Family and friends remember Peru murder victim
June 30, 2010
Lima, Peru – Today marks one month since the murder of 21-year old Stephany Flores. So much is happening on the legal front and personally with her close friends and family.
Ricardo Flores, the father of Stephany, is meeting with Judge Carlos Morales Cordova, to give his formal “declaration.” In the United States we would call this a sworn affidavit or statement , but what makes this all so unusual by American standards, is that in our courts the prosecution builds their case and investigates along with police who would also be interviewing potential witnesses.
Here in Peru, although the prosecution is still very much involved with the investigation, it is the judge who is the primary fact finder. Although the Peruvian penal code is gradually changing to give prosecutors more power, at this point it is Judge Cordova who personally takes those formal statements.
Mr. Flores, along with the rest of his family, were the ones who alerted police that Stephany had not come home on May 29, 2010, and aided law enforcement in the search for his daughter, whose body was ultimately found on June 2, 2010, in the hotel room registered to Joran van der Sloot.
The family will have a memorial service Wednesday night.
On the defense front, Maximo Altez, the attorney for van der Sloot filed his formal appeal today in the 20th “juzgado” court here in Lima. This is the same court that rejected his Writ of Habeas Corpus. If they do not rule in his favor this time, he has told us he will be going to the highest court in the country, Peru’s Supreme Court.
On a very personal note, I recently met with close girlfriends to Stephany Flores. They have never come forward to speak publicly, but wanted to share with me their thoughts and memories of their dear friend.
There were a lot of tears, some laughter and much anger that the life of Stephany was taken, when she had her entire future before her.
They told me she was so intelligent and had tremendous ambitions for great success in the business arena. She once wrote a list of 23 businesses that she wanted to succeed in, and then checked them off one by one as she decided “yes” I will pursue this one, or “no” I’m not interested in this.
They said she came from a very privileged family, but you wouldn’t know it by talking with her, and was extremely giving along with being so very humble about her family’s wealth.
Friends told me she was extremely anti-drug and when I told them (to their surprise) that official reports say amphetamines were found in Stephany’s system, they said Stephany wouldn’t associate with people who did drugs and was adamant about her feelings on the issue.
They said they still cannot believe she is gone and that the University of Lima is now missing one of its brightest scholars. They say this is one reason why they are so angry.
The last thing Stephany said to them was that she was the happiest she had ever been in her life. She had her new car, her goals, her adored family and her friends.
Her friends say they don’t understand why she went to the room with van der Sloot, but do not believe it was to play online poker. They wish they could turn back time and stop her from going… but they never thought something like this would happen to someone so dear. They do not believe she even had a chance to fight back that night.
When I asked them all, if convicted, how much time should van der Sloot serve? Their answer was a unanimous “life in prison.” They know, however, a life term is rare in Peru and are very concerned, if convicted, van der Sloot will actually serve even less than ten years behind bars in Peru.
–Jean Casarez, In Session on truTV
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Joran van der Sloot for Wire Fraud and Extortion
For Immediate Release
June 30, 2010
United States Attorney’s Office
Northern District of Alabama
Contact: (205) 244-2001
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Joran van der Sloot for Wire Fraud and Extortion
BIRMINGHAM, AL—A federal grand jury today indicted JORAN VAN DER SLOOT, a citizen of the Netherlands, on charges of wire fraud and extortion for soliciting money from Natalee Holloway’s mother on promises he would reveal the location of her daughter’s remains in Aruba and the circumstances of her 2005 death, U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Patrick Maley announced.
“I want to applaud the FBI’s work on this case,” Vance said. “The FBI worked diligently, and in association with Aruban authorities, to investigate and gather evidence in this matter after learning that Beth Holloway had been contacted and told she could finally gain information about the death of her daughter if she would pay $250,000,” Vance said. “Because of the agents’ dedicated efforts, we are able to bring charges against someone who sought profit in a mother’s grief.”
Natalee Holloway, a resident of Mountain Brook, Ala., was last seen alive, at age 18, on May 30, 2005, while in the country of Aruba. As noted in the indictment, she was in the company of van der Sloot the day of her disappearance.
The two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges van der Sloot with extortion for exploiting Beth Holloway’s fear that she would never find her daughter’s body or know what happened to her unless she paid him $250,000.
The indictment also charges van der Sloot with wire fraud for using false promises that he would reveal the location of Natalee Holloway’s body in order to induce Beth Holloway to make wire transfers of money.
