Holloway Suspect Talked Online About Death

Aruba Prosecutor Says Cell Phone Calls And Text Messages Had Spurred Recent Re-Arrests

(AP)  One of three top suspects in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway wrote during an Internet chat session that the teenager was dead, Aruba's chief prosecutor said Thursday.

Prosecutor Hans Mos refused to identify the person who wrote the message but said its discovery had contributed to the decision to re-arrest Joran van der Sloot and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe last month.

The men were subsequently released after they refused to speak to authorities about newly uncovered evidence. The Aruba Public Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday it will not charge the three.

Mos said their re-arrests had been warranted by the circumstantial evidence, including statements from witnesses who said the three behaved strangely in the hours after Holloway vanished at age 18 on May 30, 2005 during an Aruba vacation with her Alabama high school graduating class.

Mos refused to reveal details of other evidence that he said was gathered through new investigative techniques and a listening device planted in one of the suspects' homes. Mos said van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers remain "the primary three persons of interest."

"Any and all leads and new evidence will be investigated," Mos told reporters.

But Ronald Wix, an attorney for the Kalpoe brothers, denied that prosecutors had new evidence.

"All they did was recycle old evidence and claim it was new evidence," Wix told The Associated Press, adding that his clients felt vindicated by the prosecutor's decision to drop the case.

"Unless he finds a body in the bathroom of one of these kids, there's no way in hell they can arrest them anymore." Wix said.

The three men were seen leaving a bar with Holloway hours before she was due to board a flight home to Mountain Brook, Ala. Van der Sloot, who now attends college in the Netherlands, said he left Holloway alone on a beach that night. He and the Kalpoe brothers have denied any wrongdoing.

The Aruban prosecutors say they cannot prove a crime was committed because her body was never recovered. They have said they focused on cell phone calls and text messages between the suspects.

On Wednesday, Holloway's family blamed mistakes by Aruban investigators for bringing the case to a dead end after more than two years of searching.

Holloway's stepfather, Jug Twitty, said he believes witnesses in the Dutch Caribbean island know what happened but are not coming forward, and he criticized prosecutors' decision to dismiss the case against the only known suspects.

"It's also I think a sad day for the Aruban people because the officials there are inept," Twitty told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Birmingham, Ala. Natalee's mother, Beth Twitty, referred a reporter's questions about the handling of the case to Jug Twitty.

Jug Twitty said Holloway's mother was considering appealing the prosecutor's decision and hoped a new search by a Texas-based private group in the waters off Aruba might find Holloway's body.

"I can't say we're optimistic," said Twitty, who recently divorced Beth Twitty.

He said police botched the investigation from the start by waiting nine days to arrest the three suspects, giving them "plenty of time to cover their tracks."

"There are also people I believe that know what happened but won't say anything because they have to live on that island," he said.

Complaints the last two years about the handling of the investigation prompted calls for a tourism boycott by officials in the United States, including Alabama Gov. Bob Riley.

"We'll be glad when it's out of the media ... We've suffered enough," said John Herbert, a receptionist at the Arubiana Inn on the island of white sand beaches off the coast of Venezuela.

[cepe10-2009]

In the US only 60% of murders are solved. Aruba has a much better track record...

It is not really their fault they can''t solve a case that has very little leads to go on... They have to have something to go on... They can''t just torture the suspects into confessions like in Texas:)

For what it''s worth there is no certain evidence that she didn''t swim out to sea in a drunken drug induced binge. She was most likely too sheltered in the Bible belt and got a little too crazy with some freedom. It happens...

[mikefrmd]

Cepe,

One has now said she is dead....they all lied about the Holiday Inn drop off. They accused and allowed 2 black guards to sit in jail for a crime they knew the guards didn''t commit. They manufactured false witnesses to try and give them alibis....why would one do that if they have nothing to hide?

There is no evidence because the case was botched...even the Aruban prime minister stated that.

You can get forensics eveidence if you allow the main suspects 10 days to clean up and get their stories straight with the help of a Judge in training father.

[mikefrmd]

Make that can''t get evidence

[tatm06]

I say we boycott Aruba. There are alot of other very pretty Islands in the caribbean. Aruba isn''t that pretty. It is just a desert island. Gilligans''s Island was prettier.

[jetlizhan]

Nancy_Naive

and you think your little post was comical? these people have lost their daughter - MURDERED!!! and you make a stupid statement like you did. you ought to be totally ashamed of yourself, you heartless scum.

[petesis]

I would have given up on Aruban justice system a long time ago and these 3 kids would already be missing.

[lucy-in-tx]

''One of three top suspects in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway wrote during an Internet chat session that the teenager was dead, Aruba''s chief prosecutor said Thursday.''

