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NANCY GRACE
Van Der Sloot Confesses to Murder of Stephany Flores
Aired June 8, 2010 - 20:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight in the disappearance of Alabama beauty Natalee Holloway, missing off her high school senior trip, Aruba. Aruban police refuse to make a case against judge`s son Joran Van Der Sloot, even after high-tech surveillance catches him describing Natalee`s death repeatedly, even admitting he hid Natalee`s body so it would never be found. After Van Der Sloot`s father, Judge Paulus Van Der Sloot, key in the cover-up, collapses dead, speculation Van Der Sloot would slip up. And he has.
Live, tonight, Peru, Van Der Sloot kills again. Another young girl, just 21, meets Van Der Sloot at a resort casino and is found dead just hours later, brutally beaten, bloody, her neck cracked, broken, partially clothed, on the floor of Joran Van Der Sloot`s own hotel room.
Van Der Sloot runs, crossing the border to Chile, altering his appearance, to hide out. After a massive manhunt, Van Der Sloot captured, so reviled, he has to be strapped in a bulletproof vest to protect him. As we obtain spine-chilling surveillance video of Van Der Sloot with murder victim, 21-year-old Stephany Tatiana, just before she`s found dead, we also obtain video of police combing through his belongings, searching his body for cuts and bruises sustained during the murder. Investigators discover bloody clothes from the murder found with Van Der Sloot on the run. U.S. feds busting Van Der Sloot on a quarter-million-dollar scam, trying to sell the location of Natalee`s body.
Bombshell tonight. The killing machine, Van Der Sloot, confesses! He confesses to the murder of Stephany Tatiana and divulges motive. Stephany Tatiana found out he killed Natalee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking news.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a very dramatic confession.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A confession this morning...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... a murder confession...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His words were, I did not want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say he admitted to killing the 21-year-old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joran Van Der Sloot was crying when he confessed to the murder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators say Van Der Sloot told them it was Flores`s interest in the Natalee Holloway case that set him off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He became enraged, started hitting her, attacking her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mattress on the bed was totally off its box springs.
GRACE: ... broken neck, blunt trauma to the torso...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... ultimately breaking her neck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She didn`t even have an eye.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The sheets were off the bed.
GRACE: ... spine-chilling surveillance video...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... entering a Lima hotel on May 30th at 5:16 in the morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re taking him to the crime scene, that hotel in Lima...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... a reconstruction of the crime, a reenactment, if you will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... so he can explain step by step what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has to pay for his actions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`ll pay for it this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. The killing machine, judge`s son Joran Van Der Sloot, confesses to murder and he divulges motive. His latest victim, 21-year-old Stephany Tatiana, finds out Van Der Sloot kills Natalee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New details of Joran Van Der Sloot`s confession.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... a confessed killer...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A very dramatic confession here in Lima, Peru.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joran Van Der Sloot is a confessed killer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... broke down in tears when he made the dramatic confession to Peruvian authorities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... intense, 10-hour-long interrogations...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators say that Van Der Sloot told them it was Flores`s interest in the Natalee Holloway case that set him off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was a confrontation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His anger exploded.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She wanted to leave.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was extremely upset.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She slapped him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He lost control.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He then slapped her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... a lot of rage and violence...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is absolutely brutal.
GRACE: She was thrown to her knees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... quoted in the local newspaper, She had no right. I got closer. She became scared and wanted to escape, and I grabbed her by the neck and started hitting her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... have him go to the room and explain to them step by step exactly what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s Van Der Sloot and Flores together, going to his room.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the last time she was seen alive...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s going to the gates of hell.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need justice for our family, for Natalee`s family, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session," standing there outside the hotel, Lima, Peru. Jean Casarez, is it true Joran Van Der Sloot confesses?
JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": Authorities have told us, police authorities, that he, in fact, confessed during the duration of about a seven-hour interrogation.
And Nancy, let me set the stage for you tonight. It is winter here in Lima, Peru. It is going-home traffic. You`re going to hear buses and taxis and traffic. But the energy here at the hotel is anything but going home because everyone is wondering, is Joran Van Der Sloot, along with police and prosecutors, going to come for this re-creation of the crime, what happened, tonight here at the hotel?
