Natalee Holloway murder suspect Joran van der Sloot is 'severely' beaten in ... trends now
Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway, has been severely beaten in his Peruvian prison while awaiting extradition to the US.
The suspect is expected to be extradited on extortion and wire fraud charges pertaining to an accusation that he attempted to reap a profit from his connection to the Holloway case.
Van der Sloot, a citizen of Holland, has been serving a 28-year sentence in Peru for the 2010 murder of 21-year-old college student Stephany Flores.
The suspect's Peruvian attorney, Maximo Altez, said he does not believe the beating of his client was related to the upcoming extradition. The specifics and extent of van der Sloot's injuries are not yet known.
Van der Sloot, a citizen of Holland, has been serving a 28-year sentence in Peru for the 2010 murder of 21-year-old college student Stephany Flores. He was recently beaten by fellow inmates, according to his attorney
The convicted murderer is currently awaiting extradition to the United States from the maximum security Challapalca Prison
Natalee Holloway, 18, went missing in 2005. The teen had been on a graduation trip to Aruba with her Alabama high school classmates
More likely, he said, it could be related to gang rules into the Challapalca Prison, where van der Sloot is being held.
The prisoner has since been moved to the institution's medical aisle, and his attorney has requested he be transferred to another prison as soon as possible.
Natalee Holloway went missing in 2005. The teen had been on a graduation trip to Aruba with her Alabama high school classmates.
She was last seen driving off with a group of young men, including van der Sloot, who was 17 at the time.
Van der Sloot, 35, maintains he did not murder Natalee, who was 18 when she vanished after leaving a nightclub with him and two his friends on the Caribbean island of Aruba in 2005.
Her body has never been found and she was declared legally dead in 2012 at the request of her father, Dave Holloway.
Van der Sloot was detained as a suspect but ultimately released. He was subsequently indicted by an Alabama federal jury in 2010 for allegedly attempting to extort the Holloway family - the charges for which he is now being extradited.
Prosecutors alleged that in March of 2010, van der Sloot contacted Beth Holloway - Natalee's mother - and said he would reveal the location of the teenager's body for $250,000, $25,000 of which would be paid upfront.
During a sting operation, Holloway's attorney, John Kelly, met with the suspect in an Aruba hotel and gave him $10,000 in cash, while Holloway wired another $15,000 to van der Sloot's bank account.
Van der Sloot, then in his early twenties, proceeded to allegedly change his story about the night he had been with Natalee Holloway.
He claimed, according to prosecutors, he had picked her up, but when she demanded to be put down, he threw her to the ground and her head hit a rock and she was killed instantly.
