Dutchman to tell police where Holloway's body is
By Marco Aquino, Agence France-Presse June 11, 2010 1:20 PM
Joran Van der Sloot of the Netherlands (C) is transferred by the police to the Justice Palace to be held temporarily before being moved to a prison in Lima.
vancouversun.com
A Dutchman charged with the murder of a Peruvian woman will tell police where to find the body of a U.S. teen who disappeared in Aruba in 2005, Peru's leading police investigator said Friday.
General Cesar Guardia, who is leading the investigation into Joran Van der Sloot's role in the murder of a Peruvian woman, said the Dutch citizen had promised co-operation on the case of U.S. teenager Natalee Holloway.
"Yes, Joran is ready to discuss this whenever officials from Aruba can come to Peru," Guardia told the U.S. network ABC.
Van der Sloot, 22, was charged Friday with first-degree murder in connection with the May 30 death of 21-year-old Stephany Flores.
Lima Judge Juan Buendia ordered that he "be prosecuted as the perpetrator of the alleged crimes of first-degree murder and simple theft," court spokesman Luis Gallardo told AFP.
Earlier, prosecutor Ninfa Espinosa had urged that Van der Sloot be detained, accusing him of having carried out the alleged crime "with the aggravating factors of ferocity and cruelty."
Van der Sloot, wearing a bullet-proof vest and surrounded by a massive police escort, was transferred Thursday from police custody in Lima to judicial authorities to await trial.
A police source told media here that he confessed to killing Flores in his hotel room on May 30 in a fit of rage, saying she used his laptop without permission.
Van der Sloot has long been a suspect in the 2005 disappearance of 18-year-old Holloway, who disappeared after a night of drinking with Van der Sloot on the Caribbean island of Aruba.
That case created a media frenzy in the United States, the Caribbean and in Europe, but the fate of the teenager was never determined and her body was never found.
Van der Sloot, the son of a prominent judge, was twice arrested in connection with Holloway's disappearance and spent three months in jail but was never charged.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation came under fire this week after reports that it missed an opportunity to arrest Van der Sloot last month.
It was investigating the Dutch citizen for criminal conduct after he offered information on Holloway's disappearance in exchange for some 250,000 dollars.
FBI agents met with him and he reportedly accepted sting money, committed wire fraud and made incriminating statements about Holloway's death during the meeting, which was recorded.
But he was allowed to go free and was not arrested until June 3, when Chilean police detained him in connection with Flores's death.
© Copyright (c) AFP
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