to be difficult because every week or two, they have credible evidence, OK? We’ve heard this for months and months and months.
And you know, the deputy chief now has said that he believes this is a combination of alcohol and drugs. He says he feels strongly—he uses words like probably, possibly, and he now believes. Well, guess what, Rita? No one cares about what his feelings are. Good investigators deal in evidence. And going back to the statement before, at the end of his comments, he says critical, last phase, OK? So what are we talking about here? He’s going to put this case to rest now, Rita? Very bad.
COSBY: Well, that’s—I agree with you. He’s made so many statements. I mean, he even said on my air, as you know, a few months ago, saying, The boys are guilty as hell, we just have to prove it. And yet nothing’s happened so far in the case. And then you hear these outlandish comments.
Let me put up, if I could—this is a quote also from the chief, where he essentially talks about one of the theories that he thinks may have happened to Natalee. And this is one of his comments. He says, “We feel strongly that she probably went into shock or something happened to her system with all the alcohol, maybe on top of that, other drugs, which either she took or they gave her, and that she just collapsed.” And then the theory is that maybe the boys panicked.
Is there any credibility to this theory? I mean, we did hear—this is one of the theories early on, that maybe nothing was intentional, something happened, they freaked, maybe that somebody slipped her something.
COLUCCI: Rita, it’s just that, it’s his theory. He sounds like the captain on the George Smith boat, who came up with him falling over the boat and getting—and sitting on a railing.
You know, this is ridiculous. You got to deal with evidence here, you know? I mean, none of this stuff he’s saying—we keep waiting. Before, you said that he’s getting prepared to do the sand dunes, doing the search. What’s getting prepared? This is the biggest case they’ve ever had, their only murder case. How do you got to get prepared? Just do it, you know, Rita?
This is going on and on, and I feel very bad that Beth Holloway and the Holloway/Twitty family has to hear reports like this today that come out of the blue with absolutely zero credibility, Rita.
COSBY: Well, you bring up a good point. He’s been talking about those sand dunes for months. Where is the proof? Vito, thank you very much.
COLUCCI: Thank you.
3-24-06
On 3-24 the "Aruban Boycott Blogspot" wrote, “Has it occurred to anyone in Aruba that Natalee is NOT on the island? How many times do I have to say that Koen, Joran and Deepak were seen by Dompig's relative leaving in his father's boat around the time he was SUPPOSEDLY was at the casino. Hey, Michael Posner, why don't you release those tapes? That's because he wasn't there.”
On 3-24 the TOLEDO, OHIO “Toledo Blade” reported:
MISSING TEEN
Radar fails to turn up new clues in Aruba
Sylvania Township firm scans island dunes
BLADE STAFF
A Sylvania Township firm's search in Aruba for missing teen Natalee Holloway ended yesterday without clues to her whereabouts.
Police on the Dutch island were acting on a tip that Miss Holloway was buried somewhere in dunes in a beach area about the size of two football fields and needed some high-tech help.
Ground Penetrating Radar Systems of Sylvania Township donated an employee and its ground radar equipment to search the area after they were contacted by Don Wood, head of Child Watch in Orlando, through an Internet search.
"They got down there and searched beach areas and caves," Mr. Wood said.
Unfortunately, he said, nothing was found.
The company has volunteered its services for future searches, if needed, Mr. Wood said.
Miss Holloway disappeared May 30 while on a post-graduation trip to Aruba.
She last was seen with several local teenagers, including the son of a judge.
Her disappearance and the local authorities' handling of the still-unsolved case stirred a U.S. media blitz.
Authorities there were criticized for the slow progress on the case and also beset by allegations that locals who might have been involved in the case were being protected.
The latter prompted Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and others to call for a travel boycott of Aruba, located in the southern Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela.
On 3-24 EUGENE BERNAT wrote the following editorial published on the ARUBAAN's news-source “Caribbean Net News” website:
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
I would like to address the Holloway investigation
Friday, March 24, 2006
Dear Sir:
It has been nearly 10 months since Natalee Holloway became the victim of the criminal acts of some of the inhabitants of Aruba. I would like to address the investigation and response of the Aruban people; that has shocked the conscience of millions.
Some people have talked about the “arrogance” of Natalee’s family and in particular Beth Twitty. Is Natalee’s family really “arrogant?”
I cannot conceive of a more humbling experience than to suffer the abduction and possible murder of a child. Assuredly, you will tell me if you can conceive of such a circumstance?
Perhaps, what would be better described as “arrogance” or callousness would be the likes of the Aruban government and thus by extension the Aruban people who have blamed Natalee’s friends, her family, the media, Americans not understanding the Dutch system and Natalee herself for all that has happened.
The investigation as conducted by the Aruba government has been that of a joke (I am not laughing); perhaps the single biggest comedian has been Gerold Dompig.
There are two sound approaches to investigations; first, that which is conducted by scientist and begins with a hypothesis and ends with a conclusion in support or refute the hypothesis.
Then there are the investigations where the evidence is gathered and a conclusion reached, to embrace elements of the scientific process; in some cases is appropriate for such an investigation.
Now all the missteps and bad decisions that the government of Aruba has made I will not now attempt to document for that report would count in hundreds of errors.
An investigation based upon gathering of evidence and facts would place Joran and Paul van der Sloot and Steve Croes as tier one suspects and the Kalpoes as tier two suspects.
A logical approach would conclude that it possible and in fact likely the Kalpoes are guilty of only lying to the Police and being of an unjust soul.
I certainly hope that people have the good sense to see Joran’s contradictions in the American television interviews that he has given and realize that he is a drowning man and is trying to throw the Kalpoes to the sharks (no pun intended).
On the other hand that same approach would conclude there is next to no chance Joran van der Sloot is innocent and a strong suspicion that Paul van der Sloot is not innocent. This is based upon all facts and evidence.
Since the start of this case I have not taken a day away from the cause of Hope and Justice for Natalee. I formulated my theory many, many months ago and the testing of said theory continues to support my hypothesis. Will the conclusion support the hypothesis, only time will tell?
I have chosen to share bites and pieces of that hypothesis throughout this letter; however, far from the entirely.
What I would like mention is what has been demonstrated in just the past three months. In January Dompig is welcoming a volunteer search group for the United States and Dompig is telling them there is strong reason to believe Natalee’s body is in a cage in the ocean and offer coordinates to search.
Now Dompig claims that there is credible evidence that she is buried in the sand dunes, but offered only a search of comedy in February by poking sticks in the ground. Despite the fact for months the offer of equipment (free of charge) has been on the table, they only now are paying to have a search conducted.
Now they will find nothing, but it is an example of their delay and errors in investigation. Perhaps, Dompig’s next theory will be Natalee simply walked off the face of the flat Earth (Earth is not flat)?
On many accounts we have the Police contradicting lawyers, government spokespeople flat-out lying (Steve Cohen, Arlene Ellis-Shipper and Ruben Trapenberg).
We are still waiting for the re-interrogation promised last year, oh, that is right Karin Janssen did not know the law and that it could only be done voluntarily. What would Karin Janssen know about the law, she is only the prosecutor?
Aruban law seems not to be written in stone or on paper, but in sand that washes away with the tide.
Why is it both Paul and Joran van der Sloot concede that Joran, Deepak and Satish Kalpoes’ initial statements were made as “witnesses,” but they have not be charged for lying as such?
Of course it is legal to lie and see innocent people imprisoned such as Mickey John and Abraham Jones when you are a “suspect;” why has there been no call to change the law for the future? There is a profound difference between remaining silent and lying to Investigators.
One can only wonder why the Aruban authorities do not admit if this investigation has been full of honest mistakes and not criminal actions that the Investigators are out of their league.
Why are they in a hurry to close the investigation for the van der Sloot’s civil suit? If they want to blame anyone and would be innocent they should sue Joran.
If any knowledge is to be acquired from this tragedy it is the known virtues of Aruba: 1) tourism, 2) lie, 3) take no responsibility, 4) money over justice; and 5) pride to a fault.
History as I and many others presently will be puzzled to determine whether Aruba’s government abandoned justice and good principles or if they never had any.
With justice,
Eugene G. Bernat
Ohio, USA
On 3-24 FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN reported in her “Gretawire,” “Troy interviewed Aruba's Deputy Police chief Gerald Dompig and we managed to convince Troy to give us a sneak peek. We know this morning one thing the deputy Police chief said to "48 Hours" and that is that he has "strong feelings" that Natalee Holloway died from alcohol and drugs and that it is not murder. This is a departure from what we thought he thought. We thought Dompig believed Natalee was a murder victim. I am curious to find out from Troy — either tonight or tomorrow night on CBS News' "48 Hours" — why Dompig has this feeling of death by alcohol/drugs. More importantly, is it more than a feeling? Is there evidence? Troy has promised to bring some of tape of his interview when he comes to our show so that we can all watch the sneak peek. I hope you watch tonight. One thing we all know is that Natalee was drinking on May 29 and into May 30. Incidentally, she could legally drink in Aruba last May when she was there — she was 18 years old, the Aruban drinking age. I also suspect that she was drinking heavily. We have copies of the F.B.I. 302 forms (notes from interviews conducted by the FBI). In some of the interview notes it is stated by some of Natalee's friends that Natalee was drinking with friends early in the morning of the day she vanished and drinking into the night. Of course the fact she consumed alcohol — even if the amount was significant — is not proof of death, how she died, etc. If you step back from the chatter about the investigation and look for facts, you realize there is no proof of death, cause of death or, if it was a homicide, who did it. This lack of information remains the complaint of her family. They want to know what happened and frankly, I think they should know. We all are very suspicious and, while the content of our suspicions may vary, my guess is that most don't think she is still alive. I don't think she is alive. Yet, I suspect we all felt that way about Elizabeth Smart and she turned up a year later. The bottom line is that the investigation continues and we should keep our eyes wide open. It makes sense to be very suspicious, but we should wait for conclusive facts to reach a conclusion.”
On 3-24 the ARUBAAN's news-source “Caribbean Net News”” reported:
New lead in missing teen case in Aruba
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (UPI): Police in Aruba have uncovered a new lead into the mystery of a missing 18-year-old Alabama girl who was last seen May 30, CBS News reported Thursday.
In an interview with the network, Deputy chief of Police Gerold Dompig said a critical new witness has surfaced, and Investigators will begin a new search for Natalee Holloway on the northern tip of the island in the sand dunes near a lighthouse.
"The information that this person gave was too specific to just be a story that was just made up by someone," Dompig said.
He said ground radar and cadaver dogs would be used in the search.
Dompig said Investigators believe Holloway's body is on the island, but suspect it was moved to avoid detection, and then re-buried.
Holloway vanished on May 30, 2005, at the end of a graduation trip to the Caribbean island after a night of drinking with friends. She was last seen leaving a bar with a Dutch national and two brothers from Suriname.
On 3-24 ABC News reported:
Top Defense Lawyers Weigh In on Holloway Case
Attorneys Consider Suspicion that Missing Teen Used Alcohol or Drugs
March 24, 2006 — - Aruban Police apparently suspect that complications involving alcohol and perhaps drugs killed Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, who vanished during a trip to the Dutch Caribbean island and has been missing since May 30.
Witnesses have come forward who say the then 18-year-old Holloway had drugs in her possession and was heavily drinking the day she disappeared, Gerald Dompig, Aruba's deputy chief of Police, told CBS television's "48 Hours Mystery" program.
ABC News asked some of the nation's top criminal defense lawyers what they thought about the possibilities.
Roy Black
Criminal defense lawyer, Florida
Represented William Kennedy Smith, Rush Limbaugh
ABC News: Is it possible that Natalee Holloway died accidentally, and that there was a cover-up to hide her body?
Black: The problem with that is usually people don't cover up an accident or an accidental overdose. That may happen, but that is very rare. Usually, the only time someone covers up a death is when there is criminal conduct involved, because they're afraid of the Police discovering their part in it.
So with an accident, there's no reason to cover it up. This theory is somewhat far-fetched because if she died of an accidental overdose, there was no reason for anybody to cover it up. Generally, when there's an accident, people just leave the body where it is. Why would anybody throw it at sea or anywhere else?
ABC News: Is it possible Natalee Holloway died accidentally but that there was no cover-up, that her body wasn't found because she ventured into a hard-to-reach place like the sea?
Black: It's very hard to lose a human body. When somebody dies, it's almost always discovered, because it's very hard to lose or dispose of a human body. With decomposition, there is a very pungent smell, and it's very easy to find a dead body.
So I don't buy any of those theories. The theory that she died accidentally and somehow her body disappeared is highly unlikely.
Gerry Schargel
Criminal defense attorney, New York
Represented John Gotti, Sammy "the Bull" Gravano, Daniel Pelosi
ABC News: How significant are witness statements that Natalee was seen with drugs?
Schargel: It's hard to comment on that. Drugs are not talismans in whose presence all the other evidence in the case goes away and disappears.
ABC News: Is it possible that she died accidentally and that her body wasn't found?
Schargel: Who knows? The quality of this investigation has been less than stellar. But if someone dies accidentally of drugs and alcohol, it's likely someone would have sought medical attention. And the fact that her body would have disappeared on a small island smacks more of murder than drugs and alcohol.
Chris Tritico
Criminal defense attorney, Texas
Represented Timothy McVeigh
ABC News: How significant are witness statements saying Natalee Holloway had drugs?
Tritico: It's hard to tell when we have no context in which to put the drugs. There's one of two possibilities. It could be that because of the drugs, she died an accidental death. But the other possibility is that the drugs combined with other people, and she could have still been killed.
We don't have an answer to the mystery. I think the drugs are an important piece of evidence, but it is not the final piece of evidence by which the Police should close this investigation.
ABC News: Is it possible that Natalee Holloway died accidentally but her body was not recovered?
Tritico: I think that certainly that's a possibility. The fact that her body has never been found leans more toward a homicide than an accidental death. But because we don't have all the pieces of this puzzle, we really don't have an answer.
On 3-24 FOX News reported, "Police in Aruba now reportedly say they believe Natalee Holloway possessed drugs and that she was drinking heavily on the night she disappeared. They say that may have contributed to her disappearance, possibly killing her, but so far they have not found the teenager's body. Police telling CBS news that witnesses have come forward who say they saw Holloway with drugs that night, Investigators suggesting she may have gone into shock and collapsed, and that someone may have covered up her death."
On 3-24 the ARUBAAN's news-source "Aruba Tradewinds Times" reported:
Cruise Tourism Fell
ORANJESTAD-Aruba welcomed less cruise passengers last year after rebounding in 2004. A total of 552,819 cruise passengers were welcomed in Aruba during 2005, a decline of 4.1 percent in comparison to 2004. The number of cruise ship calls at the port of Oranjestad declined from 318 in the year 2004 to 311 in 2005.
For 2006 a record amount of 615,000 cruise passengers are expected on the island of Aruba.
On 3-24 the “National Enquirer” reported:
NATALEE'S UNCLE SAYS 'RE-ARREST DEEPAK!'
Natalee Holloway's uncle is demanding that suspect Deepak Kalpoe be re-arrested in the 10-month-old mystery of the pretty blonde honor student who disappeared in Aruba. Deepak, his brother Satish and Joran van der Sloot were with the Alabama teen, pictured center, when she was last seen leaving a bar on the island in the early hours of May 30. Her uncle Paul Reynolds told The National Enquirer that he believes Deepak, 21, should be the chief suspect instead of van der Sloot, 18. Reynolds also wants Satish, 18, arrested again.
All three friends were held for questioning last summer but were later released.
Said Reynolds: "I think it's time Aruban authorities took a good look at the Kalpoe brothers again.
"After studying Joran's recent TV interviews I'm starting to believe that he did leave Natalee alone on the beach.
"Joran said that Satish picked him up and drove him home, leaving Natalee alone on the beach near the Marriott Hotel while Deepak stayed at home.
"Examining the distances from the Kalpoes' home to the beach, it would have taken Satish about 30 minutes to return to the beach, which is totally out of his way.
"I think that Deepak and Satish were not at home when Joran called but were spying on Joran and Natalee on the beach.
"Deepak probably wanted to try his luck with Natalee and told his brother to drive Joran home. He may have waited in the bushes for them to leave and then approached Natalee. She rejected him and that possibly led him to attack her."
Reynolds believes Deepak had a stronger motive for murder than Joran. He said: "Deepak is a loner who doesn't have any success with women but relies on Joran's leftovers.
"Deepak is a small, skinny guy. If he attacked Natalee, it would have been a more evenly matched struggle between them, and Natalee is more likely to have fought back and got hurt in the struggle.
"Joran is such a big guy in comparison that he could easily have restrained Natalee without killing her."