Authorities are telling us it`s not going to happen tonight, but you wouldn`t know it with the energy that is around here. We are watching, we are waiting because now that he has confessed, police authorities say that under law, he then will come to the hotel and go through it with authorities as to what happened and when it happened so prosecutors can continue to build their case.
GRACE: So are you telling me that once you confess to a crime in Peru, you then must cooperate with authorities and reenact the crime?
CASAREZ: That is normal procedure. Now, is he mandated to come here? I`ve heard various opinions. I talked to lawyers. Some say yes, some say no. But by far, what normally happens is that the person accused of the crime comes to then re-create it for the authorities because at this point, we have no formal charges and prosecutors have to look at the fine points to see if the premeditation is there or see if it`s something more akin to manslaughter, to see if the, say, robbery or kidnapping elements are here. They say that can come from re-creating the scene inside the room right here, Nancy, on the third floor of this hotel.
GRACE: Standing by with us, Jean Casarez, at the hotel in which Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramirez was brutally murdered, her neck cracked open. Let`s see a full shot of the hotel, Dana (ph). I want to see where Jean is standing by there in Lima, Peru.
We`re going to open up to the lawyers in just a moment, including Michael Griffith, who has tried cases there in Peru. But Jean, I want to go back to this confession. What do we know? What are they saying happened? What is Joran Van Der Sloot saying happened the night Stephany Tatiana was murdered?
CASAREZ: Here`s what we were able to confirm late today. The rumors on local television and the media, newspapers, in Peru have been rampant. But authorities confirmed with us late today that, in fact, Joran Van Der Sloot admitted that he left the hotel -- and Nancy, let`s look at that hotel, all right? There it is. It`s open. People are still, a few, going in and out, people that are staying here.
But they`re saying that Joran Van Der Sloot came out of the front door, Sunday, a normal time that you would go get coffee. He walked next door to the little convenience store. There`s a gas station attached. It`s alive tonight, too. And he went in there. He got some coffee, he got some bread.
And what Joran Van Der Sloot told authorities was that Stephany went through his computer while he was gone and that she found out information about himself associated with Natalee Holloway. What more, we don`t know. But when he went back with the coffee and the bread, that she confronted him on it, and that he got angry and that an argument ensued. She wanted to leave. He wouldn`t let her, he said.
And then he said, though, that she hit him first, and then he responded with a hit. But he confessed to authorities that he then took her neck, and that was the beginning of the end. And that is what Joran Van Der Sloot, in part, what we`ve confirmed that he`s told authorities.
GRACE: So Jean, let me get this straight. He leaves to go get coffee, which is exactly what we deduced last night because of the two coffees, that she was still alive. Ninety minutes later, he leaves that hotel room in a different outfit than what he came in with, on his body.
CASAREZ: That`s right.
GRACE: So in that 90 minutes, the murder occurred because when he gets back from getting the coffee and the bread, she`s gone through his computer. She finds out who Joran Van Der Sloot is, that he is suspected of murdering Natalee Holloway, confronts him, wants to leave, slaps him. He hits her and grabs her by the neck. Do I have it straight, Jean?
CASAREZ: You have it right. Now, let me tell you some more. Authorities are saying that he said he was under the influence of marijuana.
GRACE: Don`t care!
