Crime & Justice

Joran van der Sloot Loses U.S. Extradition Appeal

HAND HIM OVER

The prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway tried to fight his extradition to the U.S. in a drastic change of course after he spoke to Dutch diplomats.

Dutch citizen Joran Van der Sloot waits for his trial to begin at the courtroom in the Lurigancho prison in Lima January 11, 2012.
Pilar Olivares/Reuters

Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway, has lost his fight against his U.S. extradition and will be handed over to the FBI Thursday, according to the Peruvian superior court. While he originally was not going to challenge his extradition, van der Sloot’s attorney said his client changed his mind Monday after speaking to Dutch diplomats. The Netherlands native, who is serving 28 years behind bars in Peru for an unrelated murder, was the last person to see 18-year-old Holloway when she vanished on a class trip to Aruba. He faces charges of extortion and wire fraud for plotting to scam the family of $250,000 in exchange for the false location of the American teen’s body. Still, no one has been charged in Holloway’s death and her body has not yet been found.

Read it at ABC News