• US asks Peru to extradite van der Sloot for trial related to Natalee Holloway killing

    The prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway could face extradition to the United States from Peru, where he is currently serving a 28-year sentence for the murder of Stephanie Flores. TODAY's Natalie Morales reports.

    By Michelle Kosinski, NBC News, and F. Brinley Bruton, msnbc.com

    A Peruvian court is considering a U.S. request to extradite convicted killer Joran van der Sloot over charges related to the 2005 death of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, a judiciary spokesman told NBC News on Tuesday.


    The 24-year-old Dutchman, serving 28 years for murdering business student Stephany Flores in a Lima hotel room, is the chief suspect in Holloway's 2005 disappearance in Aruba. He faces U.S. extortion and wire fraud charges.

    "Yes, the request has been made ... we are discussing that subject now," said Juan Medina, a spokesman for the Peruvian court system.

    Natalee Holloway of Mountain Brook, Ala., vanished in Aruba in 2005 when she was on a graduation trip.

    Van der Sloot is charged with demanding $250,000 from Holloway’s mother in exchange for information about the location of her daughter's body. But the information he gave, according to authorities, was false.

    During an interview with a journalist, van der Sloot admitted to the extortion attempt, saying he had decided to tell the family what he thought they wanted to hear, because he was angry with comments they had made in media. 

    Investigators say Holloway wired him $25,000.

    Soon after, he was arrested in Peru for the murder of Flores, who died on the five-year anniversary of Holloway’s disappearance.

    A U.S. trial is slated for 2015, with van der Sloot facing 25 years in prison if convicted.

    AFP - Getty Images

    Dutch national Joran Van der Sloot is shown during a Jan. 13 hearing at the Lurigancho prison in Lima, Peru.

    Holloway was 18 when she vanished during a Caribbean holiday. Her body has not been found and she was declared to be deceased in January this year. Van der Sloot, who lived in Aruba at the time, was one of the last seen with her.

    He was twice arrested in the case and spent three months in jail but was never formally charged.

    Flores died May 30, 2010, five years to the day after Holloway vanished. Van der Sloot admitted on Jan. 12 this year that he had killed Flores -- a day before Holloway was declared dead.

    In an initial confession he later said was coerced, van der Sloot said he killed Flores, 21, who was beaten and strangled, in a burst of rage after she accessed files about Holloway on his computer.

    This article also includes reporting by Reuters.

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  • Judge: Natalee Holloway legally dead

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - An Alabama judge agreed Thursday to declare Natalee Holloway legally dead, more than six years after the teenager vanished on the Caribbean island of Aruba.

    Judge Alan King announced his decision at a hearing Thursday requested by the teen's father, Dave Holloway, who was in court with Beth Holloway, his ex-wife and Natalee's mother. He told the judge in September he believed his daughter had died and he wanted to stop paying her medical insurance and use her college fund for her brother.

    Thursday's hearing had been scheduled before a suspect questioned in Holloway's disappearance, Dutchman Joran van der Sloot, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Peru to the 2010 murder of a woman there.

    Natalee Holloway disappeared on a high school graduation trip May 30, 2005. She was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot. Her body was never found.

    One of Dave Holloway's attorneys, J. Mark White, said at Thursday's hearing, "No evidence has been found that Natalee Holloway is alive," reported The Birmingham News.

    Dave Holloway said he had expected to hear the judge would declare his daughter dead because he had no doubt about that. "We've been dealing with her death for the last six and a half years," he said.

    He added that the judge's order closes one chapter in a long story, but added: "We've still got a long way to go to get justice.

    Beth Holloway, Natalee's mom, didn't speak at the hearing, but her lawyer said she supported the request to declare her daughter legally dead, according to The Birmingham News.

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    Natalee Holloway of Mountain Brook, Ala. went missing while on a high school graduation trip in Aruba.

    Holloway suspect: I killed woman in Peru

    On Wednesday, Van der Sloot pleaded guilty to the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores, a 21-year-old woman who died five years to the day after the disappearance of Holloway.

    Van der Sloot was arrested twice in the Holloway case but he was never charged due to a lack of evidence. Holloway's family has criticized Dutch authorities for not making more progress in the case.

    Van der Sloot has told police he strangled Flores, a skilled poker player and the daughter of a wealthy businessman, after he found her looking at his laptop computer in his hotel room.

    The laptop contained emails about Holloway's death.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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