According to the indictment, van der Sloot caused Beth Holloway to wire $15,000 from her bank in Birmingham to his account at a bank in the Netherlands. The indictment also charges that he caused her to wire $10,000 to lawyer John Q. Kelly in New York so that Kelly could later carry that money to Aruba and deliver it to van der Sloot in person. The indictment identifies Kelly as an advisor and legal representative of Beth Holloway who served as her intermediary with van der Sloot.
The indictment describes how van der Sloot’s scheme to defraud Natalee Holloway’s mother proceeded as follows:
After van der Sloot initially contacted Kelly and said he would reveal the location of Natalee Holloway’s remains for $250,000, he later agreed to lead Kelly to the site of her remains for $25,000. Once identification of the remains was confirmed, Beth Holloway was to pay the remaining $225,000 to van der Sloot.
Van der Sloot received the $25,000 from Beth Holloway and led Kelly to a specific site in Aruba. He identified the site as the location where Natalee Holloway’s remains were buried, although he knew that information was false.
Van der Sloot kept the $25,000, but later confirmed by e-mail that the information he had provided was “worthless.”
The indictment seeks forfeiture of $25,100 from van der Sloot. That amount includes $100 Beth Holloway initially wired to the Netherlands bank to confirm van der Sloot’s account.
The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Whisonant, William G. Simpson and James D. Ingram are prosecuting the matter.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
Federal grand jury in Birmingham indicts Joran van der Sloot on extortion, fraud charges
Published: Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 3:35 PM
Updated: Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 4:09 PM
An Alabama federal grand jury in Birmingham has indicted Joran van der Sloot on extortion and wire-fraud charges in connection with the disappearance in Aruba of Mountain Brook teen Natalee Holloway.
The indictment, announced today by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Birmingham, formally charges the Dutchman of allegations released earlier this month in a federal complaint. Federal authorities contend van der Sloot exploited the fear of Holloway’s mother, Beth, that she would never find her daughter’s body or know what happened to her unless she paid him $250,000.
Van der Sloot’s Lawyer Aims to ‘Paralyze’ Legal Process
(June 29) — Joran van der Sloot’s attorney says he’s prepared to bring his client’s claim of unlawful detention to the Supreme Court of Peru and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica, if necessary.
The plan, Maximo Altez told CNN, is to “paralyze the process” and gain the Dutchman’s freedom.
Van der Sloot, a longtime suspect in the disappearance of U.S. teen Natalee Holloway, is accused of the May 30 slaying of 21-year-old Stephany Flores, who was found dead in van der Sloot’s hotel room in Lima on June 2. Van der Sloot, 22, has been charged with first-degree murder and robbery in the case. If convicted of Flores’ murder, he faces 15 to 35 years in prison.
Altez’s comments on the case come four days after a judge in Lima upheld van der Sloot’s alleged confession in the Flores case. An appeal before the Supreme Court of Peru could take up to three months. Once that hearing is scheduled, a three-judge panel will hear the evidence and make a determination.
On Monday, Michael Griffith, senior partner at the International Legal Defense Counsel, told AOL News he did not expect van der Sloot to win on appeal, citing the amount of evidence authorities claim to have in the case. Griffith was also critical of van der Sloot’s tactics and said the Dutchman is making critical errors.
Meanwhile, several TV insiders have told PopEater that van der Sloot is asking a whopping $1 million to do interviews with the press.
“It’s amazing how this kid’s mind works,” a senior television producer told the website. “He is on trial for murder and he is thinking about how he can make money selling interviews.”
The reality, however, one TV executive told the website, is that the murder suspect might actually pull it off.
Joran van der Sloot update: Suspected killer visited by mysery woman twice weekly
Reports have surfaced that suspected killer Joran van der Sloot is being visited in his Peruvian jail cell by a mystery woman twice a week, according to RadarOnline.com.
The Dutchman, who confessed to killing Peruvian girl Stephany Flores, has been seeing the woman every week on Wednesdays and Saturdays since he’s been in prison.
Sources have stated that they believe the woman has been sent by Joran’s mother, Anita to report on her son’s well being.
It was also recently reported that van der Sloot refuses to go out to the patio for walks and wanted a curtain for his cell, which was denied by authorities because he is on 24 hour surveillance.
RadarOnline.com had also earlier revealed that the 22-year-old Dutch citizen bragged to De Telegraph newspaper about marriage proposals he has received while in jail. One woman even asked him to father her child, he boasted.
Van der Sloot is now retracting his confession that he killed Flores, saying that he was intimidated and told by police he would be sent back to Holland if he confessed to the murder. Meanwhile, he remains in jail, and if convicted he could face 15 to 35 years in jail.