CASAREZ: Authorities are also saying that they do not, at this point of time, have evidence of sexual assault. But here`s something, Nancy, from the official police investigation report. It`s saying that she wasn`t clothed but her underwear from her waist down. So how does that fit, Nancy, with the story that he is confessing at this point of time?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joran Van Der Sloot did confess to killing a young woman in Peru.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... blood coming out of the nose...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn`t want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... bruising all over, from the bottom of the feet to scrapes on the chin.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They`re taking him to the scene of the crime, a hotel in Lima.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... a horrible, brutal crime. And I think all these forensics is going to prove exactly what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We thought my sister was kidnapped. And then when we went to the casino and saw the surveillance video, I saw my sister walking out of the casino with this guy. We are now proud of her because we think that she sacrificed her life to put this killer in jail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peruvian police say Joran Van Der Sloot is a confessed killer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a very dramatic confession.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re taking him to the crime scene, that hotel in Lima.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her body was found...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... blood coming out of the nose, bruising all over...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was the body of Stephany Flores.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... in this hotel room...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... a scene that had a mattress out of place, sheets on the floor and in total disarray.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... so he can explain step by step what happened to 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This killer is going to pay.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... everyone waiting for this reenactment. Was it premeditated? Was it something that he planned ahead of time, or was it something that happened at the spur of the moment?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A confession in a high-profile killing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At long last...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Van Der Sloot was crying when he confessed to the murder. His words were, I didn`t want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... that admission coming hours -- after hours of interrogation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His anger exploded after she became a little too curious.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He`s going to pay for what he`s done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He found her looking at his computer. She was Googling and found his name and realized that he had been linked to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. He became enraged, started hitting her, attacking her, ultimately breaking her neck.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need justice for our family, for Natalee`s family, too. I think he`s a psycho, a murderer, and he has to pay.
DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE`S FATHER (via telephone): It`s ironic that it happened on the anniversary, but you know, I just can`t believe (INAUDIBLE) what has occurred and the fact that, you know, he`s in the process (INAUDIBLE) and maybe (INAUDIBLE) I`d like for him -- you know, he`s the (INAUDIBLE) and I would like for him to, you know, just (INAUDIBLE) tell everyone what happened. We have searchers ready and on the ground right now (INAUDIBLE) If that`s the case (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You are hearing the voice of Natalee Holloway`s father, Dave Holloway, on ABC`s "Good Morning America" talking about Van Der Sloot`s confession.
We are live in Lima, Peru, tonight and taking your calls. And now, suddenly, Aruba says it may start additional searches for Natalee Holloway`s body. I`ll believe it when I see it.
Out to the lines. Berta, South Carolina. Hi, Berta.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, Nancy. Nancy, it`s been reported Joran Van Der Sloot left to get coffee and bread. What did he wear when he left the hotel to do that? Did he have the same clothing on he wore when he arrived there, or had he already changed? And would that not help and determine when Stephany was killed?
GRACE: Berta in South Carolina, that`s a very astute observation. To you, Rafael Romo. This is CNN`s senior Latin American affairs editor joining us there with Jean Casarez in Peru. What do we know about what he was wearing when he left the hotel to get the coffee?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: He was wearing the exact same clothes when they came to the hotel first at 5:16 in the morning. When he left for coffee, still the same clothes. But then when he leaves later, carrying a backpack and also carrying a bag, he`s wearing a totally different set of clothes. Later in Chile, when he gets caught, police find that the clothes that he was carrying have traces of blood, Nancy.
GRACE: So bottom line, when he left to get the coffee, he was wearing the same outfit he had on at the casino, the one you`re seeing right there, the light-colored shirt, long sleeves. He`d been sitting at a craps table all night with the victim, following him right there, Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramirez, just 21 years old.
Unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, in addition to Alex Sanchez, New York, Raymond Giudice, Atlanta, Michael Griffith, international law attorney, criminal defense attorney, joining us tonight from Long Island.
Michael, what is this Jean is reporting about now that he`s confessed, he`s going to go do a reenactment? It is SOP, standard operating procedure, in Peru?
MICHAEL GRIFFITH, INTERNATIONAL LAW ATTORNEY (via telephone): Yes, Nancy. As a matter of fact, it`s not only standard operating procedure in Peru, but you know, I had that case in Monaco, the death of Edmund Safra (ph), and they did the same exact thing under the civil system. They asked him to reenact it. Now, I don`t know whether he has a lawyer now, but by reenacting, it may take -- it may take some time off the sentence. But that`s what they do under the inquisitorial system.
