Joran van der Sloot to marry Peruvian in prison; marriage may hinder extradition to U.S.
Joran van der Sloot, the Dutchman suspected of murdering local student Stephany Flores in 2010, is reportedly set to marry a Peruvian in early June. This may hinder his extradition to the U.S.
The 26-year-old is also connected to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, 19, who went missing in Aruba back in 2005.
Van der Sloot is currently in Peru, serving 28 years in prison for Flores' murder. He is set to marry Leydi Figueroa Uced, 22, according to The Daily Beast.
Uced had previously been rumored to be pregnant with Van der Sloot's child, but there have been no reports of a birth.
Couples who are registered as common-law partners may have conjugal visits in Peruvian prisons.
Marrying Uced, who is a Peruvian, will allow him to apply for Peruvian citizenship, which will prevent him from being extradited to the U.S.
The Supreme Court in Peru approved Van der Sloot's extradition to U.S. last year but only after he serves his sentence in the country. Although he faces 28 years in prison for the murder, he may be out in only ten years with good behavior.
Van der Sloot faces 25 years in U.S. prison if extradited after being charged with attempting to extort $250,000 from Natalee Holloway's mother Beth. Van der Sloot attempted to extort the money in exchange for information about her daughter's death in 2010. He had taken a $25,000 down payment from her and traveled to Peru that year, and ended up murdering Flores.
Van der Sloot tried to flee Peru and took Flores' cash and credit cards before he was caught.
Although Van der Sloot is suspected of murdering Holloway, her body was never found.
Van der Sloot confessed to extortion to Beth while in a Peruvian jail but never admitted what happened to Natalee.
Holloway had disappeared at the age of 17 in Aruba during a school trip.
Natalee Holloway was 17 when she disappeared on Aruba, the Dutch island in the southern Caribbean Sea, during a school trip.
Van der Sloot admitted to killing Flores, but blamed post traumatic stress disorder for being accused of Holloway's disappearance for making him kill the Peruvian.
In prison letters released last July, Van der Sloot said hoped the Flores family could forgive him for his crimes.
'I ask God every day that Stephany's parents can find it in their heart to forgive me,' he wrote.
But he also made an attempt to paint himself as the victim.
He said he believed he was misled by his attorney when he pleaded guilty to Flores' murder and that he suffers from 'psychological' problems that should have been weighed in the murder case.
Mr Van der Sloot wrote: 'My rights have been constantly abused. My lawyer promised me I would receive 15 years if I plead guilty, I did.'
He also referred to himself as a psychological 'mess' in the letters, which were written in English and contain numerous misspellings and grammatical errors.
'I have a history of psychological problems which were never taken into consideration,' he said.