What we know about Paul van der Sloot’s sudden death, five years after Natalee disappeared

Taken: Natalee Holloway puts a lot of focus on Joran van der Sloot’s father, Paul, but completely missed out the fact that he died suddenly from a heart attack before his son went to jail. 

After 18-year-old Natalee, from Mountain Brook, Alabama, went missing in Aruba on 30th May, 2005, attention turned to Paul as people speculated he had helped his son. He worked as a lawyer and was training to become a judge at the time of Natalee’s disappearance.

Paul was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway towards the start of the investigation, in June 2005, and held in custody for questioning for 48 hours. However, he was released with no charges and later given compensation for his wrongful detention.

Less than five years later, Paul passed away. 

Credit: Netflix

Paul van der Sloot died from a heart attack in 2010

Paul van der Sloot had a heart attack while playing tennis in Aruba on 10th February 2010, aged 57. He suddenly collapsed on the court and was taken to hospital by emergency services, where he was pronounced dead. 

Joran van der Sloot said it was all ‘his fault’ 

In a June 2010 interview with Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Anita van der Sloot claimed their son was deeply affected by his father’s death and cried for two days. 

She also claimed that he blamed himself for what had happened, saying: “Two days Joran cried. He even hung over the coffin, sobbing. ‘It’s my fault, Dad’, he said. ‘I have caused your heart attack’.”

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After his father’s death, Joran moved in with his mother in Aruba. One day, he suddenly left home, and Anita found a note saying: “I’m gone, do not worry.” He had flown to Peru, where he killed Stephany Flores Ramírez.

Joran met her at a casino in Lima on 30th May 2010. They left the casino together and went to his hotel room at Hotel Tac, where Van der Sloot beat her to death. 

Credit: Netflix

Anita van der Sloot called Joran ‘sick in his head’

When Joran was arrested for Ramírez’s murder, her opinion of him suddenly changed. She refused to visit him in his cell and told De Telegraaf: “Joran is sick in his head, but he wanted no help.”

“If he did this, he must bear the consequences. I can not embrace him,” Anita continued. “I felt he had nothing to do with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in 2005. He had left her on the beach. I still believe that. Stephany, he may have killed.”

She claimed her son had developed severe mental problems and “his departure to Peru was a flight to escape being committed to a clinic”. 

His mother added: “He was a sweet boy who loved animals and his grandmother. Funny, open. He has gradually lost its way. It was insidious.”

“I can’t cry for Joran like I did for Paul.”

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