Guest Contributor: Controversial Natalee and Joran Movie Set for 2011 Release
Dutch filmmaker Paul Ruven has been filming Me & Mr. Jones since April and is portraying fictional events based on the Holloway case through the eyes of an undercover journalist who visits Aruba five years after Natalee’s disappearance. The central event of the movie follows the journalist and an undercover reporter as they break into van der Sloot’s house and make a “shocking discovery.” In Dutch news, the movie and its filming in Aruba have been a “sensitive” subject, a fact that should warn us about the potential inaccuracies and slanderous portrayals of this “fictional” film.
Taking Advantage of Real Tragedy to Create Drama
While still filming the movie according to its original script, Ruven decided to make changes as the Stephanie Flores case involving van der Sloot escalated. The film now incorporates Joran’s arrest in Peru for the first-degree murder and robbery of Flores. This development is a reflection of Ruven’s desire to include as many twists as possible, making a controversial and potentially popular film that could appeal to the curious or misinformed. At just five years after Natalee’s disappearance, it’s far too soon to be filming fictitious speculation on her and on van der Sloot’s involvement. Any “shocking discovery” in van der Sloot’s house cannot possibly be true to the actual progression of events and should not be widely disseminated to confuse the public.
Riding the Wave of Success
Beth Twitty, Natalee’s mother, wrote a book that was developed into a Lifetime made-for-television movie that depicted real events. The book, Loving Natalee: A Mother’s Testament of Hope and Faith, was incorporated into the movie, Natalee Holloway, to a satisfactory degree as Twitty fully supported this effort and made an on-camera appearance. Premiering in April 2009, it attracted 3.2 million viewers, making it the most successful Lifetime movie to date. Ruven seems to be taking advantage of the fact that the public is still shocked and horrified by Natalee’s disappearance and that people are invested in discovering the truth. The world just isn’t ready for a fictional re-working of Natalee’s tragedy and van der Sloot’s involvement.
Bio: Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident education blogger and performs research surrounding College Scholarships. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.
Will van der Sloot Ever See The Inside Of An Alabama Courtroom?
Birmingham, AL (WIAT)- As Joran van der Sloot sits in a Peruvian prison awaiting trial for murder, some wonder if he’ll ever set foot in an American federal courtroom to face extortion charges.
In addition to facing murder charges in the gruesome death of Stephany Flores in Peru, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway has also been charged with attempting to extort money from Natalee’s family.
Federal investigators say they caught van der Sloot in a sting operation, saying he tried to secure hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for information that would lead authorities to the location of Natalee Holloway’s body.
But with a murder trial that could send him to prison for up to 30 years, there’s concern van der Sloot may not stand trial for extortion in Alabama. Extraditing van der Sloot is a complicated process.
Former US Attorney Doug Jones, who has seen a number of extradition cases, says there’s a good chance van der Sloot will be extradited. But he says there are a lot of factors to take into account.
Good Morning America – ABC – 07/01/10
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.
Good Morning America – ABC – 06/24/10
Natalee Holloway’s Brother: Joran van der Sloot Won’t Offer New Evidence
By Jeff Truesdell
Thursday June 17, 2010 06:35 PM EDT
Natalee Holloway’s family takes some comfort in the fact that Joran van der Sloot is finally behind bars, charged with murder in Peru. But Holloway’s brother is doubtful that the Dutchman will ever offer new, truthful details about the teen’s disappearance five years ago.
Van der Sloot, 22 – who is charged with killing Stephany Flores Ramirez, 21, exactly five years after Natalee disappeared during a graduation trip to Aruba – is reportedly ready to discuss what happened the night Natalee went missing and the location of her remains.
But Matt Holloway, who had just finished the 10th grade when his older sister went missing, tells PEOPLE in his first interview that he doesn’t believe van der Sloot. “He’s just trying to get a lighter sentence,” says Matt. “Right now he just knows he’s pretty much screwed on murder.”
Matt thinks that van der Sloot, who was arrested twice in the Holloway case but never charged, spoke honestly about the incident only once – in an undercover video aired in early 2008 orchestrated by a Dutch TV journalist. In that unguarded moment, van der Sloot said that Natalee had suffered a seizure on the beach, and that he panicked and called a friend who dumped her body at sea.
“I feel like that was the truth,” Matt says. “It’s hard to talk about it, but I think he put her in the ocean. That would make the most sense to me. All that stuff where he says she’s buried in a swamp or under a house being built, that’s not true.”
Past Lies
During an extortion sting in May, van der Sloot told Beth Holloway’s attorney, John Q. Kelly, that Natalee’s remains were buried at a former construction site, but it turned out that the house wasn’t even being built at the time of Natelee’s disappearance.
Van der Sloot’s information about the body was traded for $25,000 in cash and wire transfer from Beth Holloway’s bank account in an extortion case overseen by the FBI and Aruban authorities. Van der Sloot later left Aruba, presumably with the money, and went to South America where he encountered Flores. The Dutchman was charged with extortion on June 3 – the same day he was arrested in Chile for Flores’s murder.
“I wish [the authorities] were able to act sooner,” says Matt, “but I understand that they had to build the [extortion] case up so he couldn’t get away for the tenth time, so to say. It’s terrible Stephany had to meet Joran like that.”
“The main thing is [that] I’m glad that he’s finally going to be seeing bars for the rest of his life,” Natalee’s brother says. “We’ve already come to terms that she is gone, that I’ll never see her again. I just hope nobody ever has to deal with that again, and go through that whole tragedy of missing a loved one.”
On the Record – Fox News – 06/14/10
Today Show – NBC – 06/14/10
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