GRACE: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Wa-wait! Wa-wait! Michael Griffith, I know you have tons of experience practicing all over the world, including Peru, but -- don`t go, Michael. Raymond Giudice, Alex Sanchez -- everything, every single thing that Joran Van Der Sloot has said that I know of since Natalee`s murder has been a lie, that she took drugs and went into seizures and died, that she had an epileptic fit and died, that she jumped off a balcony and died. Why would they pay any attention to anything he said, Ray Giudice...
RAYMOND GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s why...
GRACE: ... in exchange for a lesser sentence?
GIUDICE: That`s why they`re doing the reenactment. The reenactment has to match the confession. They both have to match the physical and forensic evidence. If they all line up, then he is entitled to credit off the maximum 35-year sentence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joran Van Der Sloot broke down in tears when he made the confession in front of a prosecutor and a defense attorney.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He says Flores found something on his laptop tying him to Natalee Holloway`s disappearance. Then cops say he went into a rage and beat her to death. Is there evidence on his computer that could now bring justice for the Holloway family?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A confession in a high-profile killing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you kill Stephany? Are you innocent?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joran Van Der Sloot broke down in tears when he made the dramatic confession.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Playboy suspect Joran Van Der Sloot, according to police, confessed to killing a 21-year-old Peruvian woman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did not want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Surveillance video released shows the suspect entering his hotel room last week with a Peruvian college student whose badly beaten body was later discovered inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very dramatic confession here in Lima, Peru.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Rita Cosby, author of "Quiet Hero." You can find out all about it at WWW.Quiethero.org. I have the book right here, Rita. With everything that you do, I don`t know how you manage to work in a book. But welcome to the show.
You have been on the Joran Van Der Sloot case since the very beginning. Weigh in, Rita Cosby.
RITA COSBY, AUTHOR, "QUIET HERO": You know what? I`m not surprised at all that he`s been finally caught in this particular case. But what`s shocking and I think what`s going to be interesting to see, Nancy, is what he does from here. Will he really show up for the reenactment? Because this is a guy who sort of dangles things out then pulls back, as we`ve seen in the history with Joran Van Der Sloot.
The other thing, too, also, Nancy, I`ve been in touch with Les Levine. He`s a private investigator who worked on the defense with Joran in the other case. And he said he has had some contact to the mother and spoke directly with his mother, who says, I still believe my son is innocent. And then he`s also having some contact separately -- there`s some connection with a Dutch attorney, I think at the consulate there, I`m told, in Peru.
And it looks like there`s going to be some questions as to whether he shows up for the reenactment, whether he now, quotes, "lawyers up" and says maybe, I was coerced. I think there`s still a lot of shoes to drop in this case. With Joran Van Der Sloot, this guy changes on a dime, Nancy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... on tape.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police released this hotel surveillance videotape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the surveillance video...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s Van Der Sloot and Flores together, going to his room.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the last time she was seen alive...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... links Joran Van Der Sloot to a young woman murdered in Peru.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There they go. Three hours later, he leaves alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joran Van Der Sloot kills again, say police.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: New details of Joran Van Der Sloot`s confession.
GRACE: Grabbed around the neck.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he was grappling with her and had his arm around her neck and on around her chin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He exploded with rage and broke her neck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suggests significant blunt force to that area.
GRACE: Spine chilling surveillance video.
LILLIAN GLASS, PSYCHOLOGIST, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT, AUTHOR OF "TOXIC PEOPLE": That smile, that smirk that he gives. Does he know what he`s going to do ahead of time?
JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": The surveillance video showing him going into the room with Stephany. That white shirt, according to this investigative reports that we got our hands on, was on the floor partially covering her body.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Joran Van Der Sloot confesses.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: As he came back, he found her looking at his computer, his laptop computer. She realized that he had been linked to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR OF "KILLING FOR SPORT": A horribly brutal crime.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The very violent murder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is absolutely brutal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had no right. I got closer. She became scared and wanted to escape and I grabbed her by the neck and started hitting her. That`s what he said.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And now we learn after Joran Van Der Sloot confesses to the murder of a 21-year-old student, a co-ed there in Peru, he is now set to perform a re-enactment of the crime.
