Joran van der Sloot made ‘pathetic’ apology after confessing to Natalee Holloway’s murder

Netflix’s new true crime documentary Taken: Natalee Holloway covered Joran van der Sloot’s trial and confession, but missed out the “pathetic” apology he made in court.

The now 39-year-old confessed to her murder in 2023 as part of a plea deal in relation to separate wire fraud and extortion charges. 18‑year‑old Natalee disappeared while on a high school graduation trip to Aruba on 30th May, 2005, and her body has never been found. 

In his confession, Van der Sloot admitted to taking Natalie to the beach and “feeling her up” when she told him she didn’t want to. He claimed she then kneed him in the crotch, so he kicked her in the face and then “smashed her head with a cinder block” before dumping her dead body in the ocean. 

Credit: Netflix

After making his confession, Van der Sloot made a short apology to the Holloway family. He said: “I would like to apologise to the Holloway family. I am no longer that person back then than I am today. I gave my heart to Jesus Christ, he helped me through all of this.”

However, the Holloways didn’t believe that he was truly sorry. Natalee’s half-sister Kaitlyn told Inside Edition: “I thought his apology was absolutely pathetic, I don’t think it was sincere at all.”

She added: “I saw the monster who ruined our family, it really did make me sick inside and I just couldn’t quit just giving him a death glare.”

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Natalee’s brother Matt told Court TV he didn’t believe the apology because Joran has “been such a liar his whole life”. 

Credit: Netflix

“I personally didn’t [believe it],” he said. “He’s been such a liar his whole life – that’s what he is, a psychopathic liar, so I take it lightly.”

“I mean, I believe his confession – that’s what we’ve been waiting for for so long: for him to admit that,” Matt continued. “And he forgot about one thing — and that was me,” Matt warned. “So he will be seeing me again when he thinks he’s a free man.”

In his statement, Natalee’s dad Dave agreed: “Despite everything he has done to us, he is not sorry for what he did. He expressed no remorse, regret, or even compassion. He is evil personified.”

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