Pick up this week's issue of The ENQUIRER to read the rest of this story!
On 3-24 MSNBC reported:
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, GUEST HOST, "SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY": Let me start with you, Robin Holloway. For months, we’ve been hearing all about how this was a case of murder. Now it sounds like it’s a case, perhaps, of blaming the victim. I take it you’re not buying it.
ROBIN HOLLOWAY HOLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY’S STEPMOTHER: I’m confused. When Dave got on the island, from day one, Dennis Jacobs said, “Oh, she ran off with somebody to go find a beer. She’ll show up.”
And then a couple of months later, Dompig said, “They’re all three guilty as hell. We’re going to prove it. We’re going to close this case.” And now, blaming the victim, yes.
It sounds like they’re trying to say, “Well, she had too much booze, too much drug use, and, as a result, she caused her own death.”
HOLLOWAY: I have known Natalee for 13 or 14 years. She is not a drug user. She does not abuse drugs. The only drug we know that she was on at that time was a Z-pac for a sinus infection. If she was drugged, it was because of the last drink Joran gave her, either compliments of Joran or the bartender.
SMERCONISH: Have you had any conversations yourself with prosecutors in Aruba?
HOLLOWAY: Yes, I have. I talked to Karin Janssen today.
SMERCONISH: What exactly did they tell you?
HOLLOWAY: Well, she assured me the investigation was ongoing. As far as any concrete evidence where Natalee is buried, no, they have none. They’re still looking into the witness statement from. I believe she said it was prior to January, so they’re just now bringing in the cadaver dogs.
SMERCONISH: Did you ask whether she had any drugs that were known on her?
HOLLOWAY: When I talked to her, I had not read the statement yet from Deputy Dompig; so, no, I did not.
SMERCONISH: Cliff van Zandt, you made your reputation as an F.B.I. profiler. Does this fit with any kind of profile that you’ve developed in analyzing this case?
experienced F.B.I. criminal profiler CLINT VAN ZANDT, FORMER F.B.I. PROFILER: We all know that this is one of the ongoing theories. It’s a spin on an ongoing theory.
We always look in this case, you know, is it a homicide or could it have been an accident? I think, from day one, people have speculated perhaps—I mean, everyone acknowledges she had been drinking, but the question is: What type of drug could she have been slipped?
The combination of the drug that may have been given to her and then the alcohol that she had consumed, that may have had some obvious impact on her. But now we see this different spin, now this intimated drug, not that somebody slipped her, but perhaps— it’s almost like she was out doing a line of cocaine or something, or whatever it is.
SMERCONISH: But even if she caused her own death, there have to be bad actors in this case, because somebody disposed of the body, right? Why would someone do that? What would be the motivation?
VAN ZANDT: Well, we can go back 20 or 30 years. We’ve got a famous senator from the East Coast who was involved in an accident where the body had to be identified a day later. So, you know, that’s not unknown in the realm of the world.
In this particular case, I think what you’ve got to look at is: here you’ve got a group of guys, the last three guys who were with her. They’ve told anywhere, depending on who you talk to, from five to 15 or 20 different versions.
They’ve pointed fingers at each other. The chief has said they were guilty of everything. The question now becomes: what are they guilty of?
If, in fact this is true, they’re guilty of lying to the Police; they’re guilty of, perhaps, giving her some type of drug; they’re guilty of a cover-up; they’re guilty of burying her body; they’re guilty of lying about it.
SMERCONISH: But can I send this to you, Cliff? There’s an element of this that, at least for me, is not passing the smell test, and it’s as follows: My understanding is that this information has been known to the Aruba authorities for a period of months. Now, why in the heck would they not have excavated the area where they suspect a body has been buried? What would account for the delay?
VAN ZANDT: You know, this is what bothers me. We’ve known about this since January. If they can afford to have F-16s do flyovers that cost, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps, to pull that whole thing off, why not rent a couple of backhoes for about a week and have this done two or three months ago? You’re absolutely right, Mike; why this buildup to nothing?
SMERCONISH: Let me ask Bryan Burrough a question or two. Bryan, you wrote a heck of a piece for “Vanity Fair,” “Nightmare in Paradise.” And among other things, you wrote, and no one else was offering this analysis:
“The Twitty family’s obsessive quest has proved to be a national trauma for Aruba.”
You go on to say that they’ve fostered this perception of, you know, the ugly American. You’ve essentially said that they may have deterred the solving of this crime. How do these developments fit into your perception of what’s really gone on in Aruba?
BRYAN BURROUGH, “VANITY FAIR”: Well, actually, Michael, I didn’t say that; chief Dompig told me that, and I quoted him saying that.
I think that what’s interesting about tonight’s disclosure is the suggestion that Dompig now has new evidence that suggests he has some idea of what really happened. Now, the question is here—we have not seen the tape of the full interview yet, so we don’t know if he’s just spit-balling, which he’s done before, or whether or not he’s really saying, “We have evidence that she died in a certain way.” Certainly...
SMERCONISH: But if the quotes in your “Vanity Fair” piece are the quotes of Deputy chief Dompig, then it sounds to me like this is a guy who’s got no love for the victim’s family to begin with, and maybe now, just in furtherance of that hostility that he feels, he’s blaming the victim in this case.
BURROUGH: Well, you know, you’re free to think that. Anybody can think what they want. I think, frankly, the guy’s less concerned with what you or people on TV think than in trying to solve this crime and get it off his desk. I think that’s what they really want to do.
SMERCONISH: Well, let me ask Anne Bremner a question about solving this crime. As a former prosecutor, what difficulties are posed by—and I hate to be gruesome, but we’re talking obviously about a badly decomposed body. I don’t know what remains there would be at this stage. That’s got to be a hindrance to a prosecution.
ANNE BREMNER, TRIAL ATTORNEY: Well, sure it is. And, you know, in a case like this, a bad beginning makes a bad end, because the investigation throughout has had problems, including now, with a whole new story, basically, that somehow she maybe was taking drugs, maybe overdosed on alcohol.
But the thing is, in one way that, when you don’t have a body in this case, with an island as small as Aruba, you can presume death. It’s been a year, come this May 1st. And the fact is she has never surfaced.
And if, indeed, she was out drunk and ingesting drugs—which there’s no evidence of. Dompig uses the word “maybe.”
SMERCONISH: But, Anne, there’s something else about which I’m awfully dubious, and that is I can’t think of another case in the span of the last 24 months that’s gotten the kind of attention as this. Who could be this mystery witness that suddenly comes forward and offers new data? And where the hell has this person been for all the time that the world has been focused on this case?
BREMNER: That’s exactly right. And the thing is that we know she didn’t just stumble off and die in the shallow water off of Aruba. Something happened to her, and we know it’s homicide.
And the other thing is, this case has been looked and at it’s been examined all over the world. It’s had a constellation of lies that have reverberated all over the world from these three individuals. And now, with this Investigator pointing a finger at the victim, you know, when you have a finger pointing away from yourself, you have three more pointing back at yourself. And I think he wants out of this.
SMERCONISH: Cliff van Zandt, I’m always intrigued by, you know, the work of you “Silence of the Lamb”-kind of guys. Get into the mind of someone who would have been out, would have been with her when she was abusing drugs, abusing alcohol, just to follow this theory through for a moment.
What would have been in the mind of that kind of a person, to then try and dispose of their body? If we buy into this theory, and it’s a big if as opposed to just dialing 911, and saying, “My god, there’s a woman, and she’s overdosed.”
VAN ZANDT: Sure. And I think what you’re dealing with—let’s play this theory out. Let’s say that the two Kalpoe brothers and Joran van der Sloot, they have contact with her that night. She leaves with them. She’s been drinking. Somehow, drugs are in her system; perhaps somebody put a Mickey, but a Rohypnol in her drink or something like that.
They take her out. You know, three guys are taking this woman out for one reason, and we all know what that is. She resists. She says, “No, you know, I’m not doing those kind of things.” There’s a struggle, a combination between the drugs, the alcohol, the struggle, and she expires. Now, you’ve got these three teenagers looking at each other, going, “Oh, my god. Now what do we do?”
SMERCONISH: Anne Bremner, you’re not buying this?
BREMNER: Well, I mean, yes, I’m not buying it, because the fact is we have pattern evidence with Joran van der Sloot. We’ve got all kinds of information. The lies they told were so important, “We dropped her off; let’s blame the security guys. Oh, the security camera shows that we’re lying.”
Those guys went to jail that they blamed, but that was OK with these three. And then they say—oh, Joran says, “Oh, the other two, well, they had sex with her. Oh, well, she wanted to fall asleep on the beach, so I left her there.”
You don’t lie unless you’re involved in some way. And, frankly, at a minimum, if you believe this story, which I do not, after listening to this case for so long, it is absolutely made out of whole cloth, but if you believe it, don’t you think they did have a duty to help her? And that is criminal negligence.
SMERCONISH: Bryan Burrough, you spent a lot of time in your piece for “Vanity Fair,” you know, thinking through and analyzing the events of that particular evening. I think you also reached the conclusion in here that she probably was drinking a heck of a lot. Does it sound plausible to you that she drank to such excess or did drugs to such excess that she could have caused her own death?
BURROUGH: Well, it’s certainly plausible that she died from a mix of alcohol and drugs, whether she would have taken drugs herself or had them given to her. I certainly find is totally plausible that these three young men, and perhaps others, disposed of her body.
However, it’s a leap from saying they disposed of her body to saying they murdered her or directly caused her death. It’s entirely possible that they slipped her a roofie and she died from it, they panicked. Joran van der Sloot is a kid who’s just about to head off to college, doesn’t want to ruin his whole future, in his mind.
SMERCONISH: Cliff, I guess you’re saying that this is the profile, that would be the mindset. In other words, I think 70-plus percent of the tourism for Aruba is coming from the United States. And so that, in a moment of panic, you’ve got these three guys who are thinking, “Hey, they’re never going to believe us. They’re going to think that we did, indeed, cause her death, so perhaps we should dispose of the body.” Is that a profile that makes sense?
VAN ZANDT: And one way or the other, whatever happened, these three guys would like, perhaps, to have you believe that, if you had to believe something. That’s why, day one, I wish some good Dutch Investigators or F.B.I. agents would have had a chance to take a run at these three guys before they started building lie upon lie upon, and give them a chance to hear their story.
SMERCONISH: How would you done differently? Quickly tell me, how would you have handled them, if you’d had that chance? A rubber hose and a phonebook?
VAN ZANDT: You know, real quick, it would have been guys, “We know you were with her. We know she had drugs, perhaps. Whether you gave them to her or somebody else slipped it to her, we don’t know how that happened. We know we had alcohol. We know how that happens.”
You’ll get out something happened to her. “It’s not your fault, but you know where she is. All you were trying to do is clean up something that was not your fault. Now, let’s it get it out right now.”
You know, give me about two or three hours to develop that, and I think one of these three guys would have raised their hand and said, “You know what? That’s what happened.”
SMERCONISH: Hey, I wish it had been you doing the interrogation, or maybe some of the guys that we rely on down at Guantanamo.
Anyway, thank you, panel, Robin Holloway, Bryan Burrough, Cliff van Zandt, and Anne Bremner.
On 3-24 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:
KLPD assists Holloway-team
ARUBA/RIJSWIJK – The Corps Federal Police Service (KLPD) in the Netherlands is going to assist the investigation team in Aruba with her search for Natalee Holloway. A spokesperson of the KLPD confirmed before the ANP today that the help of the Police service comes upon request of the Aruban authorities.
The spokesperson didn’t want to say how the KLPD is going to assist the investigation team. “We are not in charge of the investigation, so we do not comment on the nature of our work.” He also didn’t want to say whether officials have already gone to Aruba.
According to chief of Police Gerold Dompig, Natalee would have possibly died due to excessive alcohol and drugs. This appeared in a preview of the interview with Dompig that will be transmitted tomorrow evening on CBS. “The investigation is in its last critical phase’, said Dompig. In the interview Dompig says that it seems like Holloway had drunk a lot of alcohol and possibly used drugs, and died from that. According to Dompig, there was panic and cover up after that. Joran van der Sloot, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe are still the most important suspects. It is certain that Holloway had drugs with her. It was already mentioned earlier that Dompig has a new witness that apparently knows where Holloway's body is (re)buried; supposedly in the sand hills near the lighthouse. The interview with CBS took place at the end of February; reason for the question ‘why the sand hills were searched just once up till now’. The interview with Dompig can be seen on CBS tomorrow night at 23:00.
On 3-24 the “Aruba Strategic Communications Task Force” reported:
CBS promotion machine turns Dompig 48 Hours interview into breaking news, which it certainly is not…
CBS is promoting viewers to watch 48 Hours and has created headlines by claiming chief Dompig’s view that Natalee Holloway may not have been murdered is new. Hardly.
From the start of the investigation, chief Dompig and Alopho Richardson had always believed that it was quite possible that she was drugged, a victim of a date-rape drug, or overcome by too much alcohol. All of these theories remain, until the investigation is concluded.
The 48 Hours program, to air Saturday, recounts the case and the efforts made by Aruba to solve the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. Chief Dompig commented for the program because it was a review of the case, not an effort to break new ground. The interview was done weeks ago.
In the interview Dompig underlines that the investigation is continuing and that the Kalpoes and Joran are still the primary focus of the case.
Cable Talk Shows React
Talk show hosts on Fox and MSNBC seem upset over the supposed “new” material.
Hannity accussed Aruba of “slandering” the victim. But Paul Reynolds of the family said he did not think that was the case, at all.
Rita Cosby questioned Beth Twitty, who responded that she thought it was “old” news and that she continued to focus upon the digging to commence at the “dunes.”
Bill O Reilly seemed incredulous when Beth Twitty said she was actually getting information about the investigation through her attorney, John Q. Kelly. Still, he wanted to know why the case was taking so long to conclude. He was irritated, while Beth was reasoned and calm.
The Reality
The investigation continues, the chief Dompig interview offers no new material, nor does it signal a change in the direction of the investigation.
The investigation is expected to begin an intensive search by the “dunes” for physical evidence.
Until the investigation closes, the prosecutor cannot make a determination of criminality to present to a judge.
CBS’s promotional efforts have only reinforced the allure of this case to viewers and the scrutiny Investigators face with their every word and action.
On 3-24 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:
Another breakthrough in the Holloway-case
ARUBA – According to chief of Police Gerold Dompig, the Police start a new search for the body of the disappeared Natalee Holloway. He anticipates that this search will have positive results. He mentioned this in an interview with the American TV-channel CBS. The interview will be broadcasted this Saturday evening.
According to Dompig, a new witness had given the Police reliable information about the location where the body of Holloway is buried. “The information is too specific for having been invented.” Dompig indicated that he assumes that somebody has buried the body real well and probably had even reburied it. Search dogs and ground radar will be used for this new search, which concentrates on the California sand hills. The Police have searched that area several times. Dompig says in the interview that the investigation is in its last critical phase. The program 48 Hours Mystery: Natalee Holloway, New Clues in Paradise will be transmitted at 23:00 on channel 16 in Aruba and 482 in Curacao.
On 3-24 the BIRMINHAM, ALABAMA “Birmingham News" reported:
Chief thinks Holloway died of alcohol, drugs
Aruba's deputy Police chief says he thinks Natalee Holloway was not murdered but died of complications from alcohol and possibly drugs.
Gerold Dompig told the television show "48 Hours Mystery" that Police have witnesses who say Holloway was drinking "excessively" on the day she disappeared and had drugs with her.
Attempts to reach Dompig for comment were unsuccessful. His remarks will be aired Saturday night at 9 on CBS.
Holloway was 18 when she disappeared May 30 on a trip to Aruba with fellow graduates from Mountain Brook high school. She was last seen after midnight leaving a bar with three men from the island.
"We feel strongly that she probably went into shock or something happened to her system with all the alcohol - maybe on top of that, other drugs, which either she took or they gave her - and that she just collapsed," Dompig said.
Dompig said the Police have statements claiming Holloway had drugs with her, but would not say what kind and said there was no proof she used them.
He said the three men, Dutch teen Joran van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, are still prime suspects.
Dompig also said he believes there was a panicked cover-up after Holloway's death, and that her body was moved and re-buried at least once.
Attempts to reach Beth Holloway-Twitty on Thursday were unsuccessful.
On 3-24 “ETonline.com” reported:
New Leads in the Natalee Holloway Case
Has there been a break in the NATALEE HOLLOWAY case? ET has the exclusive "48
Hours Mystery" interview with the chief investigator on the case.
It's the story that made headlines around the world last summer: Alabama teen NATALEE
HOLLOWAY disappears while on a high school graduation trip with friends in a tropical
paradise, and it is believed to involve foul play.
