Joran van der Sloot, the alleged murderer of Natalee Holloway, confesses to the crime, according to his mother

Joran van der Sloot, who was previously suspected of killing Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway 20 years ago, has now confessed to the crime. In a court hearing, van der Sloot pleaded guilty to extorting money from Holloway's family, and as part of a plea deal, he was required to disclose how she died. Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway, confirmed van der Sloot's admission outside the Birmingham court, stating, "He is the killer." Natalee Holloway went missing in 2005 after leaving a bar with van der Sloot on the Caribbean island of Aruba. Van der Sloot, a Dutchman, was already imprisoned in Peru for another murder and will serve his 20-year sentence there. In 2010, he demanded $250,000 from Holloway's mother in exchange for information about her daughter's disappearance. The confession was documented in a court filing and outlined by Judge Anna Manasco during van der Sloot's sentencing. The Justice Department stated that in exchange for the reduced sentence, van der Sloot agreed to provide accurate and truthful information about Natalee Holloway's disappearance. However, it remains uncertain how much of this information will be made public. Despite extensive efforts, Holloway's remains were never found, and she was declared dead by a court in 2012. Although van der Sloot had long been the primary suspect in her disappearance, he was never formally charged until the grand jury indicted him in 2010 for extortion and fraud. He had taken money from Holloway's family in exchange for false information regarding her death and burial location. Van der Sloot was extradited from Peru to the US to face the extortion charges and will now return to Peru to serve his new sentence concurrently with the previous murder conviction.