And I`m hearing, Jean Casarez, joining us there in Lima, that the use -- the voluntary use of marijuana is a mitigating factor in Peru? In fact, if you just say, hey, I was high, you can get a lesser sentence?
CASAREZ: You know, Nancy, I spoke with a public defender here in Lima today. And are you sitting down for this one? Here in Peru, there are mitigating factors that we do not have in the United States. One of those is the use of an intoxicant. That can help you when you get before a judge.
And I also said to her, what about coming here for this re-creation? Can`t you stop it? Can`t you say, no, my client won`t do this? And it seemed very foreign to her. She wanted him to come to look -- to do this re-creation because it`s in his benefit that he`s accepting the responsibility.
The state of mind here in Peru is that when you plead guilty, that that is a good thing in a sense because it truly can lessen your sentence and there`s two for one here in Peru. Meaning, if you serve one day of sentence, you can get two days of credit. So a term of 15 years can be cut down to 50 percent of that that you`ll actually serve.
GRACE: Back to Michael Griffith, our international law expert. Is that correct, Michael? I`m stunned.
MICHAEL GRIFFITH, INTERNATIONAL LAW ATTORNEY/CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, you know, Nancy. In Peru it`s true. You`re eligible for parole after one-third.
And, Nancy, you know what I`d like you to look at? I`ve been looking at that tape of her going into the hotel. And I noticed that not only is she looking behind him, but her head and shoulders are down, and she -- and she gives like a furtive look to the left, the kind of look where you don`t want to be recognized, that you want to see what`s going on.
Has anybody determined yet as to why she went in that hotel room at 5:30 in the morning? It`s been admitted that she`s a lesbian and it was that time of the month for her. So obviously she wasn`t going up there for sex.
Why did she go to that room? Do we know?
GRACE: I don`t know yet. No one knows yet. But we do know that when her body was discovered, she was only partially clothed.
Out to Alex Sanchez, defense attorney, New York. Weigh in, Alex.
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, I have some serious questions about this so-called confession he made. I mean here`s Joran Van Der Sloot, for five years in a Aruba, refused to make any type of confession to any law enforcement authority.
And the Peruvian authorities arresting him and in a couple of hours he makes a confession. That sounds kind of strange to me.
In addition to that, he had a defense attorney with him. What kind of defense attorney is this that allows him to make a confession to murder? So I think there`s serious questions about those statements he allegedly made to the police.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Marylu in New Jersey. Hi, dear.
MARYLU, CALLER FROM NEW JERSEY: Hello, friend.
GRACE: Hello.
MARYLU: Hi. Hello, friend. My sister Marilyn and I are your biggest friends. I have a two-part question. This is such a horrific attack. Did anyone in the hotel hear screams or an argument coming out of the room? And has anyone heard from his mother?
GRACE: Jean Casarez, what can you tell us?
CASAREZ: On the first question, authorities will not confirm who they have spoken to that may have rented rooms near the Joran Van Der Sloot room or if there was noise or any of that. So no comment on that.
As far as the mother, early this morning law enforcement told us that his mother was on her way here to Peru. She could get here by the end of the day. Late today, they told us that, in fact, he had called his mother on Saturday, wanted her to come, but they would not confirm if she was here or if she was actually coming.
GRACE: A special guest is joining us tonight. Linda Allison. This is Natalee Holloway`s aunt. She`s joining us from Memphis, Tennessee.
Miss Allison, thank you for being with us.
LINDA ALLISON, NATALEE HOLLOWAY`S AUNT: Well, Nancy, thank you for covering this in the detail that you have over the number of years, and then also covering this for the Flores family.
GRACE: Thank you, Miss Allison.
Miss Allison, how do you believe, if at all, this is going to affect Natalee`s case?
ALLISON: I would hope that maybe at some point he would consider confessing and letting us know what happened to Natalee. But given his demeanor and his constant lying, I don`t expect anything more out of him than what he`s already done with the -- admitting to Stephany`s death.
And I thing the only reason he admitted that now was because he was at the end of his rope and there`s nowhere else to turn except to try to negotiate a lighter sentence.