Now, the man leading the disappearance investigation, GEROLD DOMPIG, the deputy
chief of police of Aruba, is breaking his silence on the case in an exclusive interview with
"48 Hours Mystery," and ET has an exclusive first look at the interview.
In the "48 Hours Mystery," airing Saturday night on CBS, Dompig tells "48 Hours"
correspondent TROY ROBERTS that his probe to determine what happened to the
Alabama teen is in the "critical last phase," which he hopes will lead to arrests.
The chief investigator tells "48 Hours" that investigators have credible information on a
possible location of the body and will be employing ground radar and cadaver dogs in
their search. Dompig also says a critical new witness has surfaced.
"He [the witness] wanted to talk about the fact that he knew more about the whereabouts
of Natalee ... concerning a specific burial location ... The information that this person
gave was too specific to just be a story that was just made up by someone."
Based on the new information, investigators will begin a new search on the northern tip
of the island in the sand dunes near the lighthouse. The authorities' new theory is that
someone took the time to carefully hide Holloway's body, perhaps twice; that it was
moved to avoid detection and then re-buried.
The chief investigator also tells Roberts that he has credible witnesses who claim Holloway
had drugs in her possession and witnesses who purport that Holloway was drinking
"excessively" on the day she disappeared.
"We have statements claiming that she had drugs," Dompig tells Roberts, although what
kind, "I cannot say." Dompig goes on to say, "We do not have proof that [Natalee] used
drugs, but that [witnesses] saw her with drugs in her possession."
Dompig says he now believes that Holloway was not murdered: "We feel strongly that
she probably went into shock or something happened to her system with all the alcohol,
maybe on top of that other drugs which either she took or they gave her," he says, "and
that she just collapsed." The deputy chief says he believes that after Holloway's death
there was a panicked cover-up.
Recently, ET aired exclusive video surveillance footage from inside a casino, which is
being used by police in Aruba as part of their investigation into last May's disappearance.
The footage provided a glimpse into how the missing teen may have met JORAN VAN
DER SLOOT, the young man who some believe is the prime suspect in Natalee's
disappearance. On the tape, van der Sloot, a Dutch national, can be seen sitting next to
Natalee and her friends at a blackjack table. Natalee was reportedly last seen leaving a
bar with van der Sloot and two brothers, DEEPAK and SATISH KALPOE. All three men
were questioned and released, and Dompig says the men are prime suspects in the case.
Ever since Natalee's disappearance, her parents, ELIZABETH ANN TWITTY and DAVID
EDWARD HOLLOWAY, have worked tirelessly to determine what has become of their
daughter. Massive searches around the small island have come up empty. In February,
Natalee's parents filed lawsuit documents with the Supreme Court of the State of New
York, accusing van der Sloot of "malicious, wanton and willful disregard of the rights,
safety and well-being of the plaintiffs and their daughter, Natalee Holloway." They are
asking for an unspecified amount of punitive damages from van der Sloot and his father,
PAULUS VAN DER SLOOT , an Aruban judge.
On 3-24 DALE NETHERTON wrote:
An Evaded Natalee Holloway Theory
Dale Netherton
March 24, 2006
After months and months of investigations and a one track search for a dead Natalee Holloway there is one common thread that seems to be constantly overlooked. First of all there is the bizarre range of theories offered by the Aruba authorities. For instance take the latest from Gerald Dompig (Deputy Chief of Police for Aruba). To quote Officer Dompig ,” We feel strongly that she probably went into shock or something happened to her system with all the alcohol-maybe on top of that, other drugs, which either she took or they gave her- and that she...just collapsed”. (Associated Press March 23, 2006).
Now what is wrong with this theory? Deputy Dompig says nothing about why he feels so strongly (on the basis of what evidence), nor does he indicate what happened to Natalee’s body and who is he saying gave her drugs and by what evidence does he arrive at the conclusion that drugs even played a part in her disappearance? Beth Twitty has repeatedly indicated the Aruba authorities are hard to get information out of. Who should be under suspicion when they utter nonsensical theories and withhold information?
Let’s look at the motive for killing Natalee? Having sex (if that occurred) is hardly a motive for killing and if it was rape wouldn’t there be some kind of wounds on the perpetrator(s) which none of the incarcerated suspects exhibited. What other motive would be plausible? A robber wouldn’t have bothered killing over what could have been nothing more than a purse snatching. Imagine three young boys so adept at killing and disposing of a body that not a trace of evidence can be found. Even the most cleverly planned crimes leave traces of inconsistencies that evolve into leads. But nothing in the physical realm is found and the question must be asked why? A teenager who killed would be in a state of panic and make a panic decision to cover up the evidence. It hardly seems plausible that this panic would produce a perfect crime. Plus what would unite the three boys to concoct obvious stories that could be easily discredited? The answer lies in the false assumptions directing the investigation.
False assumptions without evidence to contradict them leaves only the option to examine the assumptions leading nowhere and formulate a theory that makes all of the components fit. This has not been done by the Aruba authorities and it has not been done by the media hounds playing detective. There is a common assumption that Natalee was killed and that assumption is blocking any investigation into what explains the lack of motive, the Aruba authorities lack of disclosure, the theories that don’t add up and the perceived cleverness of the perpetrator(s). This leaves us with rejecting all of this hodge podge of inconclusive findings and conjectures and starting from a fresh perspective.
To begin, let’s ask why a 17 year old boy would be able to gamble where he is underage? What would sanction such behavior? Most businesses are very conscious of breaking the law and are careful to check I.D.s, spot possible violators and avoid fines or punishment. There did not seem to be any such concern by the casino owners/employees. Joran was not only sanctioned in these places but he was known and very visible. If there was no concern with the violation he was committing by the proprietors what does this say about their relationship with the authorities? Would it not be reasonable to assume the proprietors had little or nothing to fear from the authorities? Why? Did they have some common interest that superseded compliance with the law? One has to wonder.
There was the statement by Joran’s father that indicated without a body there is no case. Why would he say that? What made him think a body was not going to turn up? Was this some form of reassurance that Natalee was unlikely to be located? And what kind of a father allows his son to roam the casinos until late at night without knowing how he is able to afford such a lifestyle? There is developing a common thread that there are many parties involved in bizarre behavior indicating a common cause.
Realizing there are many inconsistencies in what we know by following the premise that Natalee was murdered , Let’s look at another possibility and see how that fits with the knowledge we have. Suppose Natalee was lured by Joran to a location where an abductor (s) were waiting to take Natalee away from the island for the purpose of trafficking her to a pimp in another country. Suppose the casino owner and or/an employee and the Aruba government were in on the scheme. This scenario begins to explain a lot of former inconsistencies.
First of all it would explain why no body or evidence has been found. Secondly it would explain the strange statement by Joran’s father. Third it would explain how Joran could roam the casinos and have money for gambling. Fourth it would explain the lack of disclosure by the Aruba police and the poor methods of investigation and interrogation. It would also explain how a 17 year old could commit a crime without getting caught. It would also explain the red herrings of Deputy Dompig. Further it would explain the involvement of Joran as a hustler to lure an attractive girl into the hands of abductors paid off by the casinos and protected by the government.
If there was some way the government of Aruba could exonerate itself from any involvement such as producing a body or getting a confession from a suspect they would have done so by now. But I suspect they feel their only strategy at this point is to play dumb and try to throw off any further inquiry by concentrating on possible causes of death, the shifting sands , the vast area that would take more effort to search than they have resources to accomplish, etc, etc, etc.
Only if they are put under investigation themselves will you get a rat to squeal to save his own skin. And none of our media giants seem willing to go down that road. Those who have been following the story and reporting on it have bought into the innocence of the Aruba government and it is this trepidation that very well could be leaving Natalee at the mercy of a human trafficker. It is inconceivable that a girl would disappear without a trace in a part of the world where others have mysteriously disappeared without someone profiting to the extent they could buy off the government. This explains the problem of motive and all of the other aspects of the case that do not fit with the killing of Natalee. If she is still alive I am sure she wonders why no one is searching for her where she is. The reason rests with a false assumption which is the source of all failed attempts at solving a problem and/or a crime. If you’re looking for a killer you first must establish he killed. If you’re looking for the missing you cannot assume missing is equivalent to murdered. To get the right answers you have to ask the right questions. The unasked question that is pertinent to the case is, “ What best explains what we know?” This is the question that, if answered, will lead us to finding a missing Alabama girl.
3-25-06
On 3-25 BETH TWITTY founded the website, “The International Safe Travels Foundation,” located on the Internet at http://www.safetravelsfoundation.org/MS/MS71/index.php
The website homepage contains the following:
OUR MISSION
The Safe Travels Foundation is a non-profit 501c3 established to inform and educate the public to help them travel more safely as they travel internationally.
FOUNDERS MESSAGE
I am so grateful for the overwhelming support I continue to receive since my daughter Natalee's disappearance. The stories and advice so many of you have shared have inspired me to convey the information I have learned and gathered regarding international travel with as many people as possible. That's why I created the International Safe Travels Foundation.
The International Safe Travels Foundation's mission, - my mission, is to help you to plan, travel and return home safely. Traveling can and should be a wonderful and fulfilling experience. I want all of you to take the simple steps when planning and traveling that will make every trip a safer trip.
I want you to have access to the information and resources you need while away so that you can focus on enjoying yourselves. Please explore this site and consider the suggestions we offer. Please share your thoughts as to what we can do to better serve your needs - and please join us. Become a member of ISTF and we will send you updated information and suggestions that will help you travel safely. It costs nothing to join, but your support is welcome as we try to bring this important information to the 27 million Americans who travel internationally each year.
Thank you for visiting us. I hope you will join us in our effort to help you plan and enjoy a safe trip.
Warmest regards and SAFE TRAVELS,
Beth Twitty
On 3-25 CBS News reported:
Natalee Holloway: New Clues
Investigator Tells 48 Hours She Probably Died From Excessive Alcohol, Maybe Drugs
(CBS) Ever since American teenager Natalee Holloway disappeared on the island of Aruba during a high school post-graduation trip last year, police say they have done everything in their power to crack the case. But Natalee's mom, Beth Holloway Twitty, disagrees — and accuses Aruban authorities of being slow in their investigation.
Authorities now say they feel confident this case will be solved soon. Correspondent Troy Roberts gets an exclusive, inside look at the investigation and at new clues police are considering.
"They say a picture speaks a thousand words? This one speaks 2,000 words to me," says Gerold Dompig, Aruba's lead investigator in the Natalee Holloway case, as he looks at what may be the last picture taken of the teen.
The photo, shown publicly for the first time by 48 Hours, was discovered by the FBI in the camera of one of Natalee's classmates. For Dompig, the picture is a constant reminder of his toughest case.
Deputy Chief Dompig has been under a strict gag order since last year, but Aruban authorities agreed to let him speak exclusively to 48 Hours about the latest details of his investigation.
Asked how he would characterize the current state of the investigation, Dompig says, "I would say 'critical last phase.'"
"Do you believe this case will be solved?" Roberts asked.
"Yes, I do," Dompig replied.
The story of what happened to Natalee Holloway has been marked mostly by speculation and rumor but very few facts. But , for the first time, police allowed 48 Hours inside the police investigation in Aruba. Among the things 48 Hours has learned is what authorities believe really happened to the Alabama teenager the night she disappeared, as well as clues that could close the case once and for all.
"We have been informed by a manager of a nightclub that he received a call. He wanted to talk about the fact that he knew more about the whereabouts of Natalee," says Dompig, who acknowledges that this is the first valuable lead he's gotten in a while. "Yes, concerning a specific burial location, yes," he says.
Holloway disappeared last May, and for nearly a year, police have received dozens of leads, all leading nowhere. But Dompig is convinced that the person who made the call may be the key witness they’ve been waiting for.
"The information that this person gave was too specific to just be a story that was just made up by someone," explains Dompig.
Now, based on this new information, investigators will begin searching again for Natalee’s body on the northern tip of the island.
"Somewhere on the sand dunes that go all the way up behind the lighthouse … where we basically have to search," explains Dompig as he shows Roberts the general search area. "It’s worse than looking for a needle in a haystack."
Aruba, just a stone’s throw from the coast of Venezuela, plays host to more than a million visitors every year, most from the United States. In recent years, a younger and younger crowd has landed on its shores.
The senior trip to Aruba was a well-deserved vacation for Natalee. Days earlier, this honor student graduated from Mountain Brook High School, just outside Birmingham, Ala.
Three of her best friends, Liz Cain, Mallie Tucker and Claire Fierman, recall their last days with Natalee.
"It was so much fun. We would wake up, go like, brush your teeth, go straight to the beach. We would literally stay in the water all day long because it was so perfect," says Fierman. "We just hung out with our friends on this beautiful island. It was a really fun trip.”
On their last night, Cain says they went to Carlos'n Charlie's, a local nightspot.
The legal drinking age on Aruba is only 18, and even that is not strictly enforced, making the island a preferred vacation spot for American teenagers. No one disputes that Natalee and many of her classmates drank alcohol during their senior trip. But the authorities tell 48 Hours they have evidence that Natalee’s drinking got seriously out of control and may even have contributed to her death.
"She was, I think not differently from other students. She was having a great time and she was using … doing that," says Dompig. "Using way too much alcohol in combinations which could basically be lethal."
Natalee’s mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, has been working tirelessly since last May, trying to unravel the mystery of her daughter’s disappearance.
"You know she was 18 years old. She was on her senior trip. They were in this establishment of legal age," she says. "I'm certain they were drinking. We never even tried to say that they weren't, you know. But I have to ask myself, you know, 'Should that cost her life?' No. It shouldn't."
Police interviews with hotel staff, local bartenders, and her friends reveal that Natalee had spent much of the day with a drink in her hand.
"Do you know if Natalee could handle her alcohol?" Roberts asked.
"Yes," said Cain. "She was never somebody to be out of control if she had been drinking at all."
"When you hear stories, like people started drinking in mid-afternoon and drank through the night. Does that sound accurate?" Roberts asked.
"Yes," Claire Fierman said.
Fierman and Cain agreed that the drinking was kind of excessive.
48 Hours has learned that the Aruban investigation turned up another disturbing detail.
Asked if he has been able to confirm whether Natalee purchased or consumed illegal narcotics during her stay in Aruba, Dompig says, "We have statements claiming that she, that she had drugs."
What kind of drugs?
"I cannot say," Dompig replied.
Dompig notes that police don't have any proof that Natalee used drugs but "that they saw her with drugs in her possession."
Had Natalee’s friends heard stories of people taking drugs?
"No. The only thing I heard about drugs is there were like people at the hotel that weren't with us that would like offer stuff to people. I was never offered drugs and I never even saw 'em," said Fierman.
However, police do believe that Natalee’s judgment was impaired that night. Her friends were surprised that she was last seen willingly getting into a car with three strangers, 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot, 21-year-old Deepak Kalpoe and his brother, 18-year-old Satish Kalpoe.
Fierman says it would have been out of character for Natalee to voluntarily get into a car with three boys. "It frustrates me so much because I feel as much as, like, we say that, no one believes us 'cause you hear all that stuff," she says. "But, from the bottom of my heart, that is extremely out of character and not something that Natalee Holloway would ever do."
Holloway's mother agrees. "No way would she have left her friends and placed herself knowingly what she was getting into. They just took her when she just … There's no way."
"Do you think she may have been vulnerable because she had been drinking too much?" Roberts asked.
"Very much so," Cain replied.
Since Natalee disappeared almost 10 months ago, her mother has used any opportunity to keep the story alive to pressure the government of Aruba to solve this case.
"There are just no words to explain the frustration level that we have had to experience in dealing with officials from the island of Aruba," she says.
Last fall, Twitty called for a boycott of Aruba. The island’s tourism industry has suffered: Travel bookings are off more than 4 percent from a year ago.
Does she still support a boycott of Aruba?
"The only leverage that we have in getting any traction in the investigation is when they feel the effects of a boycott," says Twitty.
According to Deputy Chief Dompig, the boycott is not the only thing that has cost Aruba dearly. He says authorities have about $3 million, on this investigation. "Which is about 40 percent of our operational budget," he explains.
As far as Beth Twitty is concerned, there has always been a simple solution to solving this case: Just ask the people last seen with Natalee — Joran van der Sloot and Satish and Deepak Kalpoe.
"If they had just gotten the suspects within the first 48 hours like they were supposed to have done, then they wouldn't have spent anything," she says.
"They were focused already from the first day, from the get–go, on these three boys. So, it's hard for them to understand that when we investigate, we have to go systematically. We have to go back to basics. And we have to do it by the book," says Dompig. "We are within the Dutch kingdom. We have a judicial system. We have a court of law. And we have rules. So we had to follow the rules of the game."