The murder suspect is also believed to be responsible for Natalee Holloway’s disappearance in Aruba in 2005, although he was never charged on any crime.
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Peru Judge Rules van der Sloot Confession valid
(AP) LIMA, Peru — A Peruvian judge on Friday denied a defense motion to void the confession of Joran van der Sloot in the murder of a 21-year-old Lima student because the attorney representing him at the time was state-appointed.
Superior Court Judge Wilder Casique rejected the habeus corpus motion on behalf of Van der Sloot, who is jailed pending trial on charges of first-degree murder and robbery in the May 30 death in his hotel room of Stephany Flores, whom he met playing poker in a casino.
Van der Sloot also remains the sole suspect in the unresolved 2005 disappearance of U.S. teen Natalee Holloway on the Caribbean island of Aruba.
Casique noted in a statement that Van der Sloot had, in addition to the lawyer, been afforded a Dutch-Spanish interpreter vetted by the Dutch Embassy.
Van der Sloot recanted the confession in a jailhouse interview with the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, claiming it was made under duress.
The defendant’s lawyer, Maximo Altez, told The Associated Press that he would appeal Casique’s decision to a higher court.
A criminal law expert, Jose Balcazar, told the AP that Van der Sloot can continue the appeal but “that will not hold up the case against him.”
Earlier Friday, the chief judge of Lima’s Superior Court, Cesar Vega, told reporters that Peruvian laws allow up to six months for murder trials.
But legal expert Mario Amoretti said that in practice, cases like Van der Sloot’s can last 18 months.
Balcazar said the defense is likely to try to draw the trial out.
If convicted, Van der Sloot faces between 15 and 35 years in prison.
Judge Declares Request Joran Unfounded
Rechter verklaart verzoek Joran ongegrond
LIMA – Het verzoek van Joran van der Sloot om de resultaten van het politieonderzoek nietig te verklaren, wordt niet ingewilligd. Dat maakte rechter Wilder Casique Alvizuri, die het verzoek behandelde, vrijdag bekend.
Van der Sloot had om de nietigverklaring verzocht omdat naar zijn zeggen het hoofd moordzaken van de onderzoekspolitie, kolonel Miguel Engel Canlla, hem had gedwongen. Er zou geen officiële vertaler aanwezig zijn geweest bij het verhoor en zijn advocaat zou op de hand van de politie zijn geweest.
Ook zou zijn laptop geopend zijn zonder toestemming van een rechter. Rechter Casique oordeelde dat bij alle verhoren de officiële vertaler Maurice Steins aanwezig was, dat er een door de staat aangewezen advocaat aanwezig was en dat er een officier van justitie bij was om te beoordelen of het onderzoek volgens de wet verliep.
TRANSLATION:
LIMA – The application of Joran van der Sloot to the results of police investigations to annul is not accepted. That made Judge Casique Alvizuri Wilder, who considered the request, said Friday.
Van der Sloot had asked for the annulment because he said to the head of the homicide investigation police, Colonel Miguel Angel Canlla, had compelled him. There was no official translator present at the hearing and his lawyer would hand the police have been.
Also, opened his laptop without permission from a judge. Casique court ruled that all questioning the official translator Maurice Stein was present, that a state-appointed lawyer was present and that there was a prosecutor in the investigation to determine whether the law passed.
Unfounded State Habeas Corpus Brought by Joran van der Sloot
Declaran infundado hábeas corpus interpuesto por Joran van der Sloot
Lima, jun. 25 (ANDINA). El magistrado del 20º Juzgado Penal de Lima, Wilder Casique Alvizuri, declaró infundado el hábeas corpus que Joran Andreas Petrus Van der Sloot, interpuso en contra del jefe de la División de Homicidios de la PNP, coronel Miguel Ángel Canlla Oré, y la fiscal provincial de Lima, doctora Ninfa Espinoza Sotomayor.
El petitorio presentado por el abogado Máximo Altez Navarro, solicitó se declaren nulos los alcances de la investigación policial a su defendido, como presunto autor material del homicidio de Stephany Flores Ramírez porque, supuestamente, vulneró sus derechos constitucionales.
Al respecto, la resolución del doctor Casique Alvizuri, señala que durante las tres manifestaciones que Joran Van der Sloot ofreció a la policía, así como en las demás diligencias, éste contó con el auxilio del intérprete Maurice Steins.
