Killer finally reveals what happened to Natalee Holloway in Aruba 18 years later – National & International News

Killer finally reveals what happened to Natalee Holloway in Aruba 18 years later.

Jordan loses second Speaker ballot having lost support since yesterday.

NATIONAL NEWS

Killer finally reveals what happened to Natalee Holloway in Aruba 18 years later

Joran van der Sloot, the Dutch national who has long been the prime suspect in the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, has admitted to killing her and disposing of her body. Holloway was vacationing with friends in Aruba in January of 2005 when she met van der Sloot in a nightclub. When she failed to turn up for her return flight home, she was reported missing. Despite a massive search her body was never found.

Van der Sloot later reached out to Holloway’s parents through their attorney and demanded money to reveal the location of her body. The attorney flew to Aruba with $10,000 in cash to meet van der Sloot as Holloway’s parents wired another $15,000 into his bank account. The tale van der Sloot told turned out to be completely bogus. Van der Sloot left Aruba for Peru days after meeting the attorney. In Peru, he killed another woman, Stephany Flores, for refusing his sexual advances and is serving a 28-year prison sentence there for her murder. Van der Sloot was extradited to the US to face wire fraud charges for extorting the Holloways.

After van der Sloot’s confession, the judge in Alabama sentenced van der Sloot to 20 years in prison, to run concurrently with his sentence in Peru.

The confession

As part his plea agreement in the extortion case, van der Sloot revealed that he had arranged to have himself and Natalee dropped off on a stretch of beach a short distance from her hotel in hopes of seducing her. When she again refused his advances and kneed him in the crotch, van der Sloot kicked her and then bludgeoned her to death with a cinderblock. He then waded into the ocean and pushed her body out to sea.

Natalee’s mom Beth addressed van der Sloot at the sentencing, “Joran, for 18 years you denied killing my daughter,” and now “you have finally admitted that you, in fact, have murdered her,” she said. “You are a killer. I want you to remember that every time that jail door slams”. In a parting shot, Beth added, “By the way, you look like hell, Joran. I don’t know how you are going to make it.”

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Jordan loses second Speaker ballot having lost support since yesterday

The House held a second vote on Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-OH) candidacy for the Speakership, having held the first yesterday. At just 199 votes, well short of the necessary 217, Jordan had lost one net vote since the first ballot. Despite some Republicans vowing to support Jordan after voting against him yesterday, more members who voted for him yesterday had switched sides overnight. This result was predicted by some of Jordan’s supporters this morning.

Jordan vowed to fight on, but it appears his opposition is solidifying in a bloc of about 20 members while he can only afford four defections. Most of Jordan’s detractors are moderate Republicans, many from purple districts, who are put off by his 2020 election-denial stance. Some are still angry about McCarthy’s ouster while others simply don’t like Jordan personally. A number of Jordan’s most committed opponents reported receiving harassing phone calls from supporters of Jordan.

What next?

The question remains as to what alternatives Jordan’s detractors plan to pursue. There are more voices calling for temporarily empowering current acting Speaker Patrick McHenry (R-NC), at least long enough to address some pressing business currently on hold. Including the looming deadline to pass a budget before Nov. 17 to avoid a possible government shutdown.

Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and some of his members reiterated an offer to work with Republicans to elect a moderate GOP speaker. Jeffries and other Democrats implied that some Republicans have reached out, and that there was hope those talks might “accelerate” after Jordan’s second defeat today. No Republican has so far come forward to say they were working with the Democrats nor calling on other GOP members to do so.

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