The police apparently did just that. Contrary to the storm of criticism from the American media, the Aruban police say they quickly put van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers under surveillance.
Dompig says surveillance of the three boys began on the third day after Natalee was reported missing and included observation, telephone wire taps, and even monitoring of their e-mail.
“Bringing in the prime suspect is basically the last thing we do," Dompig explains. "When we bring you in, we probably already know the story because we have observed. We have talked to all your friends. We have checked your phone line. We have done everything that is technically possible to know about your whereabouts.”
But police say extreme pressure from the Holloway family forced them to stop their surveillance and make arrests. Just 10 days after Natalee disappeared, police took van der Sloot, the Kalpoe brothers, and later, even van der Sloot's father into custody.
Asked if pressure from the family compromised the investigation, Dompig says, "I think so. It at least distracted the investigators' efforts.”
Twitty says she was just trying to get the police to find her daughter.
"We wanted justice and we wanted the truth. And I think that that was shocking to the officials in Aruba that we were so persistent in our quest for that," she says.
Paulus van der Sloot was quickly released on judge’s orders, but the young men remained in custody.
Twitty says she is confident the three boys know what happened to Natalee.
But less than a month after their arrests, a court released Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. As police feared, simply questioning the brothers did not turn up enough evidence to charge them with a crime. To this day, they deny any involvement with Natalee’s disappearance.
Despite the setbacks, the cops were able to play hardball with their prime suspect, 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot, thought to be the last person who saw Natalee.
As Aruban law allows, authorities detained him for months without charging him with any crime.
Aruban lawyer Arlene Shipper — who often speaks on behalf of the Aruban government — was sure Joran would crack. "It's mind-boggling to us that a 17-year-old, if he would have done it could not have been broken. It's incredible."
But as Dompig explained, Joran’s age actually made things harder for the interrogators.
Dompig acknowledges Joran was afforded some special legal protections because he was 17 years old at the time of his arrest. Dompig says that did complicate matters. "Yes, that complicated matters seriously because he had more visiting rights with his father — his father being a judge in training was a problem for us because he could give his son certain advice."
Joran’s father discussed the family’s ordeal with CBS' The Early Show.
"We are telling the whole truth, nothing but the truth. And we spoke all this to Joran to tell the truth," Paulus van der Sloot said.
Police say they could not listen in on the conversations between Paulus and his son, citing that they were "privileged conversations."
Dompig says he believes Paulus van der Sloot does know more than he has been telling about the circumstances surrounding Holloway's disappearance.
But in spite of those parental visits, 48 Hours has learned that the interrogations were intense and tough. Special agents from the FBI were brought in, along with investigators from Holland to conduction the interrogations.
Dompig says while Joran van der Sloot wasn't subjected to questioning in the middle of the night, there were late sessions.
"So he was deprived of sleep but it wasn't going on for days?" Roberts asked.
"No," Dompig replied.
Dompig says it almost worked. “There were several moments where Joran almost broke. Several moments,” he says.
Dompig says Joran's basic story changed three times. "But the little facts changed over 25 times. So it was never the same."
One critical element of the interrogation remains in dispute: did Joran admit to having sex with Natalee?
Twitty claims that Joran was clear with the police about one thing — that he had sex with her daughter the night she disappeared.
"I had access to several statements, and in one of Joran's statements he's describing Natalie as she's falling asleep and waking up, falling asleep and waking up repeatedly. And, as she's doing this, he is explaining, he's very sexually explicit, graphically detailing what he is doing to Natalie. OK?" Twitty said.
Twitty and her attorney would not share those documents with 48 Hours. In spite of her claim, Dompig says there is no proof of sexual assault.
Asked if Joran van der Sloot ever confessed to being sexually intimate with Natalee, Dompig says he never did.
"Believe me, we were looking for anything to throw him, to keep him in jail," says Dompig. "The only thing he admitted to was that he was fondling [her] sexually, like kissing, touching her. And there was no sexual in terms of penetration or whatever, really having sex with her.”
After nearly two dozen lengthy interrogations, the police still had no confession and had found no body. So on Sep. 3, 2005, Joran van der Sloot was released to his parents.
"This young man, a 17-year-old-boy was able to withstand 90 days in prison, and undergo specialized interrogation, and they weren't able to get a confession from him," says attorney Arlene Shipper.
"What does that say ?" Roberts asks.
"It can mean two things — either he's innocent, he really doesn't know what happened, or he's a genius," she replied.
Joran van der Sloot has denied any wrongdoing, but he has done nothing to dispel Dompig’s suspicions.
Asked what FBI profilers told Dompig about van der Sloot's psychological profile, he says, "They use the word sociopath. And the fact that he was capable of lying about basically everything."
Twitty says there's a reason she thinks van der Sloot is lying — he is covering something up. "He's covering something up so horrible that he can't tell the truth," she says.
But if Joran can’t or won’t tell the whole story of what happened that night, police think they may soon find someone else who will.
"New people are coming in the picture," says Dompig. "It is possible that there was help. Or it is possible that there was a second group involved other than these three boys.”
With no major break in the Holloway case in the past six months, Aruban authorities are re-doubling their efforts to find Natalee’s body.
One of the most persistent theories clouding the case is the notion that her body was dumped out at sea.
But Dr. Ruben Cruz, the head of the island’s search and rescue team showed 48 Hours that an unweighted body thrown overboard near the shore would wash up on the beach.
Cruz says he and his team have tossed a dummy overboard many times, but that in every case, it drifted back to shore. The only way that wouldn’t happen is if a boat sailed more than two miles offshore — a trip that would have turned up on police radar and been captured on tape.
Police have accounted for every boat in the water the night Natalee vanished.
Authorities now believe that the teenager's body may be buried somewhere among some dunes, but not because it washed ashore. The Aruban authorities’ new theory is that someone, someone possibly very close to the young suspects, took the time to carefully hide the body, not once but maybe twice, literally re-burying her.
And there’s another stunning revelation from the authorities: Though they’re convinced Holloway is dead, they tell 48 Hours that they believe she was not murdered.
"This was a highly intoxicated body of a very small person," says Dompig.
Dompig laid out the latest scenario of what happened after Natalee was last seen driving off with van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers shortly after 1 a.m. He says investigators think the group did not go to the beach but that they possibly brought Natalie back to the van der Sloots' home.
Wherever she was, police now think that while Natalee was with Joran, she died suddenly from an overdose of intoxicants.
"We feel strongly that she probably went into shock or something happened to her system with all this alcohol maybe on top of that other drugs which either she took or they gave her and that she just collapsed," says Dompig.
The crime, Dompig suspects, occurred when the body was illegally disposed of. The boys may have acted alone.
"We’re not talking about killers here," he says.
Or, as Dompig reveals for the first time, they could have had accomplices. "New people are coming in the picture. It is possible that there was a second group involved, or more people than these three boys," he says.
Dompig speculates the body was hastily buried once, and that those extra accomplices may have been needed to move it to a more hidden location.
These latest developments, the new witness, the chance of an accidental death by overdose, and the possibility of additional accomplices re-locating the body, have changed Dompig’s view of the case.
"I'm convinced that there's no thing as a crime of this proportion, which goes unseen. There's the information on there. And we just have to get it," he says.
But the challenges are daunting: So far, there has not been a shred of forensic evidence found in the van der Sloot house, the Kalpoe car, or anywhere else on the island.
"It's very rarely that you have a case that somebody just disappears and there's hardly any evidence left behind," says Shipper.
Ten months after Natalee’s disappearance, Natalee’s home town of Mountain Brook, Alabama, is still starved for answers.
Natalee’s schoolmates have had to handle a harsh lesson about the dangers of the adult world they’ve entered.
"You know, we went on senior trip. But then after that, it was basically like we were forced to not become adults, but definitely grow up a lot," says Cain.
Natalee’s parents have filed a civil suit against Joran van der Sloot and his father, but Twitty knows she may never learn the truth about what happened to her daughter.
Asked what gives her hope today, she replied, "I don't have any."
"You don’t have any?" Roberts asked.
"If somebody wants to tell me ..." she tearfully replied.
But Dompig is optimistic that answers will be found. "We are that much closer to knowing what really happened to Natalee," he says. "A crime like this cannot go unsolved."
On 3-25 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:
According to an interview in the US: Dompig indicates that he doesn’t believe that Natalee was killed intentionally
ORANJESTAD(AAN): During an American program, Gerold Dompig said that Police have a new theory about the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
In the interview on the CBS show ’48 Hours Mystery’ he said that he has a strong feeling that Holloway possibly went into shock or something happened to her system, due to alcohol and possibly drugs.
Dompig also said that possibly those who were with her panicked and tried to cover this up.
He also said that witnesses didn’t see Natalee taking drugs, however they said that they did see her with drugs in her possession.
According to Dompig, the investigation has reached a final critical phase and declarations of one witness have led them to search once more in the sand dunes for Natalee’s body.
On 3-25 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:
Radar didn’t detect anything significant in the Holloway case
ORANJESTAD(AAN): According to an article on the Internet, an American company recently sent a representative to help search for Natalee Holloway's body, using a sophisticated radar.
Based on tips of the possible location of Natalee Holloway's body, the representative of Ground Penetrating Radar Systems’ searched different beaches, dunes and caves, but found nothing.
Segun un articulo riba Internet, un compania Mericano recientemente a manda un representante pa yuda busca curpa di Natalee Holloway, usando un aparato sofistica di radar.
3-26-06
On 3-26 “About.com” reported:
Natalee Holloway - The Investigation Ten Months Later
From Bonnie Hamre,
Mar 26 2006
Ten Months, No Answers
In the ten months since her disappearance, Natalee Holloway has been a constant name in the news. (See The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba, original feature and updates throughout the months following.)
The island of Aruba, where she was enjoying a celebratory post high school graduation trip, has been scrutinized, its legal and judicial system studied and its residents questioned.
Searches for the missing teen-ager came up empty.
A growing reward and a media blitz conducted by her grieving family produced no results.
In a series of interviews with the US press and TV journalists, ( Exclusive: Joran van der Sloot Tells 'Primetime' About Night With Natalee Holloway, Transcript: Joran van der Sloot Goes 'On the Record,' Part 1, Transcript: Joran van der Sloot Goes 'On the Record,' Part 2 and Transcript: Joran van der Sloot Goes 'On the Record,' Part 3 ) Joran van der Sloot repeatedly denied any wrong doing or knowledge of what happened to Natalee after he left her on the beach.
In fact, he blamed everyone but himself for any involvement.
On behalf of Natalee, legally an adult, her family instituted a civil suit against the van der Sloot's, father and son. See . When they arrived in New York for the scheduled TV appearances, the father and son were served with the documents. In a rather ironic statement given his interviews, Joran commented on the Holloway-Twitty media appearances.
In the latest TV interview, this time with CBS/48 Hours Mystery show, interviewed by Troy Roberts in Aruba, Gerald Dompig, the deputy chief of Police and lead Investigator in Natalee’s disappearance finally spoke. See Natalee Holloway: New Clues.
With photos of the island, beach and Carlos and Charlies, and of Natalee herself with her friends, with Joran at the casino, and a last photo of her looking intoxicated, the show’s producers recapped the disappearance and following investigation.
Gerald Dompig explained that he had been under a gag order since the early days of the investigation and now, with what he called the “closing days” of the investigation, he was cleared to speak. While he did not reveal any details, he did comment on the investigation:
* the Aruban authorities followed their own laws and legal procedures during the investigation. They had Joran van der Sloot, Satish and Deepak Kalpoe, the three suspects, under surveillance only three days after Natalee’s disappearance. The surveillance included visual sightings, monitor of emails and phone tapping.
* the publicity campaign on the part of the Holloway-Twitty family put so much pressure on the investigation, “distracting efforts,” that the Police were forced to arrest Joran and the Kalpoe brothers too early
* contrary to early reports, Aruba does have state-of-the-art equipment for Police investigations
* the investigation of any vessels arriving or leaving Aruba, as shown on radar screening, cleared them all, disproving any theory that Natalee’s body was taken out to sea and dumped.
* re-creations of dumping a body close to shore proved that the body would wash ashore, something that didn’t happen.
* 18 is legal age for drinking alcohol in Aruba.
Gerald Dompig went on to talk about Natalee:
* Natalee was seen drinking throughout the day and into the evening. Three of her friends who were on the trip with her agreed that it was excessive.
* Natalee was physically small, so her tolerance for alcohol would be less than others. He stated her drinking was “out of control” and she’d had “way too much alcohol.”
* Natalee was seen with unspecified drugs in her possession. He was careful to state that no one witnessed her using drugs.
* he suggested that combination of drugs and alcohol was responsible for her sudden death.
* there is no proof of any sexual activity other than the “fondling physically” Joran has admitted to.
Gerald Dompig’s comments about Joran van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers:
* They are still the prime suspects even though the Kalpoes were released before Joran was after 90 days in custody
* as a minor, Joran was interrogated thoroughly, but not the way an adult would be. His age “complicated” the investigation.
* as a minor, he was allowed visits with his father, Paulus van der Sloot, a judge-in-training, who could give him advice
* Paulus “knows more” than he is telling, although he’s said he’s told Joran to tell the truth
* with the F.B.I. and Dutch Investigators present, Joran “almost broke” several times
* Joran’s basic story changed three times. Other facts changed 25 times during the investigation.
Gerald Dompig’s comments about the state of the investigation:
* There are new clues to support another search for her body
* a new witness came forth with explicit details about the location of Natalee’s body somewhere in the sand dunes on the northern end of the island
* there is reason to believe she was buried in haste, then exhumed and reburied
* cadaver dogs and sonar equipment will be used to search the sand dunes
* there is reason to believe she died accidentally. The suspects, with possible accomplices, panicked and disposed of her body
* this “help from others,” unnamed accomplices, came from someone “close to Joran”
* the only crime would be the illegal disposal of a body.
In response to these statements, Natalee’s parents, Dave Holloway and Beth Twitty, denied Natalee ever used drugs and acknowledged that she was drinking heavily.
Natalee’s friends agreed that using drugs would be out of character for her.
Beth again cited her frustration in dealing with the Aruban officials and emphasized that a boycott of Aruba with the consequent effect on tourism, was an effective tool to hasten the investigation. Gerald Dompig said that tourism was off 4%, and the investigation to date had cost 5 million florins (USD$3 million), about 40% of the Police operational budget.
TV legal experts, criminal and forensic experts have all commented on the case. Speculations, allegations, accusations, rumors and theories abound.
The fact remains is that without her body, no forensic evidence on Aruba and no confession, there is little likelihood that the truth will ever be known.
Beth admitted they may never learn the truth about Natalee’s disappearance. There is “no hope.”
The results of a 10 answer poll following the article, in which you could select as many of the answers as you wanted:
Aruban officials will continue to investigate as stated
(3643)
13%
The case will fade away out of public view
(2530)
9%
Natalee will never be found, therefore no case
(2367)
8%
The suspects will never be charged
(2420)
8%
The disappearance will be solved
(3234)
11%
Natalee is alive in another country
(2611)
9%
Natalee is only one of many disappearances
(5633)
20%
The case was blown out of proportion
(405)
1%
Tourists must be more cautious
(1383)
5%
It's time to move on
(3093)
11%
Total Selections: 27319
(Thank You and Hat Tip to Tom) On 3-26 “Renfro of Aruba Today did a podcast with Dana Pretzer and The C-Band Talk Network. Click here for the link to a rather long interview, but well worth listening to. The Renfro interview is in the second part of the show that starts at approximately 22 minutes in.”
On 3-26 the DUTCH news-sourced “AD.nl” wrote the beginning of a pay-to-view article:
Natalee Holloway: New indications
ARUBA, 20060326 -- ORANJESTAD (26-03-06) - Natalee Holloway have not been assassinated, but died supposedly in the presence of Joran of the ditch suddenly to exuberant drankgebruik, yes or no in combination with drugs. That thinks the Police force on Aruba, that disappearance examines. Thereby the Police force does not exclude that, beside Joran of the ditch and the brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, a second group - or anyway others - in disappearance has been involved.
…
On 3-26 FOX News reported:
Thank You and Hat Tip to “Heli”)
NOT VERBATIM NOT COMPLETE
Kimberley:
Joining me is Beth Twitty. I can't believe this guy Dompig, I'm going to ask so you can defend yourself, he's trying to blame you guys for the problems in the investigation, was there anything positive about this interview?