Del mismo modo, el magistrado señala que, por lo actuado, se descarta que se haya abierto la laptop del procesado sin que éste lo haya consentido, toda vez que, se afirma, el equipo fue entregado lacrado al juzgado penal.
La resolución del juez del 20º Juzgado Penal de Lima también niega que se haya vulnerado el derecho a la defensa del detenido.
Se indica que está acreditado que durante las manifestaciones que el ciudadano holandés rindió ante la policía, contó con la asistencia de un defensor de oficio; además que las mismas han estado bajo la supervisión del representante del Ministerio Público, quien vela por la legalidad de la actuación policial.
También se descartó que la investigación policial haya vulnerado el derecho a la presunción de inocencia de Joran Van der Sloot, por que en el atestado policial se recolectaron indicios de la responsabilidad del encausado, que conllevó a que dos jueces penales dictarán órdenes de detención preventiva por 24 horas y siete días.
La resolución del juez Casique Alvizuri fue notificada esta tarde a las partes del proceso.
TRANSLATION:
Lima, jun. 25 (ANDINA). A judge of the 20th Criminal Court of Lima, Wilder Casique Alvizuri, declared unfounded the habeas corpus Joran Andreas Petrus van der Sloot, brought against the head of the Homicide Division of the PNP, Colonel Miguel Angel Canlla prayed, and the provincial prosecutor Lima, Dr. Ninfa Espinoza Sotomayor.
The petition filed by lawyer Highness Max Navarro, asked to be declared null the scope of police investigation for his client, as the alleged perpetrator of the murder of Flores Stephany Ramirez because, allegedly, violated their constitutional rights.
In this regard, the resolution of Dr. Casique Alvizuri, indicates that the three statements that Joran Van der Sloot gave to the police as well as other measures, he had the help of Maurice Steins interpreter.
Similarly, the judge stated that for any action, is possible that the laptop is opened the accused without his consent,, since it is argued that the equipment was delivered sealed to criminal court.
The decision of the judge of the 20th Criminal Court of Lima also denies that it violated the right to defend the detainee.
It indicates that it is undisputed that during the demonstrations that citizens Dutchman surrendered to the police, attended a public defender, also that they have been under the supervision of the Public Prosecutor, who oversees the legality of the policing.
Also ruled that the police investigation has infringed the right to the presumption of innocence of Joran Van der Sloot, because in the police report were collected evidence of liability of the defendant, which led to two criminal court judges to issue arrest warrants for preventive 24 hours to seven days.
The Judge’s decision Alvizuri Casique was notified this afternoon to parts of the process.
EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTS: Joran Van Der Sloot Sane, But Devalues Women – Read His Psychological Evaluation
The official psychological evaluation conducted on notorious murder suspect Joran van der Sloot finds that the 22-year-old Dutchman is sane, but devalues women, RadarOnline.com has exclusively learned.
RadarOnline.com obtained a copy of the evaluation, which is part of a broader report compiled by the prosecution as they build their case against van der Sloot.
The report also contains graphic details about the death of Stephany Flores Ramirez, a 21-year-old college student, and the conditions in which authorities found her body in a hotel room in Lima, Peru on June 2.
Witness Who Found Murdered Woman In Joran Van Der Sloot’s Room; Read Her Witness Statement
Van der Sloot is also a suspect in connection with the mysterious disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba back in 2005.
A forensic psychologist who evaluated van der Sloot said the Dutchman “at the time of evaluation, does not show pathological disorders that prevent [him] from perceiving and evaluating reality.”
NEW CRIME SCENE PHOTOS: Inside the Room Where Joran Van Der Sloot Left Woman Dead
According to the report, van der Sloot “denotes an average intellectual level,” “presents traces of an antisocial personality,” and “is indifferent when it comes to the welfare of others.”
The report also said van der Sloot displays “poor social awareness that is evident in the violation of the rules” and the actions he takes against others.
EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Joran Van Der Sloot’s Bloody Clothes
Van der Sloot, according to the report, veers “towards a life of debauchery and dissipation in the search for new sensations that allow him to feel encouraged,” which is reflective of his “emotional immaturity.”
The report indicated he “devalues the female figure.”
PHOTOS: Van Der Sloot With Murder Victim Hours Before Her Death
The report also details the autopsy administered on van der Sloot’s alleged victim, whose full name was Tatiana Flores Stephany Ramirez. It said she died from blunt force trauma and strangulation, and her body was found about two to two to three days after she died.
Van der Sloot remains in custody in Peru on a murder and robbery charge.