GRACE: I think you`re right, Linda. But what I don`t understand is why anyone would believe anything that he said. I mean, so this girl, Stephany Tatiana, slapped him. He broke her neck?
ALLISON: And that`s something I don`t understand is how brutal that he could have been, and how -- why would he do that? All he had to do was say, leave the room. He could have said, I`ve been arrested twice, but never convicted of anything that I did to Natalee.
And he could have just easily walked away or had her leave. But instead, he wants to blame Stephany, that it was her fault, just like he did that with Natalee. He said it was her coming on to him.
And so he never wants to take responsibility for what he`s done. And so he throws everything out there that it was the victim who caused him to do that. Well, Stephany didn`t cause him to break her neck. No one could ask for that kind of -- no one could ask for anything like that to be put upon another human being.
GRACE: To Jean Casarez, Linda Allison is correct. Once again Joran Van Der Sloot is somehow trying to convince everyone that he has been the victim in this case, the victim of a 21-year-old girl. Explain, Jean.
CASAREZ: Well, that`s right. Because when we look at what law enforcement has confirmed with us, he is saying that Stephany Flores hit him first. So there`s another defense right there that out of self-defense you are striking back.
We don`t know how far that would go, how much a judge would entertain that from a defense lawyer, but everything he`s saying thus far, I see as a lawyer, is in his best behalf. And law enforcement confirmed with us that they showed him what they had -- we think that`s the video surveillance tape -- and after that, there was nothing else Joran could do but confess.
GRACE: To Raymond Giudice, the whole theory of self-defense is ridiculous. I mean, self-defense is like this. If I slap you, Ray Giudice, you can slap me back. That`s self-defense.
But I can`t slap you, then you break my neck or you pull out an Uzi and shoot me to death.
RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Under U.S. law, I can use equal force to the equivalent of your attack.
GRACE: Yes.
GIUDICE: A slap to a slap, a knife to a knife, maybe a gun to a knife, that`s an issue, that`s where you get into close cases. But I don`t know what Peruvian law is. And where Jean is really getting to is not so much of a defense in a not guilty plea, but in a mitigation argument for sentencing. That`s where this case is going.
GRACE: Michael Griffith, what -- what is the status of this self- defense theory in Peru?
GRIFFITH: You know, Nancy, I`m not very skilled in that because I never had a defense there. But I do want to tell you one thing that I want you to hear for the first time. And we can pass this on to the Holloway family because I`m very experienced in cases in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
We have a -- we have a DEA Liaison Office in the embassy in all of those countries including Peru. I`ve been to the embassy in Peru and met with the ambassador.
The U.S. authorities have Peruvian counterparts. They can approach, on behalf of the Holloway family, they can approach their counterpart and say, look, we want to know what happened to Natalee Holloway. We want to know where the body is.
If you cooperate with us, you know, they do each other favors, you know, you can be easy on his sentence, but this is what we want. The Holloways can find out during this case where the daughter is if the U.S. authorities will approach their Peruvian counterparts, Nancy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Van Der Sloot, what do you have to say?
CASAREZ: Authorities have confirmed that he has confessed to murdering Stephany Flores.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why you kill her?
CASAREZ: Law enforcement is saying Joran Van Der Sloot actually admitted he was under the influence of marijuana.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Breaking news, a confession.
ROBERTS: A murder confession.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Peruvian police say Joran Van Der Sloot is a confessed killer.
CASAREZ: Such a gruesome homicide case.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Breaking news.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The surveillance tape, it shows him walking past the front desk, picking up his keys, going into his room with Stephany Flores.
ROBERTS: The playboy suspect Joran Van Der Sloot twice arrested in connection with the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway.
CHETRY: Confessed.
ROBERTS: Admits now to killing a young woman in his hotel room.
GRIFFITH: Very dramatic confession.
CASAREZ: The sheets were off the bed.
GRACE: Joran Van Der Sloot kills.
GRIFFITH: Crying when he confessed to the murder.
GRACE: His daddy`s not around to protect him.
CASAREZ: The mattress was moved.
GRACE: Brutally beaten.
GRIFFITH: I did not want to do it.