Beth:
Several things came out that are positive. I think that something Natalee's father Dave had been trying to track down, a theory or suspicion he'd been trying to track down, we thought there were a lot of other individuals involved in her murder, where they placed her when they killed her. It came out that Joran took Natalee to his apartment, that's coming out. We had been chasing these suspiciions down since early in June. It's coming out that we were right all along, right from the start.
Kimberley:
You gave them the road map for the whole investigation
Beth:
We had hoped it was an investigation that got off on the right track. WE also learned that they have tracked all of the boats that were arriving and departing from ARuba that night...we might have spent $100,000 in deep water search if we'd not learned that, if we can avoid that it would be huge for the family
Kim:
Especially narrowing down where to search, that's huge as well. He's bringing up exactly what you've said all along as well, that Paul is a person of interest, Dompig believes he had something do do with Natalee's disappearance.
Beth:
That was another thing that came out, they full well recognize that Paul has involvement.
Kim:
What about the bartender who has key information about some kind of burial
Beth:
That's new to the family, we didn't know who it was we've been chasing down witnesses since early on, the witness from the dump for instance...this one might have more crediblity, there again something else positive for Natalee
Kimberley:
I don't like ppl blaming her at all, she was a wonderful girl, so bright. Dompig keeps talking about narcotics...what's your reaction to that?
Beth:
Everyone has pretty well got insight into who Natalee was, she just didn't have that in her history, if she was drugged it's because they slipped it into her drink
Kim:
Joining us is Defense Attorney from Aruba,David Koch. Are you surprised by some of the things that happened, Dompig says this case can be solved, he believes your clients are still suspects, with Joran along with Paul
David;
No I'm not surprised, we all want this case to be solved, done one way or the other, '"m not suprised they're not changing the persons of interest
Kim:
DO you think they handled this investigation properly from the beginning?
Dave;
One point that hasn't been made clear, it wouldn't have made a difference if they'd been arrested earlier, they were interviewed the second day after the girl disappeared,.they already had their story about the HI. The police have done an extensive interviews with them; mroe than if a local person was involved
Kim:
Do you still believe they'll go to trial by June or July?
Dave:
yes, I think that can be possible, the DA can bring a case at her discretion.
Kimberley:
You also said that Joran lied about Deepak and Satish picking Joran up.
David
I think he's the one who has the answer, Joran has the answer because he was the one left with the disappeared person.
Kim:
Dompig says her disappearance could be due to alcohol...do you buy that?
David:
We still stand by that, there was no indication to do with drugs, we have nothing to show for that
Kim:
Do you feel that Natalee was murdered?
Dave:
We all know something happened, we almost know what happened. I think foul play is a very likely possiblity, there are others but if we don't know exactly what happened, it's a little difficult to be certain of anything.
Kim:
Joining me is Dr Michael Baden. Any surprise in what you heard, the comments about Natalee?
Dr. Baden:
I was concerned from a medical forensic point of view this concept that Dompig put forth that according to Dutch law they had to surveille the boys, that's not true. From Day 1 they went after the two black guards, took their clothes, looked at their bodies. They should have done that with the 3 boys, and they lost the opportunity to get any forensic evidence by zeroing in on two innocent black security guards.
There was a report that when Joran went to school he had scratch marks on his body
Kim:
If they recovered the body...is there any forensic value to be had from it?
Baden:
Yes, potentially a great deal, .....first she'd be identified, that would be important to the family, then if she had drugs in ther body they'd be able to find out most probably, if her clothing were torn, if she was strangled, they'd be able to find that out. Even after 10 months, on the theories about overdosing, they knew this 10 months ago
Kim:
Joining me is our legal panel tonight, Lauren Lake and Mickey Sherman, Pat Brosnan. Pat, he's saying that Natalee's family hindered this investigation
Pat:
I don't buy into that. These are astonishing new developments from Dompig. The fact that he's positioning info about re-burial is incredible. I understand that new witnesses can materialize,but now there's a strong sense that she died accidentally ...this seems like a tremendous amount of new info and I'm not sure it's factual
Lauren:
THis part really got to me...I really think what happened is they got offended about that boycott..this whole case took this lull, they were offended, I wonder if Natalee's family won the battle by getting media attention but lost the war, they lost the co-operation of ALE at a critical point. I wonder what would have happened if that little phase hadn't happened
Kim:
Their egos were sure bruised, that being said do you think this is moving in the right direction? yOU heard it right here, the Kalpoe attorney said they might go to trial by June or July
Sherman:
They're all full of crap. The only one who is telling it like it is, is the victim's Mom. I don't blame her for speaking up, for anybody to have the least bit of criticism of her is crazy. They have no foundation for anything they're saying, it's cruel to the victim
Kimberley:
Even if she was drinking, it was legal for her to do that, somebody put something in her drink, and if you do that, that's a crime
Pat:
That's felony murder, if she was hit with GHB it's a crime, a deliberate murder
Kim;
Yeah, and don't forget, throw in sexual assault to boot
Pat
They're stating that she had drugs in her possession, who is the author of that story? I agree, this is not entirely representative of the facts in this case, for sure.
Beth:
We had hoped it was an investigation that got off on the right track. WE also learned that they have tracked all of the boats that were arriving and departing from ARuba that night...we might have spent $100,000 in deep water search if we'd not learned that, if we can avoid that it would be huge for the family
3-27-06
On 3-27 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS NBC TV channel 5 reported:
Aruban Police: New Witness Claims To Know Location Of Holloway's Body
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Deputy Aruba Police chief Gerold Dompig said a new witness claims to know the location of Natalee Holloway's body, Birmingham, Ala., television station WVTM reported.
The witness claims the Alabama teenager's body is buried near some sand dunes on the northern tip of the island, Dompig said.
Holloway's father, Dave Holloway, voiced his concern on Monday over the claim and wondered why previous searches in that area have turned up nothing.
"If they know where she's located and they knew it three months ago, why haven't they found her?" Dave Holloway said.
Dompig said he now plans to use cadaver dogs to search that location.
The deputy chief also said he believes Natalee Holloway might have died from complications due to alcohol and drug use, after hearing claims that she had drugs in her possession on May 30, the night she was last seen leaving a bar with three local men.
On 3-27 FOX News reported:
(Thank You and Hat Tip to “Heli”)
NOT VERBATIM NOT COMPLETE
Greta:
Joining us is David Koch. the chief says there may be others involved in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway...what do you think of that?
HOLLOWAY:
I think there are 2 directions you can go with this, they are investigating scenarios where other ppl assisted. Joran really left the beach and left natalee alone and another group approached her. They explored that
Greta:
Joran says Satish picked him up. Satish said that never happened.
HOLLOWAY:
That didn't occur
There have been conflicts in the past from June 12, both brothers independently of each other said the same story .....
Greta:
In sorting through the interviews and statements, there's a difference between what Deepak says about Natalee's intoxication. Deepak says she's more intoxicated than what Joran says
HOLLOWAY:
They saw the girl had been drinking, that's not a point of discussion
Greta;
What are your clietns doing now?
HOLLOWAY:
It's very difficult, Satish is going to school, but he missed his year. Deepak is trying to hold on to his job
Greta:
Did your clients say they ever saw Natalee with drugs
HOLLOWAY:
No, not at all from what I know from the file there's nothing to indicate that's the case. The group was drinking during their stay but nothing that points in the direction of drugs
Greta:
There's no court date, they're in limbo
HOLLOWAY:
Yes, they are waiting, apparently soon something is going to happen,
Greta:
Jim Hammer, Michael Cardozza, Bernie Grimm Ted Williams
Bernie, this whole business whether Satish picked up Joran, that's a pretty important one
Bernie:
This is a violent split, this is the last person seen with the victim. I'm not buying that Joran walked home, he got a ride, his alternate story that he got a ride with Satish..for some reason I buy it
Greta:
I think it's unlikely he walked, those roads are not pleasant. Michael, what do you think of the chief talking
Michael
More speculation, where are we going, one of the Questions I have, is when John Kelly filed suit, there were 3 ppl could prove that Joran adminsitered drugs to ppl...where are they Again it's all speculation. They have a reasonable doubt burden in Aruba, maybe we think he did it..we have nothing but a lot of speculation
Jim:
I agree, I thought I heard it all but the idea that Joran almost broke during interrogation, he believes Joran has more to say...the FBI profiler talked about Joran as a sociopath The last one is these experiments with the body thrown in the sea...if they did the search right they'd find her according to those experiments
Greta:
No profiler has ever solved a case, that to me when a profiler says that...the case is in trouble
Jim:
The body washes up every time according to those experiemnts, means they shouldn't have been waiting around to search the ocean
Cardozza:
What will the body do for us,
Greta:
The tests of what happens when you put a body in the water, narrows the focus fo where they should have been looking
Cardozza:
What if she died from drug overdose, he panics and buries the body, it doesn't make him a murderer.
Ted;
The tragedy is that if Natalee is dead she cannot speak and here we have a chief in the shoes of Natalee speculating where the body is, overdosing on alcohol and drugs
Greta:
What Dompig says is he has a strong feeling, what is that???
Jim:
Yeah, he's a clairvoyant
Ted;
You're going to dump on a young dead girl and say those awful things. It's so unprofessional...he looked for all the boats going out...can he account for all of them on the days after that?
On 3-27 CNNHN reported:
NANCY GRACE, HOST: To tonight`s "Case Alert." The blame-the-victim defense is at
work again. Aruba police reportedly suspect missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway
died from complications involving drugs and alcohol during a school trip. Well,
according to local authorities, they have a witness who says Holloway had drugs in her
possession and was drinking the day she disappeared.
Well, still, they`re not ruling out the possibility of foul play. Joran van der Sloot and
brothers Satish and Deepak Kalpoe remain the main suspects in Natalee`s
disappearance. Natalee`s parents hotly deny these theories, along with a multitude of
victims` right advocates around the world.
3-28-06
On 3-28 the ARUBAAN's news-source “Caribbean Net News" reported:
US Aircraft Carrier to Deploy to the Caribbean
WASHINGTON, USA (AFP): The US Navy is sending an aircraft carrier into the Caribbean next month for the first time since 2003 to reaffirm military ties with countries in the region, the military said Tuesday.
The two month deployment of the USS George Washington and three other warships comes at a time of growing US concern over attempts by populist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to make political inroads in the region.
In addition to the ship visits, US marines are joining troops from Britain and 16 other countries in Jamaica for an exercise this month and next called "Tradewinds 2006," which is centered on security for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
A Pentagon official said it will be the first time that the Navy has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group to the Caribbean since the 2003 closure of the Atlantic fleet's premier training range at Vieques, an island off Puerto Rico.
"We've had a very limited navy presence there from what we used to have. So this is good to get back there and visit some of those island nations," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"In order to have a presence you have to be there. This really underscores our commitment to the region," he said. "It shows we're interested in the region."
The navy deployment, which will run from early April through late May, will include port calls and operations with "various forces from Latin America and the Caribbean other governments" dealing with drug smuggling and human trafficking, the US Southern Command said.
"The deployment will focus on enhancing military-to-military relationships with regional partner nations, improving operational readiness and fostering good will," the Miami, Florida-based command said.
Neither the command nor Pentagon officials would say what ports will be visited or what other governments are taking part. In the past, though, Navy cruises have made port calls in Colombia and the Netherland Antilles, which lie just off Venezuela's northern coastline.
Although this would be the first aircraft carrier deployment in the Caribbean since 2003, the navy has held annual maritime exercises with Caribbean and Latin American navies called "Unitas."
Venezuela, which took part in the "Unitas" exercises every year since it began in 1959 in the wake of the Cuban revolution, has stayed away since 2003.
On 3-28 the "Aruban Boycott Blogspot" reported:
THE $12 MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION
Earth to Dompig, come in Dompig. Ok, Gerold. Here's another question for you. What was your country using for radars PRIOR to November 2005?
OTTAWA --- November 28, 2005--Raytheon Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of Raytheon Company, has been awarded a contract valued at approximately $12 million (Euro 10 million) by the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Coast Guard of the Netherlands Antilles & Aruba (CGNA&A) to build an integrated coastal surveillance radar network on the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, including long-term maintenance and training. The system will enable the precision monitoring of marine traffic in the waters around the Dutch Caribbean. It will be used primarily for search and rescue and drug interdiction, but it will also help combat illegal immigration.
The baseline system consists of eight radar sites equipped with a single command and control center based at the CGNA&A's rescue and coordination center in Curacao. Each site is composed of a Raytheon Canada Marine Small Target Tracker, Terma Scanter 2001 Radar from Terma of Denmark, wireless communications and physical infrastructure. The command and control center will be provided by HITT Traffic of The Netherlands. "This contract highlights Raytheon's industry leadership in coastal surveillance, advanced signal processing, and small target tracking technology," said Ron Fisher, president and CEO of Raytheon Canada.
"We're delighted to team with HITT to create and design this complex system for the coast guard of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. Our Waterloo facility has provided strong leadership on this project." Raytheon's Airspace Management and Homeland Security business area offers a broad range of automation and surveillance systems that are in use today in more than 50 countries around the world. The breadth of Raytheon's systems includes automation, communication, navigation and surveillance. Products are available to both civil and military markets. Investing in Canada since the 1950s, Raytheon Canada employs 1400 people at multiple sites in Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Ontario, serving the aerospace and defense sectors with a broad range of high technology products and services.
Raytheon Company, with 2004 sales of $20.2 billion, is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people worldwide.
Hmmm...a U.S. company to boot!
ARUBAN Police commissioner GERALD DOMPIG AND THE "WORKING" RADAR?
Dompig, why would you come out and volunteer information that wasn't asked of you? No one asked if the radar was working that night. Why bring it up or make it an issue unless you are trying to cover something up or lying?
But, A-HA!
Back in November, 2005, I received a tip from a source close to an Aruban native. This individual stated said that the radar to detect boats coming in and out of Aruba does not work, and the radar that detects the airplanes only works sometimes. This person said they are suppose to work, but Aruba won't ask the Netherlands for the money to help repair them because it will put them in greater dept owed to the Netherlands.
Dompig, let's see proof of those radar reports you discussed on 48 Hours. Maybe others can offer information to disprove your lie about the radar working, when it wasn't.
Does anyone notice how Aruba keeps avoiding searching the water? Take a boat about 2 and a half to three miles out from the Marriott and check there.
Why are they concentrating on the sand dunes? Because they are trying to steer the investigation in the wrong direction on PURPOSE...knowing full and well Natalee isn't buried there.
(click here for a lighthearted laugh compliments of the "Aruban Boycott Blogspot" take on “Deputy Dog” Dompig)
On 3-28 ARUBAAN's news-source "Bon Dia" reported:
Editorial: The Natalee Holloway Investigation Cannot Continue with Fables and Insinuations
In nine weeks Aruba will confront once more the sad case of the disappearance of the young student Natalee Holloway, who disappeared in the early morning hours of the 30th of May of 2005 here in Aruba, and who has still not been found.
For close to one long year the country of Aruba has felt and suffered the consequences that this sad case has brought along with it, fighting against an unfair campaign and the sensationalism of the American press, which has seen in the drama, principally television networks, a system to boost their ratings amongst the American public.
Aruba did everything possible, procure a national search, in which thousands and thousands of people searched and the government which gave free time to thousands of its workers to participate in this search, with the cooperation of countless businesses who procured transportation, food and drink.
Schoolchildren who were involved in the search and there were even people detained who never had to be detained, such as the two security guards.
The community received the mother and family of Natalee with open arms, the hotel sector invested money to help in the search, gave the family all that they could give them during their stay in Aruba, sharing in the pain and sadness of Natalee Holloway's family.
However, at the moment that things were calming down, Aruba recuperating a little from the publicity and negative campaign that the family initiated against our country, the young Joran van der Sloot, the principal suspect in this case, decided to make use of his right to attend to his own image and credibility.
In an attempt to straighten up his image and to say what he says is the truth, Joran messed things up for himself, and once more threw back Aruba in the mix, where the name of our island is again being misused with negative and unfair propaganda.
It was his right, but the Dutch youth has to take into consideration the damage that he caused once again to himself, but also his country.
His declaration solely served to launch more speculation, to raise the anger among those who consider him the principal suspect in the disappearance of the young student.
His truth wasn’t truth to those who have practically already condemned him, especially in the U.S.
When this fury also subsided a little, now another uncomfortable situation has arised, when a high functionary of the Aruba Police force gave an interview to an American TV channel, making statements that at no time serves the cause of justice, nor the cause of the country of Aruba.
Declarations which create more confusion, create more questions, while at no time do the bring clarity or closure to this sad case.
