‘Arrogant, aggressive’: What Joran van der Sloot is really like, by people who know him

Prior to Taken: Natalee Holloway being released on Netflix, you might not have known the name Joran van der Sloot. The three-part series dives into the case of her disappearance and how, despite having confessed to her murder, Joran van der Sloot has never been prosecuted. 

18-year-old student Natalee Holloway travelled to Aruba with 124 other students as part of a graduation trip, in May 2005. She vanished on the final day of the trip. The last time she ever seen, Natalee was driving off in a grey Honda with a then 17-year-old Joran van der Sloot, and brothers Satish and Deepak Kalpoe.  

Joran van der Sloot was arrested a number of times over what happened, and even confessed to her murder, but was never convicted. In 2010, 21-year-old business student Stephany Flores Ramírez was found dead in a hotel room registered to van der Sloot. In 2012 he pleaded guilty to Ramírez’s death, and was sentenced to 28 years in prison. He is currently housed at Challapalca prison, a notorious maximum-security facility in Peru. 

via Netflix

Joran van der Sloot is ‘arrogant’ and ‘aggressive’

Joran van der Sloot is currently living in a prison that often makes headlines for the conditions its prisoners are being housed in. It sounds as though he’s having a terrible time, and has made multiple enemies there. 

Emil Quiñones, who served time with van der Sloot, told NY Post he is “arrogant, cocky, just a total douchebag.” He added: “He walks around jail like he’s the boss. Demands what he wants, treats other guys like sh*t. He made a lot of enemies because he’s such an a hole.”

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He added: “I don’t think he’ll ever get out alive. All he really knows is prison and I think he likes it. He’ll either reoffend to stay in jail, or he’ll be killed by someone. I don’t know if he even cares one way or the other.”

A childhood friend of van der Sloot, called Cas Arends, said: “He’s always been combative. He has no trouble spouting off and getting in someone’s face. He’s just an aggressive person, always has been. He can hold his own.”

via Netflix

An administrator at the prison where van der Sloot is being held described the prisoner as a “connected” man with another official saying that his personality has meant “a lot of people want him dead”. 

While in jail, Joran van der Sloot has complained of getting death threats from other inmates, and there was an incident in which he was attacked by two prisoners. He is said to have sustained several bruises and lacerations.

In August of 2026, van der Sloot requested he be moved to another prison. He claimed he was subjected to “psychological torture almost daily.”

Taken: Natalee Holloway is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.