The 38-year-old Dutch murderer who confessed to killing Natalee Holloway in 2005, Joran van der Sloot, was severely injured after a suicide attempt in his cell in Peru.
According to Radar Online, Van der Sloot was found by guards in Challapalca prison last Friday with a piece of blanket tied around his neck while they were serving breakfast to other inmates.
“The convicted murderer was said to be on the brink of death at the time prison guards intervened,” the outlet reported.
The injuries were first reported by Peruvian outlet La República.
It is unclear what van der Sloot’s condition is as of Thursday. However, after the suicide attempt, authorities were able to record an interview with the killer.
In the interview, he called Challapalca “the toughest prison in the world” and said he “didn’t want to live anymore.”
“Every day I see that the situation is getting worse for us inmates,” van der Sloot said. “You can’t be with your family, you can’t touch them or hug them.”
He’s currently serving a 28-year sentence for the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores Ramírez in the capital city of Lima.
Police sources in that investigation believe that the victim was likely killed in a hotel room booked in van der Sloot’s name because she found out about his involvement in the disappearance of Holloway. While he tried to retract a confession, the judge ruled it was still valid.
Peru does not have the death penalty or life imprisonment for murder without aggravating factors.
In addition, he was sentenced to 18 years in 2023 on cocaine smuggling charges. Peru has reportedly put him on a list of “difficult inmates” they’re looking to send to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador.
However, it’s the disappearance of Holloway that still defines van der Sloot in the public imagination.
The 18-year-old from Alabama went missing on a senior class trip to Aruba in May 2005 and van der Sloot became an immediate suspect. Despite this, her body was never found, and he was never charged with her murder despite several arrests.
The case was closed in December of 2007. Van der Sloot would later admit to killing Holloway and attempted to extort her parents by promising to reveal the location of her body for money.
In 2023, he was extradited to the United States to face trial for these crimes. He pleaded guilty and admitted killing Holloway with a cinder block after she rejected his advances on the beach.
Van der Sloot added that her body was discarded in the ocean.
The statute of limitations for homicide had passed in Aruba, though, and the United States does not have jurisdiction.
“It’s over. Joran van der Sloot is no longer the suspect in my daughter’s murder. He is the killer,” Beth Holloway said after the plea deal.
“After 18 years, Natalee’s case is solved,” she said. “He gave a proffer in which he finally confessed to killing Natalee.”
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