A justice official, when he is going to give a declaration, these declarations have to be based on facts, concrete and legal facts which at no time, as a high ranked Police official, he can give declarations which are based on ‘insinuations and rumours’ or probabilities.
commissioner Gerald Dompig in a certain sense gave an irresponsible declaration when he spoke of the death of Natalee Holloway and more still how this youngster died. Justice does not recognize this, which is based on their legal conclusions, on accumulated information and that cannot be confirmed at any time with the reality of the situation.
In the first place, no one knows where Natalee Holloway is, if she is dead or alive, and more still, no cause of death can be determined if there is still no knowledge that she is dead. An autopsy cannot be conducted on a body that has still not been found, to determine the cause of death of this person.
This is simply why the commissioner cannot come forward and state for public consumption that ‘they’ ‘buried’ the body once and ‘after’ ‘took out’ the body and buried it again.
It would take a superhuman person, a person with no feelings and with a lot, but a lot of courage to go back to a body that he buried a few days before and go bury it elsewhere. It would take a diabolical mind to be able to do this.
To top it all off, in this case one cannot speak of a body since there is still no body and if there is no body, then how can the commissioner know that it is buried? On the basis of what ‘was said’, of the witness’s testimony that nobody is aware of, and if it is true that these declarations are based on what Mr. Dompig believes happened then he has to keep his thoughts to himself, investigate this information to give them a concrete and legal basis, before going to the public and stating these.
What is taking place is another slur for an island that is already putting up with a lot, a slur, to top it all off, caused by our own people, justice officials who have to have known better than go to the public with this type of information.
The belief that there is a body to be found but to never find the body since no one knows if there is a body to be found, has to stop and at the moment where the remains of the youngster are found, if she is dead, then it’s time to come forward and publicly say that Natalee Holloway is dead. Before that, nothing and no one justice official can come forward with this belief, given that legally, they cannot support it.
If any media wants to speculate about this, it’s another matter, but no responsible media can do this if they consider themselves a responsible and serious media.
According to the laws of our country, a person is legally declared dead five years after his or her disappearance and not before that.
The case of Natalee Holloway has to be solved, but as long as it’s not solved we cannot permit ourselves the luxury to commit this type of blunder.
On 3-28 experienced F.B.I. criminal profiler CLINT VAN ZANDT reported:
Finding Natalee: A human needle in a haystack
Bizarre theories continue to emerge about efforts to find Natalee Holloway
COMMENTARY
By Clint van Zandt
MSNBC analyst & former F.B.I. profiler
“It’s worse than looking for a needle in a haystack.” These are the words of Gerold Dompig, Aruban Deputy chief of Police, as he talks about his efforts to solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway. However, some question whether he has been looking in the right haystack, or if he even wants to find the missing needle. Others in both the US and Aruba have found yet more bizarre theories to explain how a young woman could be there one moment, and gone the next.
Over 750,000 people are reported missing in the U.S. every year; 15,000 are believed to be victims of homicide. Why has our national and even international attention centered on this one young girl from Mountain Brook, Alabama? Name a topic other than the war in Iraq that has received more cable television coverage over the past 10 months. At times, it has seemed that television news, like the soap operas that have graced the small silver screens in our living rooms for the past 50 years, has needed to continue to report the saga to bring us back to our seats to watch night after night. Yet, were it not for the pressure from the American media, this story would probably have disappeared from the Aruban Police blotter the week after Natalee’s disappearance. Further, the sudden, unexplained nature of her disappearance, the young promise of her life, lost, and the devotion of her mother and family members in the search for Natalee has gripped us.
While most know her name, what we don’t know is what happened to Natalee after she climbed into a car with three young men she’d just met in Aruba, Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. Natalee’s mother, Beth Holloway-Twitty, says the answer is easy, just ask these three young men, the last three people that Natalee was with.
Deputy Police chief Dompig says Police did ask them, many times over a period of months, starting three days after Natalee’s disappearance. The three suspects initially suggested her assailants could have been a couple of security guards at her hotel. This was just one of three or more major, and 25 plus minor, alterations or changes to their collective stories, or perhaps just plain lies.
Parents like Beth Holloway-Twitty want the best for their children and ache if their child is hurt, or maybe lost, perhaps forever. Beth has asked for just one thing – the one thing she has not been able to obtain – an answer to what happened to her daughter. In a recent cable talk show the host interviewed Joran van der Sloot and allowed him to spout his latest version, basically unchallenged, of his two dozen plus versions of what happened to Natalee after she joined him in the back seat of the Kalpoe’s car. Dompig says profilers have characterized Joran as a sociopath, someone, in layman’s terms, who wouldn’t know the truth, or at least tell the truth, if it hit him in the head like a coconut.
After Joran’s latest version of the truth we have chief Dompig’s interview, perhaps taped one or two months ago, wherein he tells us he feels confident that this case will be solved and that the case is in its “critical last phase.” Evidently this characterization was related to a telephone call received by an Aruban bar manager last January with information that identified a specific burial location for Natalee’s body, strangely enough in the sand by the lighthouse at the far end of the island – a location the Police have known about since they first interviewed Joran and the brothers Kalpoe. Why, now, is this information better than the information that previously led the Police to search the area with men and cadaver dogs, then, as now, to no avail?
A ground penetrating radar (GPR) unit, either pulled or towed along the ground, sends pulses of ultra high frequency radio waves into the ground. The energy is reflected from a buried object and a good operator can tell the difference between different buried materials. These signals are plotted on the GPR’s visual profile as different colored bands, with the signal reaching depths of up to 100 feet in dry sand. Such a device was recently brought in to look beneath the sand near the light house, searching for the skeletalized remains of a young woman who had the whole world ahead of her and may have made one fatal error in judgment – she left her friends and went off into the night with strangers. But the GPR didn’t find a body where the tipster said it would be found, therefore this new tip appears useless, as were the earlier flyovers by Dutch photo recon F-16s. So much for what was described as “a new and valuable lead.” We’re back to no body, no case, therefore case closed. The attitude, it seems is let’s get everything back to normal, with American tourists, and their dollars, pouring back into Aruba by the plane full and ship full.
One question to be answered is why would an otherwise bright and savvy person (for her age) like Natalee go off with three strangers in the first place? Dompig believes he knows, or at least he’s now told anyone in America who will listen his current working theory. Everyone seems to acknowledge that Natalee, at age 18, was legally drinking while in Aruba (80% of 18-year-olds from her high school acknowledge drinking in the past year). However, Dompig tells us that Natalee had drunk to excess, had consumed some unknown quantity of an unknown drug, and simply collapsed and died of alcohol poisoning, drug overdose, or some combination thereof. “We’re not talking about killers here,” says chief Investigator Dompig, suggesting that the three young suspects evidently found themselves with a body on their hands the night Natalee disappeared. If the three committed any crime, so says the chief, it was the illegal disposal of an already dead body.
If Dompig’s latest theory is that Natalee died of an alcohol and drug overload, next week we’ll probably be told that this was the strangest case of suicide Police in Aruba have ever seen. Why, she must have forced these three men to drive her to the sand dunes while holding them at shovel point, the same shovel that Natalee evidently used to dig her own grave and bury herself, most likely along with Joran’s missing shoes.
If the only crime these three suspects committed was to bury a foreigner who overdosed accidentally or of her own volition, why not own up to it? Simply because they didn’t save her -- in their case didn’t drive her to an ER -- would be, according to Dompig no crime. The “Chappaquiddick defense” has worked in the past; it could work again.
In addition to the Aruban Police, their Dutch counterparts, and even a few F.B.I. Agents, were allowed to look in on the investigation; but not right away, and not to the degree that these agencies may have wanted to participate. It was an Aruban investigation – their island, their case. The challenge to the investigation, according to Dompig, was not his department’s inability to first identify and then break down the three current suspects and their various stories. No, it was the tenacity of Natalee’s mother in demanding answers. So, there we have it; it was Natalee’s and later Beth’s fault that the case was not solved. But why weren’t the Police able to explain to 17-year-old Joran that if all he did was to conduct an improvised Aruban funeral, then he and his two buds were guilty of only some minor offense? (Dompig does suggest though that Joran’s father and perhaps other unidentified co-conspirators were also somehow involved.) “There were several moments where Joran almost broke. Several moments, ” says Dompig. Beth Holloway-Twitty says she has a copy of a written report of a Police interview with Joran wherein he admits that he had sex with Natalee when she couldn’t resist. Dompig says no such report exists.
Dompig believes that Natalee did not die at the hands of others, but by some if not all of her own actions. He believes she was thereafter buried, dug up, and reburied by some combination of his three prime suspects and their identified and unidentified supporters. Come on! Even with this theory you’ve got to consider that while one burial may have been done in panic, the second has got to be evidence of something done on purpose, something done based upon a plan.
We recently witnessed the Police investigation of the disappearance and murder of New York City graduate student Imette St. Guillen. A big difference, of course, was that the victim in that case was found, along with a large amount of physical evidence linking her death to her believed killer. In the case of Natalee, we have no body and no evidence to link her to the suspects in her disappearance, nothing other than her driving away with them and their inability to tell a straight story as to what they did with, or to her. No known evidence in Joran’s apartment, where Dompig believes Joran may have taken her? No evidence in the Kalpoe’s car – no fingerprints, no hair, and no fibers – nothing? And, nothing anywhere else on or in the polished blue waters around the island?
Should the chief find a body under the sand, mitochondrial DNA from bones or teeth could be compared to Beth’s DNA to establish the identity of the deceased, and any drug consumed by the victim could be in evidence should human hair be present. The science is ready and waiting. We just need the investigation to be completed successfully. But what if Natalee was not buried, but somehow dropped in the water off the lighthouse? Dompig suggests that tests have been conducted that show a body dumped in the ocean surrounding the island would float back to shore. But there has been no discussion as to what would happen to a body if it was weighted down. Additionally, Dompig’s says that every local boat that was in the water the night Natalee disappeared has been accounted for. Anyway, any boat that went out two miles or more, something that many find hard to believe.
At the end of the day we are left with the chief Dompig’s promise: “A crime like this cannot go unsolved.” Try telling that to the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Many of you have followed this story from the beginning. How do you think this crime (or case) can be solved? What do you think happened to Natalee Holloway?
Email Clint at CVZ@msnbc.com
Clint is a frequent contributor to The Abrams Report, Weeknights at 4 & 6 p.m. ET on MSNBC TV
Clint van Zandt is an MSNBC analyst. He is the founder and president of van Inc. Van Zandt and his associates also developed LiveSecure.org, a Website dedicated "to develop, evaluate, and disseminate information to help prepare and inform individuals concerning personal and family security issues." During his 25-year career in the FBI, Van Zandt was a supervisor in the FBI's internationally renowned Behavioral Science Unit at the F.B.I. Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He was also the FBI's chief Hostage Negotiator and was the leader of the analytical team tasked with identifying the "Unabomber."
On 3-28 ARUBAAN's news-source "Bon Dia" reported:
Gerold Dompig’s interview was to set Aruba’s image straight
Suggestion in the CBS program that Joran vd Sloot took Natalee Holloway to his house and not the beach
As said in the initial declaration
ORANJESTAD – Joran vd Sloot did not take Natalee Holloway to the beach, but to his house. One of the many revelations and suggestions that interim High commissioner Gerold Dompig shared with Troy Roberts of CBS Saturday night in the program ’48 Hours – Mystery’ A much anticipated program due to the information that Dompig gave that was not before known, especially by the American media. A program, that according to CBS, Dompig made with the authorization of his superiors and that had as a goal to set straight all bad information Aruba has had to ‘deal’ with during the last months.
Among them, the bad image that was tried to be painted of our judicial system, and the Police’s work in this investigation.
EXPLANATION
Among the explanations were how our radar system works and that it would be difficult for a boat in movement to escape the eyes of the authorities. With a visual demonstration, this was proven on television. At the same time he explained the ‘tardiness’ in the detention of the three youngsters vd Sloot and Kalpoe, and how the judicial system functions, contrary to the thoughts of the American press.
DEAD OR NOT
One of the revelations of last night was that Natalee Holloway was not killed, but that she died of drugs via an overdose or of shock. Her alcohol consumption of that night was also discussed where Dompig based himself on the declarations of witnesses but could not give confirmation that Natalee Holloway was truly intoxicated the night of her disappearance. ‘I cannot confirm that she was intoxicated’, Dompig said. But three of her friends confirmed during the program that Holloway was very drunk that night.
DRUGS
There is information, according to Dompig, that Holloway had drugs in her possession. Information that Police had 3 months ago and information that they have now are totally different. ‘Now we have a completely different perspective’, Dompig told the CBS reporter. Dompig indicated that the investigation is in its last critical phase.
ANONYMOUS CALL
There was an anonymous call that the Carlos & Charlie manager received and consequently passed on to Police authorities, that a new ‘witness’ had appeared. This witness had more information as to the manner in which they ‘got rid of’ Natalee Holloway. The information was very specific to be one simply fabricated by one person. Based on this, Investigators conducted a new search in the area of the dunes behind the lighthouse.
VD SLOOT DETENTION
It was shown that when Joran vd Sloot was in detention and that they tried everything to keep him in prison. The fact that at the beginning Joran was a minor, according to Dompig, made things difficult since Joran’s father could visit him frequently and give him all information and advice necessary.
‘This seriously complicated things’, Dompig said. Here, Dompig confirmed that Paul vd Sloot knows more of the disappearance than what he says. There were a few moments where Joran almost broke.
NEW ELEMENT
A program with a few new elements and that has to be indicative of a new search which will take place in the coming weeks. Police do not want to say what day or what time this search will continue.
On 3-28 the “AP” reported:
Aruba Police Have 'strong indications' that Alabama Teen is Dead
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) -- Aruban Police reportedly suspect missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway may not have been killed but died from complications involving alcohol and perhaps drugs during a high school trip in the Dutch Caribbean island.
Witnesses have come forward who say the then 18-year-old Holloway had drugs in her possession and was drinking heavily on May 30, the day she disappeared, Gerald Dompig, deputy chief of Police for Aruba, told CBS television's "48 Hours Mystery" program, which released a partial transcript of the interview on Thursday.
"We feel strongly that she probably went into shock or something happened to her system with all the alcohol -- maybe on top of that, other drugs, which either she took or they gave her -- and that she ... just collapsed," he said in the interview, scheduled for broadcast on Saturday.
A cover-up may have ensued after the death, he said. Dompig specified that witnesses did not see Holloway taking drugs, only that she had them in her possession.
"After 10 months of investigation, including hearing many witnesses, we have strong indications that Natalee has died," Dompig told The Associated Press.
Dompig said she could have either died in a nonviolent manner, by her going into shock or that she collapsed due to her body's reaction to effects from alcohol or drugs, or she was killed.
Holloway was last seen leaving a bar with Dutch national Joran van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. No one has been charged in her disappearance -- though Dompig told AP that the three remain suspects -- and the investigation has produced a number of false leads.
Dompig said searches for her body in sand dunes along the island's northern tip, at a beach close to the Marriott Resort -- where van der Sloot said he last left Holloway -- and a salt pond near the hotel, were ongoing and will continue in the coming weeks.
"Our main priority is to find forensic evidence," he told AP, noting searches were based on tips.
Dompig told CBS Investigators believe that someone took steps to carefully hide Holloway's body -- perhaps burying her twice.
In January, Investigators searched sand dunes in the same northern area with more than 50 officers.
Beth Twitty, Holloway's mother, could not be immediately reached Thursday for comment.
On 3-28 the “AP” reported:
Dutch youth recounts night with missing Alabama teen in magazine
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch youth believed to be the last person to see the missing Alabama teen Natalee Holloway in Aruba said in an interview published Tuesday he would be angry if she is found to be alive.
Joran van der Sloot, 18, remains a suspect in Holloway's May 30 disappearance on the Dutch Caribbean island, but he has not been charged with any crime and is now attending university in the Netherlands.
"If Natalee is still alive, I would be angry because the Police, the American press and her family have falsely accused me all these months and made me out to be a rapist and murderer," he said in an interview with the Dutch magazine Nieuwe Revu.
"I don't expect to get an apology," he said. "I just hope that the Police figure out what exactly happened to her. Only then can everybody get on with his life."
Holloway was on a trip celebrating high school graduation when she was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe.
Van der Sloot said he kissed and fondled Holloway but they didn't have sex.
She had been drinking but didn't use drugs in his presence or appear heavily intoxicated, he told the Amsterdam weekly.
Gerald Dompig, Aruba's deputy chief of Police, said last week he believed Holloway may have died in a nonviolent manner, perhaps as an adverse reaction to alcohol and drugs, though he didn't rule out she might have been killed or run away.
Her body has not been found after extensive searches of the beach, local landfills and a lake near Holloway's hotel.