GRACE: Her neck broken.
GRIFFITH: The girl intruded into my private life.
GRACE: Partially clothed. On the floor of Joran Van Der Sloot`s own hotel room.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Rupa Mikkilineni, our producer on the story.
Rupa, what can you tell me about the feds -- the U.S. feds busting Van Der Sloot trying to get a quarter million dollars from Beth Holloway?
RUPA MIKKILINENI, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, we now know that the victim of that sting operation or of the extortion charges is Beth Holloway, the mother of the victim and -- of Natalee Holloway.
And we also know that the Dutch authorities in Holland raided two homes belonging to two separate people in order to obtain evidence in these extortion charges. He could face -- if this is pursued by the United States government, he could face up to 50 years in jail.
GRACE: So Ron Shindel, where is the U.S. -- where is our claim on extortion land in the pecking order? You got Peru on him for murder but it sounds like they`re going to go light. That hey, if he confessed and does a re-enactment, why don`t they just let him go free? And I thought Peru was going to be so harsh on him.
Now you got Aruba claiming they`re going to reignite the sear for Natalee. I don`t believe that. So where does our federal case stand? When can we get our mitts on Joran Van Der Sloot?
RON SHINDEL, FORMER NYPD DEPUTY INSPECTOR: Well, Nancy, I`m as surprised as you were that Lima, Peru -- Peru in general -- is so lenient in this case. I`ve never had any idea that they had such lenient laws down there with a maximum ceiling of 35 years for a murder.
But certainly the murder case at this point will take precedence and we`re going to have to wait quite a long time -- you know, 15 years is still a long time. Not long enough for a murder but long time for us to wait for an extortion case.
This is going to be way down the line, this extortion case.
GRACE: To Dr. Robert Kaufman, his specialty, internal medicine, joining us out of Atlanta.
Dr. Kaufman, thank you for being with us. I want to talk to you about the ability to crack someone`s neck in the middle of all this. He gets slapped so he breaks her neck? How much force would it take for one human to break the neck of another?
DR. ROBERT KAUFMAN, M.D., INTERNAL MEDICINE: It`s unbelievable that - - he planned that and he did -- it wasn`t self-defense. To break somebody`s -- he beat her and she was incapacitated, and then he broke her neck. He just -- put his around her. He`s probably broken a neck before and knew how to do it because me and you, we wouldn`t know how to break somebody`s neck.
GRACE: I don`t understand how you do that. You`re saying you put his arm around her. What do you mean by that?
KAUFMAN: He puts his arm around her neck and then -- and I`ve never broken a neck myself, but you take it and you have to turn a certain way to get the vertebrae to crack to push up against and then they`ll break. So it takes blunt force plus twisting to break a neck.
GRACE: You know, in all the homicide cases I`ve handled, I have never had a broken neck as a mode of murder. Have you seen a broken neck, Dr. Kaufmann?
KAUFMAN: The only time I`ve ever seen a broken neck is in a car accident of that type or a fall. So you have to know how to break a neck. And I think he, being the murder that he is, he knew how to break her neck.
GRACE: Let me ask you something regarding the attack on her. What is the sequence that you believe took place?
KAUFMAN: I don`t think she slapped him. I mean, he didn`t have any - - I think he just started beating her, got her incapacitated. Probably knocked her out and said, hey, I`m going to finish her off. Let`s break her neck and she`s done and she`ll never talk about this.
GRACE: It is extremely rate. To Dr. Patricia Saunders, you heard what Dr. Robert Kaufmann told us. Breaking the neck, extremely rare, takes immeasurable force, human force to do it.
I want you to comment on that, the violence done to this girl, Stephany Tatiana, and also have you seen -- have you studied the video of him walking out of the hotel room in the end all showered and cleaned? He had to take a shower and shampoo and all that with her lying there dead on the floor.
And then when he walks out, he looks so calm. What is he, a psychopath, Doctor?
PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes, he`s a stone cold psychopath, Nancy, and were known for their violent aggression. There`s another thing, though, that he said she was scared. It may have been sexually exciting for him.
