Chilling audio reveals Joran van der Sloot confessing to Natalee Holloway’s murder

After nearly 20 years, Natalee Holloway’s killer admitted to her murder in graphic detail. This story contains scenes some readers may find distressing

A chilling new audio recording reveals how Joran van der Sloot killed Natalee Holloway with a cinder block and then threw her body in the ocean after she refused his sexual advances on a beach in Aruba nearly 20 years ago.

Federal prosecutors in Alabama released the graphic audio that was recorded on 3 October as part of a plea deal. On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to federal charges of extortion and wire fraud after being accused of trying to extort Holloway’s mother Beth out of thousands of dollars in exchange for information about her death.

It was revealed in court that van der Sloot, who has been the longtime suspect in Holloway’s disappearance, had admitted in court records to killing the Alabama teenager after she refused his sexual advances while in Aruba.

“She tells me she doesn’t want me to — to feel her up,” van der Sloot is heard on the audio calmly telling investigators on 3 October. “Uh, I insist. I keep feeling her up either way. And she, uh, knees me, she ends up kneeing me in the crotch.”

The now 36-year-old then explained how he kicked her and bludgeoned her to death.

“I get up on the beach and I kick her — extremely hard — in the face,” he said. “Yeah, she’s laying down unconscious, possibly even, even dead. And I see right next to her there’s a, there’s a huge cinder block laying on the beach.

“I smash her head in with it completely. Yeah, her face basically, you know, collapses in. Even though it’s dark I can see her face is collapsed.”

Van der Sloot told investigators he didn’t know what to do so he carried her body into the ocean and pushed her into the water. He then walked back home where he watched pornography,  according to Holloway’s family, who heard his full confession.

“You didn’t get what you wanted from Natalee - sexual satisfaction - so you brutally killed her. You didn’t get what you wanted, so you killed her,” she told him in court on Wednesday.

Beth Holloway speaks to media with her son Matt Holloway after Joran van der Sloot confessed to Natalee’s murder (Copyright 2023 Butch Dill)

Natalee Holloway, 18, went missing during a high school graduation trip to Aruba with classmates. She was last seen 30 May 30 2005, leaving a bar with van der Sloot, a Dutch citizen and student at an international school on the Caribbean island where he grew up.

Her disappearance quickly became an international sensation, filling evening newscasts with live reports from the island and photos of her smiling face. Her disappearance also spawned countless books, podcasts and movies.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Holloway’s parents listened and watched several weeks ago as van der Sloot, under questioning from his own attorney, described what happened on the beach. Prosecutors filed excerpts of the conversation with the court.

He said Holloway was physically fighting his sexual advances and that he kicked her “extremely hard” in the face while she was still lying down. Van der Sloot said the teen was already unconscious, or even dead, when he picked up a nearby cinderblock and brought it down on her face.

Holloway was declared dead in 2012, but her body has never been found. US District Judge Anna Manasco said it’s clear her remains will never be recovered.

Van der Sloot received a 20-year sentence on each of the two convictions on the extortion charges. Those sentences will run concurrently with each other and also concurrently with his 28-year sentence in Peru for the murder of Stephany Flores in 2010.

He wore an orange jumpsuit as he stood to address the court on Wednesday.

“I would like to take this chance to apologise to the Holloway family, to apologise to my own family,” he said, adding that he is now a Christian. “I am no longer that person I was back then.”

Joran van der Sloot in June 2023 (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Dave Holloway, Natalee’s father, called van der Sloot “evil personified” in a statement issued after the sentencing hearing.

He said that after witnessing the confession, he believes van der Sloot worked alone in killing his daughter but that he suspects others may have helped dispose of the body or covered up the crime. Natalee’s body was never found during land and sea searches.

Beth Holloway said she recognized her feisty daughter in van der Sloot’s description of her kneeing him between legs when he refused to stop his sexual advances.

“Yes, I said, ‘That’s her,’” Beth Holloway recalled with a brief smile. “She fought like hell. I think she fought like hell with her killer. She stood her ground.”

“After 18 years, Natalee’s case is solved,” Beth Holloway said with a smile shortly after the hearing ended. “It’s over. Joran van der Sloot is no longer a suspect in my daughter’s murder. He is the killer.”