Van der Sloot said he decided to abandon Holloway at the beach despite her insistence that he stay to talk and look at stars.
"Everything had to be her way. At that moment, I thought: 'We're not going to have sex. I have exams tomorrow and I just want to go home, forget her."
He said Satish Kalpoe picked him up in a car at the beach and he went home, chatted with Deepak Kalpoe on the Internet and then went to sleep. The next day he took his exams and played poker the following night before he heard that Holloway was missing.
He acknowledged lying to Police when he initially told them he had dropped her off at her hotel.
"We thought then that they would find her within a few days," he said.
On 3-28 ARUBAAN's news-source "Bon Dia" reported:
Assisting with the search for Natalee Holloway
Group of experts and dogs from Holland arrived in Aruba yesterday afternoon
They will start searching this week in specific areas
ORANJESTAD – Late yesterday afternoon, a Dutch delegation consisting of 4 people and 2 specialized dogs arrived to assist with what is the crucial phase in the search for Natalee Holloway. The delegation is one that was intensively prepared with the assistance of the Aruba team which flew to Holland a few weeks back under the command of commissioner Gerold Dompig to finalize the preparation. Yesterday afternoon this delegation arrived in Aruba to start its work.
TWO DELEGATIONS
They met up with one of two delegations which also arrived after and together they will start a different search in a specific areas marked by Police authorities that have to be the final part of the search. These dogs are trained specifically to search underground odors and are the same as the American dogs that are called ‘cadaver dogs’. Along with the dogs, they also have equipment that the special team will use during their search in Aruba.
SPECIAL DOGS
The dogs are special in that they are treated and trained practically as people. Among them, these dogs do not sleep outside, but in the room with their masters. They do not go out at any time like other dogs. Yesterday it could be noted that their arrival, contrary to other times, they left the dogs constantly in their kennels to avoid that they could touch the unknown floor at the airport.
COORDINATION
The coordination is a very narrow one, and it has undergone much preparation to guarantee a perfect work, all under the leadership of Gerold Dompig, who as of late has been busy with these preparations. In the course of the week there will be more information about what the specialized Dutch group is doing during their stay in Aruba.
On 3-28 ARUBAAN's news-source "Bon Dia" reported:
Forecast becomes a reality at the airport
Quantity of passenger arrivals drops by 13% for first two months of 2006
Airport director is very disappointed with the results!
ORANJESTAD – The first two months of the year 2006 are not going too well for the airport. This is in terms of the quantity of passengers that arrive to our island. And the numbers confirm the worries of the airport manager Peter Steinmetz who points to the numbers being in the negative double digits. ‘January and February are disappointing’ Steinmetz said.
The first 6 months of last years, things were going very well compared to the previous year, but after a series of negative news started there was a drop in passengers. Now there is talk of negative growth of passengers. ‘This is disappointing for sure’, Steinmetz continued to say. And things don’t look much better. But at this time it is difficult to estimate how things will go. ‘We have an indication that the month of March will be a little better’, Steinmetz said, but he cannot say with certainty what this means.
According to the airport director, everything depends on two things.
The publicity that Aruba will conduct to rectify its image after the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, and the other issue is the increase in the hotel rates, that from last year is also a fact. He considers that hotel rates were increased too much.
‘I am confident that AHATA knows what’s happening and that they know what they have to do about it’, Steinmetz said.
3-29-06
On 3-29 the ARUBAAN's news-source “Caribbean Net News" reported:
US child found dead in Trinidad
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (AFP): The body of a six-year-old American boy has been found naked, burned and buried in a shallow grave close to his parents home in Trinidad and Tobago, Police said Tuesday.
Sean Luke went missing Sunday while playing in front of his home in a village in Orange Valley, Couva. The body was found a shallow grave in the middle of a cane field.
Police said they believe the boy was sexually abused before being killed.
Two months ago, a 12-year-old boy was found naked and drowned in a pond near his home. He had also been abused before being killed.
On 3-29 the ARUBAAN's news-source “Caribbean Net News" reported:
Dutch authorities seize cocaine from Trinidad and Suriname
PARAMARIBO, Suriname: Customs officers seized 500 kilograms of cocaine last Wednesday night in the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands. Two wooden crates containing 466 packages of drugs were found while inspecting a sea freight container allegedly shipped from Trinidad.
Officers of the National Criminal Investigation Department followed the container to a factory plant in Utrecht and raided the facility after suspects began to open the container with grinders.
Detectives arrested eight suspects and took possession of three houses, several cars, mobile phones with global service, and documents connected to the drug shipment.
The suspects, who were brought before the Examining Magistrate in Rotterdam on Friday, hail from Utrecht, Odijk, Amersfoort and Uden.
This incident marks the second time in two weeks that drugs from a Caribbean country have been seized in the port of Rotterdam.
On March 15, Police dogs led officers to hollow struts of an open flat rack container loaded with hardwood poles. The officers made a tiny incision into the struts which released a wave of cocaine. A total of 232 packages were found in 13 struts.
Similar to the most recent case on Wednesday, the Police followed the container on March 15 to the delivery address, which was a warehouse in Uithoorn. After suspects opened the struts, detectives arrested two men. They were charged with the felony of importing cocaine and brought before the Examining Magistrate in Rotterdam.
Police have also searched several houses Investigators believe to be linked to drug-related crimes and confiscated documents, mobile phones and computers in three different cities.
The Dutch authorities have not confirmed whether or not the suspects in these cases originate from Suriname and/or Trinidad.
On 3-29 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:
Tracker dogs arrived in Aruba
ARUBA – A delegation of four Dutch Police officers and two special trained tracker dogs together with field Public Prosecutor Karin Janssen arrived in Aruba yesterday afternoon. A second delegation is expected to arrive later. The dogs will be used to search a certain area in the sand hills. The suspicion is that Natalee Holloway is (re)buried in that area. Chief of Police Gerold Dompig prepared the investigation in the Netherlands a few weeks ago.
In an interview with CBS that was transmitted last Saturday, Dompig said that he thinks that the three main suspects, Joran van der Sloot, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, are no murderers. He suspects that the three boys were involved in hiding the body of Holloway, who had possibly died from an overdose of alcohol and drugs. He thinks that there was a second group of people involved with the hiding of the girl’s body. This second group must have helped with the reburying of the body in a better location. He also said in the interview that he suspects father Paul van der Sloot of knowing more about the disappearance of the girl than he had said up till now.
On 3-29 the ST. MAARTEN “Daily Herald” reported:
Minister Dick takes action against human trafficking
PHILIPSBURG--Minister of Justice David Dick made a firm commitment yesterday that he is going to combat human trafficking through the Netherlands Antilles. He launched a preventive publicity campaign to deal with the issue.
Dick said women were transported to the Netherlands Antilles under horrible conditions and on false pretexts, and ended up in prostitution. “There are also situations of forced labour and people being exploited. We must give a clear signal that the Netherlands Antilles does not tolerate these kinds of punishable acts,” he said.
The International Organisationon Migration (IOM), subsidised by the United States, through its work worldwide with migrants, noticed that it was possible that human trafficking went through the Netherlands Antilles. In the investigation “Exploratory assessment of trafficking in persons in the Caribbean region” of June 2005 IOM came to the same conclusion.
That’s why a preventive publicity campaign was set up. The Dutch Ministry of Justice made funds available for the Netherlands Antilles to participate in the publicity campaign by IOM.
The United States makes a Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report every year in which every country, including the Netherlands Antilles, is judged on its efforts to prevent human trafficking. The United States is thinking about taking measures against countries that don’t make sufficient effort.
According to Miloushka Racamy of the Netherlands Antilles Department Justice, the Netherlands Antilles does not have to fear repercussions, because “we are listed as part of the Dutch Kingdom, according to the 2005 report.”
A workgroup is being formed that will provide information on human trafficking through all media channels. A coordinator will be appointed in each island territory to fill in the way the publicity campaign is conducted.
On 3-29 the “AP” reported:
Aruba seeks new clues in Holloway case with re-enactment show
ORANJESTAD, Aruba - Police have been dispatched from the Netherlands to assist in the search for missing American teenager Natalee Holloway, including a televised re-enactment of her last known hours on the island, officials said Wednesday.
The Dutch television program, to air on April 11 in Aruba and the Netherlands, will trace her movements on the Dutch Caribbean island and offer a toll-free, multi-lingual hot line for people to call with tips, the Aruba Public Prosecutor's Office said.
Holloway, of Mountain Brook, Ala., was last seen on May 30, the final night of her high school graduation trip to the island.
Investigators believe there are people on the island who have important information about the case but have not yet come forward, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The program, "Opsporing Verzocht," which translates as "Arrest Requested," has helped authorities solve 30 percent of cases it has featured over the past 22 years, the prosecutor's office said.
Dutch Police spokesman Ed Kraszewski confirmed that a group of Police officers went to Aruba from the Netherlands to help in the Holloway case, but wouldn't give details.
Dutch Marines, the F.B.I. and hundreds of volunteers have previously searched for Holloway, who was 18 when she disappeared.
Aruban Deputy Police chief Gerald Dompig said on Friday that searches for Holloway's body were ongoing and would continue through the coming weeks in sand dunes along the island's northern tip and a salt pond near the hotel where she stayed.
Police have considered the dunes a place of interest since the investigation began and have searched them before, Dompig said.
Holloway was last seen leaving a bar with three young men, who were arrested in June and later released after a court ruled there was insufficient evidence to hold them.
On 3-29 the DUTCH news-sourced "Expatica" reported:
Dutch Police join Holloway search
AMSTERDAM — A Dutch Police delegation is in Aruba to support the investigation into the disappearance of US teenager Natalee Holloway.
Four officers of the Dutch national Police service KLPD arrived on the Dutch Caribbean island on Monday afternoon. They have two tracker dogs with them. A second team is to arrive shortly, local newspaper 'Amigoe' reported on the Dutch-language version of its website on Wednesday.
The Dutch will use the dogs and a ground radar system in the latest in a series of searches for the missing teen. This search will concentrate on an area of sand dunes where the authorities suspect her body may be buried.
Previous searches, using ground radar, dogs and Dutch F-16 jets, have failed to find any trace of Holloway. The 18-year-old school graduate went missing on the last day of a holiday with school friends in May 2005.
The case has received massive media attention in America, due to the high-profile campaign led by her mother Beth Twitty to find out what happened.
Three young men, including Dutch teenager Joran van der Sloot, were seen with Holloway shortly before her disappearance. The three remain suspects in the case but have not been charged.
Holloway's parents have taken civil proceedings against van der Sloot, alleging he engaged in sexual activity with Natalee while she was too intoxicated to consent. The complaint stops short of accusing him of murder. van der Sloot 's parents are co-defendants in the law suit.
Gerald Dompig, Aruba's Deputy chief of Police, added to the myriad of theories about the case in an interview broadcast on CBS in the US at the weekend.
Dompig suggested Natalee Holloway was not murdered, but rather died as a result of an overdose of drugs and alcohol. He said Joran van der Sloot and his two friends may have buried her body and that a second group of people may also have become involved.
Joran's father, Paul van der Sloot, has not revealed all he knows about the case, Dompig said. He did not cite evidence to support his theory.
Holloway's family and friends have said it would have been out of character for Natalee to use drugs.
On 3-29 JOHN Q. KELLY stated to FOX News (VIDEO) that when KELLEY recently went to ARUBA and tried to speak with DOMPIG, one of DOMPIG’s underlings told KELLY “that he would not be able to see him while he was down there.”
3-30-06
On 3-30 JOHN Q. KELLY stated to FOX News SUSTEREN…
On 3-30 “CheapCaribbean.com” posted the following advertisement for the same ARUBA “Holiday Inn Sunspree” that NATALEE stayed at while in ARUBA:
Holiday Inn Sunspree Aruba
Two Amazing Specials to Choose From!
$649 - 7 Days / 6 Nights with Air!
$799 - 6 Days / 5 Nights All-Inclusive with Air!
Located on gorgeous Palm Beach
Large swimming pool
3 restaurants, 4 bars
Fitness center
Scuba lessons in pool
Onsite gaming facility
Shopping & nightlife a short taxi ride away
Book By: April 6, 2006
Travel: May 1 - December 22, 2006
NATALEE’s 5 days/4 nights all-inclusive with air conditioning package cost her $985 (which she earned the money for on her own by working several part-time jobs), so, the “Holiday Inn” currently has (or was forced to) decrease its all-inclusive per night price over 35%, from $246.25 last year, to $159.80 this year to try and attract business during the same time frame as when NATALEE vanished.
On 3-30 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:
Holloway case in “OPSPORING VERZOCHT” program in Holland
ORANJESTAD (AAN): Recently, the Public Prosecutor sent out a press release that says that the Public Prosecutor and the Police Forecwill make use of a Dutch TV program, “Opsporing Verzocht”, to give momentum to the investigation into the disappearance of Miss Natalee Holloway. The program will be transmitted in Aruba and Holland on April 11, 2006.
HELP WITH USE OF A REENACTMENT
In the television program, help will be asked of viewers to try to take the investigation further along.
During the program, they will air a reenactment of the days before the disappearance and the night/early morning hours in which Miss Natalee Holloway disappeared.
Step by step they will retrace the places she possibly could have gone.
People who were in Aruba during the time of the disappearance and days after and have some knowledge of her disappearance, will be asked to come forward with information.
EXPECTATIONS
The investigative team is of the opinion that there are people who have important information about the case, but that have still not come forward with their information.
The press release continues to say that people who have information can call Holland anonymously and paying local rates.
All persons can be attended to in Papiamento, Dutch or English. It could be only one crucial tip that can give the investigation a jump-start.
OPSPORING VERZOCHT PROGRAM
The Opsporing Verzocht program has been in existence for 22 years in Holland and has solved 30% of the cases that they have transmitted.
The Public Prosecutor of Aruba, Police Force of Aruba, Korps Landelijke Politiediensten di Hulanda, Polis di Utrecth and the AVRO public channel are working together on the program.
The Wereldomroep channel will transmit the program on April 11, 2006 in Aruba on the BVN channel, which is channel 54. This will start in Aruba a few minutes after 15:30 in the afternoon [3:30 pm].
This is due to a delay in the sending of the signal to Aruba, after the live transmission starts in Holland at 21:30 at night [9:30 pm].
Related to the time difference, the transmission will be repeated at night, on BVN, channel 54.
They will also try to air the program on local channels. The program will have Papiamento subtitles.
On 3-30 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:
Once again, various American press teams arrive in Aruba
ORANJESTAD (AAN): Now that it’s almost been one year that the young American Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba, when the press attention was immense, now it is apparent that once again things are going in that direction.
After there was indication that there were different members of the American press in Aruba, Wednesday more arrived.
commissioner Dompig recently appeared on an American program, where he said that they are not very far from the end of the investigation, while there are a few indications that the Public Prosecutor is also almost ready to bring forward the case against the suspect(s) in this case.
The American press perhaps feels that they don’t want to be late for any important developments in the case of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway and sent their teams once again.
Subsequent to Joran going on different American and Dutch TV programs, and on Aruban radio and spoke openly with everyone, more questions have come up, so perhaps the American press will use their teams to see what they can come up with out of all of this.
There is indication that maybe there’s less than two months left for a possible case against Joran to start, so the American press wants to come to prepare themselves beforehand.
It also came out around the world, that Dutch cadaver dogs are in Aruba for a new search, so this also will attract the attention of the local and international press.
On 3-30 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:
According to spokesperson for Public Prosecutor
Prosecutor Kruimel is conducting investigation of the facts in the case of Natalee Holloway
Where a few people were heard for two and three times
ORANJESTAD (AAN): Wednesday, DIARIO interviewed the spokesperson for the Public Prosecutor, drs. Mariaine Croes, and asked her the reason for her trip to Holland recently.
She said that it was true that a few weeks back she went to Holland, while commissioner Dompig also went. She said it’s not true that she went to Holland because she is in charge of the investigation.
According drs Croes, this is not possible according to the law, because she works as a communications consultant for the Public Prosecutor. This is the function she performs and it is under this mandate that she went to Holland.
She explained that commissioner Dompig went because he heads the Police tea(m)in the case of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
According to drs Croes, they went to Holland because the investigative team in the case of the disappearacetook the initiative to go explore the possibilities available to them, to deal with this case in the Dutch television program Opsporing Verzocht”.
She explained that although the program is in Holland, the responsibility falls on the Public Prosecutor, because the investigation is being guided by a prosecutor from the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Aruba and it is conducted by the members of the Aruba Police Force.
The program is going to make some specific questions to the members of the Aruban community, Holland and the U.S.
In this program, Dutch Police is working together with the program producers and in this case, with Aruban authorities, to try to solve the case.