He may have enacted some kind of fantasy, some kind of scenario, so the excitement added to the aggression and breaking her neck may have been part of it.
GRACE: Dr. Saunders, that`s the first time we`ve had that scenario verbalized or laid out for me.
Everyone, we are taking your calls live, but on a happy note, which we need so very much tonight, a miracle. Congratulations to our show`s executive producer Dean Sicoli and his stunning wife Karin. They`ve just welcomed their newest little crime fighter. A baby boy.
Breaking news, he has a name. Matthew Dean Sicoli. Born last night, 7:33 p.m., 7 pounds, 7 ounces. He`s got two older brothers to look up to, Luke and Will.
Congratulations, and love, love, love, to baby Sicoli.
And happy anniversary to Bob and Verdery Cunningham. Meeting in grammar school in Atlanta. First date box theater for a Bob Hope movie. 60 years, 4 children later, happy 60th, Bob and Verdery. You inspire all us newlyweds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Van Der Sloot`s confession, a tearful one.
CASAREZ: She slapped him.
SANCHEZ: Told Peruvian officials, quote, "I did not want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life."
CASAREZ: He then slapped her.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to the lines. Marsha in North Carolina. Hi, Marsha, what`s your question?
MARSHA, CALLER FROM NORTH CAROLINA: Yes, thank you for everything, Nancy.
GRACE: Yes, ma`am.
MARSHA: She -- when you are looking at her going into that hotel, she walks behind him showing no emotion like she`s on -- you know, taken a drug or something.
GRACE: Well, Marsha, we know that the date rape drug, GHB, was found in the car. Is that your question?
MARSHA: In the car. But they don`t know if she -- it hasn`t come out if she`s taken any?
GRACE: OK. We don`t have the toxicology report.
MARSHA: Right.
GRACE: But we do know that the pills in the car, they were wrappers for the pills. So the pills were used on somebody. And they were in her car. And he had been in her car. He took her car from the hotel room about 50 blocks, and he was trying to get away.
Straight, back to you, Raymond Giudice, if she put up a struggle, what do you make of the self-defense theory?
GIUDICE: Again, I still don`t think that`s going anywhere. The physical disparity, the boy is 6`3", 22 years old. She`s much smaller, much weaker. I get into this argument with my wife all the time. He is so much more powerful than her, no matter how tough she thinks she is.
GRACE: Agree, Alex Sanchez?
A. SANCHEZ: Possible defense that he could advance is some type of emotional disturbance or explosive disorder. Get some Peruvian psychiatrist to interview him. If they could advance that argument, prove he had marijuana in his system, prove he had alcohol in his system, maybe they`ll get somewhere in this case.
GRACE: Michael Griffith, is there any way the U.S. will bring him out of Peru to the U.S. to face charges?
GRIFFITH: Nancy, after he`s convicted in Peru, he`ll be subject to extradition charges. But Nancy, you`re going to break this case because you`re going to have a U.S. senator on tomorrow night from Alabama and you`re going to tell him that the DEA is to call the ambassador -- to contact the Peruvian police to find out where Natalee Holloway is.
And -- and I am telling you, I`m experienced with this, I`ve done this many times, have cases all over South America.
GRACE: OK.
GRIFFITH: My roommate in college is the former ambassador of El Salvador. They can do it. They can find out where Natalee Holloway is.
GRACE: Michael Griffith, I`m going to agree with you and I`m going to follow your instruction.
Everyone, let`s stop and remember Marine Lance Corporal Franklin Sweger, 24, San Antonio, Texas, killed Iraq. Awarded Purple Heart, Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medal.
Loved music, spinning records, giving hugs, time with family, friends. Dreamed of college, marriage, starting a family. Leaves behind parents Frank and Suzy, a Gold Star mother, stepfather Stephen, brothers J.R. and Joseph.
Franklin Sweger, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you. And a special good night from our Georgia friends Madeline and Sophie.
Aren`t they beautiful?
Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And tonight, our prayers for the families of Stephany Tatiana and Natalee Holloway. Until tomorrow night, good night, friend.
END