And yet, they have stated that there is not enough evidence to hold the three, nor arrest them again.
Geez, if their statement about her being ''dead'' is not dang near tantamount to a confession, there most likely will never be one as the three men responsible have a judge-to-be on their side.
Also, from what I recall reading during the first few weeks about this awful affair, Joran Van der Sloot''s father pretty much advised him, "no body, no evidence... no charges."
And that also, pretty much, says it all.

So, in a nutshell, three smirking, smiling, and most likely guilty men walk away clean and Scott free from a death they surely know about and may have contributed to, or a murder they have most likely committed.

Hang your head in shame, Aruba, your island is no longer ''paradise.''

[mitywhity]

I agree. It''s time for some waterboarding - these vermin know something.

[Krazcarl]

What a bunch of Barney Fifes. The incompetence is unbelievable they should pick up trash on the beech that is about all thier good for...And Vanderslut the judge set this up it''s obvious should be disbarred if they do that there doesn''t seam like they do anything.

[nyckate]

Oh for the love of ... this is the extent of the ''evidence'' against these three??

Could they have done it? sure - could it also have been someone else who met up with her in deserted parking lot after they dropped her off? Yep.

Pretty much the entire island along with most of the world knew she was probably dead.

THey would never have gotten away with holding these three kids on that kind of ''evidence'' here in the US that''s for sure.

[susanhelit]

Online, several thousand people have said Natalee is dead. Because, well, duh! - she is! It''s obvious. We all know it - no surprise that the suspects would say the same.

Mos has totally lost all credibility - that''s not evidence, that''s pathetic. He''s got a missing person, and all he can do is fixate on 3 guys that have absolutely not a drop of evidence against them.

[trenticus-2009]

My belief is that Holloway is NOT on the island and has become the victim of slave prostitution somewhere else. She is probably drugged and cannot do anything but lay there and take the abuse. Hopefully this investigation is also focused on other islands.

[lambofgoth]

I think I would kill myself if my name was Jug Twitty. That''s just wrong...

[nothappyatall]

"witnesses who said the three behaved strangely in the hours after Holloway vanished"

Define ''strangely'' it doesnt mean a thing, they were half drunk if not drunk like the rest of them.


"...and a listening device planted in one of the suspects'' homes."

LOL oh thats smart, give away the ''how'' they were investigating this dead case by planting a mic in the suspect''s house, Im sure thats GONE now and the three men know now to shut up and say nothing to anyone, ever.

Man,this Twitty TWIT woman and her family must have some serious connection chit to the media and CBS if they get THIS MUCH freaking coverage week after week month after month!! give it a REST CBS it''s already looking like special favoritisms or kickbacks for running all these stories while hundreds of other vanish and barely mae the back page ONE TIME.

If Natalie was BLACK I guarantee she would have been on the back page ONE time and that''s it.
Someone needs to tell this Twitty TWIT TWIT to TWITTER away already and stop boring the hel1 out of us with this STALE old dead case- the girl is GONE, theres NO body, no witnesses, no evidence no weapon and no confession, it''s a cold stale dead case, time to shelve it and I mean REALLY- not keep dragging it out every couple of weeks!!!

[Krazcarl]

String these boys up everyone knows they know what happened if they aren''t talking you know there guility sorry law enforccement and daddy being a judge sure it helped even sends the boy to europe to avoid scandle. What more proof do you need a written confesion.

[kennergirl]

From the very beginning the guys lied. Helps that dad is a judge. Where this girl''s body is anybody''s guess. But when they lied and said they dropped her at her hotel and the security camera showed otherwise that made them look nothing less than guilty. What comes around goes around and they will have to deal with the consequences. I hope when they marry they have a bunch of daughters.

[usakousagi]

''''One of three top suspects in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway wrote during an Internet chat session that the teenager was dead, Aruba''''s chief prosecutor said Thursday.''''

And yet, they have stated that there is not enough evidence to hold the three, nor arrest them again.
Geez, if their statement about her being ''''dead'''' is not dang near tantamount to a confession, there most likely will never be one as the three men responsible have a judge-to-be on their side.



Posted by Lucy-in-TX

Even in the US that is not enough evidence to hold someone anyone can log onto your email and chat all they gotta do is figure out your password. When I was 12 I had a 37 year old email me asking if I liked *** and if I would meet him and he had already asked how old I was and I had told him. His email address was HIS NAME! However, in the US that is not enough proof to even give him a warning. Events happened later to provide actual proof in that case and unless the same happens in this case they''re never going to be prosecuted. Someone will have to come forward and that''s all we can hope for.

[yongamerica]

This was one cheap arse way for the Arubian judge to get his son home for the winter holidays