According to drs. Croes, via this program, they want to reach different people, not only people in Holland, but also in the U.S. and Aruba.
Given that it deals with three different cultures, the intention is to look for the most objective way to formulate the questions, in order to be able to reach all the different people, to ask them what you want to know objectively.
This program has solved many different cases, from the smallest of cases, like for example a bank robbery, to big murder cases.
DIARIO asked the spokesperson for the Public Prosecution what are the latest developments in the case of Natalee Holloway apart from the program Opsporing Verzocht.
She said that currently there’s a team that is officially called “Zoek en Vind Team”, that has come to Aruba with dogs from the K.O.P.D. Also, there are other experts in Aruba, who are also helping in the search.
DIARIO asked drs. Croes how the investigative team insisted to search in the same area that they have already searched on different occasions, the dunes near the lighthouse.
According to drs. Croes, the zones where they will search are zones that the investigation has indicated that if they have already searched, they have to search again as if they haven’t searched, to be 100% certain that they can exclude the area.
DIARIO asked the spokesperson of the Public Prosecutor if they are coming close to a conclusion of this case.
Drs Croes explained that the investigation is ongoing and while the more issues are excluded, the close they will arrive to a conclusion of the case, where the case will be closed, when they have investigated everything that they have set out to investigate.
DIARIO asked drs Croes if the Public Prosecutor was aware of the CBS program on which commissioner Dompig appeared, which was recorded.
She said yes. DIARIO also asked if she feels the American press is looking to speak to her in regards to this case.
She said that the interest is still great, but she gives all information on the case in writing.
DIARIO also asked how the so called ‘feiten onderzoek’ (investigation into the facts) is going, to which she said that this investigation is still ongoing and it is for members of the Landsrecherche.
The members of the Landsrecherche are conducting the investigation under the guidance of prosecutor Kruimel of the Public Prosecutor.
The spokesperson said that it is important to bring forth the fact that the prosecutor who guides any feiten onderzoek, is the one who decides what information can be given to the press, etc. and at what time this can be divulged. The prosecutor indicated that the investigation is ongoing, where there are people who are being heard twice and some three times.
On 3-30 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported another ARUBA tourists safety issue:
Hundreds of cases of dengue per week
An employee of the Yellow Fever Mosquito Control (GKMB) shows under supervision of the director of Public Health, Trevor van Gellecum how a breeding place of the Aedes Aegyptii-mosquito can be eliminated.
ARUBA – More than 1400 people have dengue at this moment, which is less than the 1600 cases that the Public Health Administration had stated early this month.
Nevertheless, there are still hundreds of people registered with dengue every week. The number of breeding places of the Aedes Aegyptii mosquito that spreads the dengue virus is increasing again and makes the fight against dengue a losing battle.
Even though nothing was published or mentioned about dengue lately, the virus has been spreading steadily in the past weeks. Even though the weather is no longer wet, the sporadic showers cause another swarm of mosquitoes that spread the dengue virus.
The Public Health Administration announced yesterday that in the first 11 weeks of this year, about 3000 people had the dengue virus, based on the symptoms. The last time this institute announced the number of dengue cases (1642) was on February 1st. The Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (Carec) indicated that by mow there are two serotypesof dengue in Aruba, one and two. Carec says that this makes the residents of Aruba extra vulnerable. Anybody that was ever infected with a certain serotype , and later gets infected with another type, has the chance to get the dangerous haemorrhage dengue, which can be deadly. There is currently one case of haemorrhage dengue detected and the patient is being treated in the hospital. Most of the cases of dengue in Oranjestad, San Nicolas, Noord, Savaneta, and Paradera are registered. The Public Health Administration last announced that the majority of dengue patients are from San Nicolas and surroundings.
The Yellow Fever Mosquito Control (GKMB) has noticed that the number of breeding places of the Aedes Aegyptii-mosquito is increasing again. The number of houses where breeding places are found are still higher than the international allowable standard. The number of breeding places dropped in February, but the GKMB noticed a slight increase since March. It is obvious that the number of breeding places increases after rainfall.
The Public Health Administration conducted a campaign to show the residents how to get rid of breeding places. The plan was to have volunteers visit 33.000 houses and talk to the residents during the campaign, but only a few dozen volunteers showed up for this. The Public Health Administration had to change the plan and just hand out brochures in Oranjestad, Noord, Tanki Flip, Tanki Leendert, Santa Cruz, Simeon Antonio, Pos Chiquito, Savaneta, Brazil en San Nicolas. The employees of the GKMB found most of the breeding places in these neighborhoods.
On 3-30 ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com" reported:
Minister Hans Hogervorst: ‘Aruba is on the right track’
The speech of Hogervorst was especially meant to explain the Dutch medical expense system, but he also went into the Aruban situation.
… (main body of Internet-linked article not available from ARUBAAN's news-source "Amigoe.com")
On 3-30 DUTCH news-source “BN DeStem” reported:
(Thank You and Hat Tip to “Iquitos”)
Joran is a delightful youth
Thursday 30 March 2006 - For many Americans, Joran van der Sloot is guilty without a
doubt. He was the last to see Natalee Holloway in Aruba before she disappeared without
a trace and is thus considered to have murdered her. He is big news for the American
television broadcasters, but who is Joran really? From what kind of nest does he come?
Portrait of a rebellious adolescent who plays fast and loose with the truth.
"Wanna’ have a good time?" a small, bloated Aruban with a yellow cap roars into the
microphone. Around him on the dance floor, five hundred slightly high young people
let it all hang out. Most come from America. It is ten at night and the peak amusement
time in the popular bar Carlos ?n Charlie's in Oranjestad that is synonymous with drink
games. Super fast, five girls in summery skirts and very thin shirts are lifted up on the
stage. They get tequila shots and mugs of beer handed to them. Then they must wiggle
their behinds twice to get the next beer and tequila shot. Soon the first girl starts to totter.
The public crows with pleasure. Out of this bar the previous year Joran led the Alabama
blonde Natalee Holloway. Now the American is already missed almost a year. Joran is
the last person known to see her. It is for this reason the police consider him as the
main suspect in her disappearance. Joran did not improve matters for himself by lying
to the police.
After some flirting at Carlos 'n Charlie's and necking in the car, he explained, he brought
Natalee back to her to hotel. Instead, he later admitted, he left the girl alone on the beach.
The American media jumped on an all out hunt for Joran. Every week, photographs and
old video of the Dutchman fill the American news shows. He is called a liar, a rapist,
and a murderer. Joran's possible involvement in Natalee's disappearance proves to be a
ratings bonanza. In one go the seventeen-year-old adolescent is world-famous.
Who he is and from what kind of a nest he comes, is well known. Already before Anita
van der Sloot, Joran's mother, opens the gate to the family house in the rural district of
Noord, the dog smells the visitor. "Quiet", Anita quiets the loudly barking dog. "It is OK
now." The small blonde woman enters to a large dining table to sit. She is really not in
the mood to talk. The family has already had so much crap poured out about them. But
the flow of rumors concerning Joran does not stop. A day earlier a high-level police source
whispered anonymously, that Joran had been treated for lying. Nonsense, asserts Anita firmly.
Her son has undergone only counseling to improve his study habits. Joran's father, former
judge in training Paul van der sloot arrives after a long workday. Tired, he gives a deep sigh:
"Joran lies no more than every other adolescent." Paul wants rest at home. The family has
over the last year stood under enormous pressure, he complains. Their oldest, Joran, is
surely not an angel. Every detail from his personal life is entirely taken out of context. "We
must refer to the disappearance not the murder." He talks gently and in a controlled way
concerning his child, but Anita excites herself concerning the bad tales that circulate on the
island. Joran gambling - and sex-addicted?
He is simply a delightful youth! A splendid adolescent, who lives for friends, sport, and
family. Oki, he has adolescent traits. He does not always stick to his appointments. If he
is supposed to be home at one at night he turns off his cell so his parents can't call him.
If he gets in trouble later, he gives his concerned mother three thick kisses. They don't
have to worry, he is home now. Anita is enraged that her son is accused of rape. "He
was in fact very loving with his girlfriends." Joran always had many girls around him but
the contact was frequently only friendly, she says. "They went with each other as a brother
and sister". Paul wants to show Joran's room. However, friends, both girls and boys, could
always spend the night he says as he crosses the garden to the outbuilding. Since he was
15 Joran had here, beside the swimming pool and at a reasonable distance of the parental
house, his own bedroom and bathroom. Paul opens the door carefully. "Look, here four or
five slept during the sleepovers. It was always completely normal. On Aruba it is normal to
sleep over at someone else's place. Minors are on the island entirely dependent on parents
or friends with a drivers license to pick up and bring them.
During a conversation in Arnhem Joran says he was always super glad to have his own
room. "The privacy was very fine, especially if there were friends." Of course he had also
ordinary friendships with girls, he says he as he hears his parents reaction. "One girlfriend
slept ten times in my bed without anything ever happening between us." If it happens he
finds attraction must come, however, from two sides. If that is the case, however, he does
not see, honestly said, the problem. Joran was already having sex with girls from age 14.
Also Americans. "On the island there lives a little the feeling that they are easy. There are
guys who go to the beach to hook up with them. He has done that himself "but", he
emphasizes, "I have always treated them with respect." So if the girl does not want sex,
then OK, its back to the hotel." It should have been that way with Natalee, he says, but she
wanted to stay on the beach. Thus he left her behind. Joran has always affirmed he did
not have sex that fatal night with Natalee because that evening he had no condoms on him.
Typical Joran, says Aruban Melody Granadillo (19). The girl with long dark brown rolling
curls is his ex-girlfriend. In their eight month long relationship they always used condoms.
"He is completely clear on this." The Dutchman was her first love. For months on end
they spent every day with each other. Taking a mouthful of ice, she gestures to the green
Wilhelminapark bordering the sea. There they could sit interminably and talk. I know him
better than he knows himself. Joran is playful, in his heart a child. A possible murderer?
No, that never. Joran is often misunderstood, she observes. Take his openness: "people
take it as flirting." His friends also found him arrogant. That is not him according to her.
He is only self-assured. Walks straight up, head high. Eventually Melody broke the
relationship because Joran was unfaithful. Magda, administrator of the Aruba Racquet
club, shrugs her shoulders. That is the mentality here. If it clicks with someone, it happens
simply, even if you already have a girlfriend. Aruba seems like a village where, via-via,
everyone knows everyone. Every week a new cargo of anonymous tourists arrives at
Reina Beatrix field that want only to celebrate. For numerous young, sexy, American
girls Aruba is the party island where they forget their sorrows. As long as the holiday lasts,
the world of drink games and flirts is the reality. Local boys, such as Joran, have this party
culture available seven days per week. Seduction always lies in wait. On the gravel fields
of the Raquet club boys hit their tennis balls hard over the net. For Joran, the tennis club,
where mainly Dutch come, was a second home. After school he spent much of his time
playing soccer, tennis and swimming. He was a spontaneous, nice kid, says Magda.
"Although he could be quite obstinate and tenacious." She is reminded what Jordan's
friend thought. They restrained themselves with Joran when they were tired of arguments.
Joran is a good talker, dominates nearly everyone, ' but he is also slick', laughs
Melody.
That is his strength, Joran knows. Talking, "I frequently get what I want done."
Convincing debate is what I learned at the International School, according to my mother.
Joran applied that art at home too and with impact. Once he wanted to go to the casino,
but his father was opposed. There arose a strong argument, after which Paulus
accompanied his son to the casino and eventually brought him weekly to free poker
tournaments in several casinos.
At all hours of the day Arubans in the casino run money through the many fruit machines
(slots). Tourists especially play blackjack or poker tables. Joran‘s father thinks initially
that his son does not participate in the poker tournaments for the gambling but for the
pizza they served during the breaks. You can eat all you want for free. Joran started
staying and coming home with a friend. Then he would stay away longer, and really
gamble. His father later realizes this and is bewildered. "I had no idea that Joran gambled
in the real casino too." His parents try constantly to find a balance in raising their children,
they say. "I am perhaps something stricter than Paul", says Anita, "but when Paul and I
both say 'no' and the children come with good arguments, then they know that we are
open for a solution." Joran is proud of that. "My parents try to see everything from our
side too. I have always found that good of them."
On 3-30 ARUBAAN's news-source "Diario" reported:
Search for Natalee again behind the lighthouse
ORANJESTAD (AAN): Yesterday, the ‘Zoek en Vind Team’ was in the area of the lighthouse where they searched in the dunes with dogs of the K.O.P.D.
Among others were a few experts who came to Aruba and who are also helping in the search. This search, according to Mariaine Croes, spokesperson for the Public Prosecutor, is for the Investigators to be 100 percent certain that they can exclude this area in regards to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
On 3-30 the BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA NBC TV channel 13 reported:
New Search Under Way In Holloway Case
TV Show To Re-Enact Last Night Holloway Seen
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- A new search is under way in Aruba for clues and possibly the body of missing Mountain Brook teenager Natalee Holloway.
The search is based on some of the best tips they have received since Holloway's disappearance almost 10 months ago, according to Aruban authorities. Officials, and everyone concerned, hope the tips lead to some long-awaited answers in the case.
Aruban authorities said the search was prompted by a tip phoned into them by a cab driver.
Using cadaver dogs and sonar equipment, Aruban and Dutch Investigators are searching the Marriott Hotel where Holloway was last seen.
In addition to a new search, Dutch authorities enlisted new help in the form of a crime show that is similar to "America's Most Wanted." The show, called "Arrest Requested," will re-enact the moments leading up to Holloway's disappearance.
There is no word on when the episode on Holloway's disappearance will air on Dutch and Aruban television. The producers hope to get the show airtime in the U.S., as well.
3-31-06
On 3-31 “Riehl World View” wrote about copies of F.B.I. 302 documents that were recently seen on FOX News GRETA VAN SUSTEREN‘s TV show “On the Record“:
Natalee Holloway - Partial F.B.I. Transcripts
A site uploaded screen captures from Fox News which showed portions alleged to be the F.B.I. transcripts of the interrogations of two girls - Katherine Madison Whatley and Lee Broughton. Using magnification, I've tried to translate as much of the documents as possible.
There are a few interesting items. Among them, one description at least seems to match Steve Croes. And Natalee's shot of 151 that last night was, unfortunately, far from her first.
Whatley:
On Sunday night Whatley advised a group of friends ate dinner. Holloway had a couple of alcoholic drinks at dinner. Holloway was drinking Red Fires which had 151 in them. Although she had a couple of drinks at dinner Holloway "was not out of her mind."
While at dinner Holloway was making a bet with who Holloway "would hook up with" Sunday night. Whatley advised she did not actually make a bet was just talking amongst other girls.
Whatley thought that Holloway would hook up with Kevin Broday because Holloway was flirting with him.
After dinner, Whatley went to the (?) casino with Holloway. Broughton, Merrill, McViegh, amd (??) McViegh had lost money at the casino during the trip and they went to the casino to help McViegh win (some??) money ......... They sat at a blackjack table. Holloway was not playing blackjack but was hovering from student to student. Whatley ................. at the blackjack table while they were playing.
Broughton:
Broughton and Holloway were assigned the same hotel room at the "Holiday Inn." The daily routine for Broughton and Holloway was to get an alcohol drink and go to the ocean around 10:00 AM in the morning. At around 5:00 PM they would return to thier room for naps. At 6:00PM Broughton and Holloway would get ready to go out to get dinner. After dinner Broughton and Holloway would go outto Bars. Saturday, May 28, 2005, Holloway became very intoxicated and eventually had to be escorted back to her room by (Kevin Broday?).
During the morning hours on Sunday, May 29, 2005 Holloway started drinking mixed drinks called " Red Fires" The drinks contain Bicardi 151 and Diet Coke. Holloway became intoxicated and her friends told her to slow down. Holloway and Broughton continued to drink throughout the day. They went to dinner between 6:00 and 7:00 PM. After dinner Holloway and Broughton went to the Hotel Casino to watch Ruth McVay gamble/
While at the casino, Broughton and Holloway (came upon?) Joran (Last name unknown) Holloway had met Joran earlier that day on the beach. At about (xxxPM) Holloway (switched to?) a drink containing Vodka.
While sitting in the Casino a friend of Joran(LNU) arrived. Broughton (does not?) know the friend's name.xxxxxxxxx remember him to be fat and Chinese or Hawaiian looking.
At approximately (xxxxxPM) Holloway, Broughton, xxx and others? went to the hotel by the pool. Approximately five minutes later when Joran LNU was leaving Holloway asked if Joran LNU was planning to meet them later at Carlos and Charlies. (He said it was really dead on Sunday nights???)