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Nancy Grace

Peru Files Murder One Charges on Van Der Sloot

Aired June 11, 2010 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight in the disappearance of Alabama beauty Natalee Holloway, missing off her high school senior trip, Aruba. Aruban police refuse to make a case against judge`s son Joran Van Der Sloot even after he describes Natalee`s death repeatedly, even admitting he hid the body, never to be found.

Tonight, live, Peru. Van Der Sloot kills again. Another young girl, just 21, meets Van Der Sloot at a resort casino, found dead just hours later, brutally beaten, bloody, her neck cracked, broken, partially clothed, on the floor of Van Der Sloot`s hotel room. Van Der Sloot goes on the run, crossing the border to Chile, changing his appearance to hide out. After a massive manhunt, Van Der Sloot captured, so reviled he`s strapped in a bulletproof vest to protect him.

As we obtain spine-chilling surveillance video of Van Der Sloot with 21-year-old Stephany Tatiana just before she`s found dead, bloody clothes from the murder found with Van Der Sloot on the run. U.S. Feds busting Van Der Sloot on a quarter-million-dollar scam, trying to sell the location of Natalee`s body. Killing machine Van Der Sloot confesses to the murder of Stephany and divulges motive, that she discovers he killed Natalee.

Bombshell tonight. Just released, we obtain casino video of Van Der Sloot and Stephany meeting, talking, playing cards, leaving together. We learn after beating her to a pulp and breaking her neck, Van Der Sloot kicks back with a cup of coffee and Danish just feet from Stephany dead on the floor. We learn he schemes to hide her body in a suitcase and throw it in the water.

And is Van Der Sloot now connected to two more missing girls, Bogota? After report circulate that Natalee`s skull that Natalee`s skull emerge, as details of Van Der Sloot`s blackmail plot emerge and authorities from Aruba head to Peru, has he admitted his own father, Judge Paulus Van Der Sloot, helped hide Natalee`s body? And is he set from behind the walls of a Peruvian jailhouse to confess to the murder of Natalee Holloway?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... Joran Van Der Sloot. He is now formally charged with murdering -- murdering, that is -- 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez in that hotel room in Lima, Peru.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police in Peru say that he told them he knows the location of Holloway`s body but will only talk to Aruban authorities.

GRACE: ... Alabama beauty Natalee Holloway missing off her high school senior trip...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peruvian media are speculating Flores killing was premeditated because it happened on the fifth anniversary of Natalee Holloway`s disappearance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... was Flores`s in the Natalee Holloway case that set him off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Peruvian authorities are working very closely with the Aruban prosecutors to help them determine what kind of information was on that laptop taken from the crime scene.

GRACE: Aruba police refuse to make a case against the judge`s son Joran Van Der Sloot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Did you try to resuscitate her?

JORAN VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): I tried everything. I even lifted her up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... even after high-tech surveillance catches him describing Natalee`s death repeatedly...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He never want to take responsibility for what he`s done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He does have a bargaining chip. I mean, the Holloway family desperately wants to know what precisely happened to the daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He did that with Natalee. He said it was her coming on to him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, allegedly, that laptop had information possibly about Natalee Holloway.

GRACE: Suddenly, Aruba says it may start additional searches for Natalee Holloway`s body. I`ll believe it when I see it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. After reports circulate that Natalee`s skull discovered, as details of Van Der Sloot`s blackmail plot emerge and Aruban authorities head to Peru, has Van Der Sloot admitted his own father, Judge Paulus Van Der Sloot, helped hide Natalee`s body? And is he set from behind the walls of a Peruvian jailhouse to confess to the murder of Natalee Holloway?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s facing new murder charges, and now Joran Van Der Sloot may finally be ready to come clean about Natalee Holloway.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: During the interrogation, Joran Van Der Sloot said the following. He said that he knew where the remains of Natalee Holloway were, but he would only tell Aruban authorities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After so many years of investigators wanting information from him, now it appears he`s giving up a lot of information.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Playboy suspect Joran Van Der Sloot twice, arrested in connection with the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway...

GRACE: ... U.S. feds busting Van Der Sloot...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... efforts by Van Der Sloot to extort $250,000 for information about the location of Natalee Holloway`s remains...

GRACE: ... another young girl, just 21, meets Van Der Sloot at a resort casino.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... confessed to the killing of 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... Stephany Flores...

GRACE: ... brutally beaten...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... had learned that he was implicated at one point in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.

GRACE: Van Der Sloot kills again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody who reportedly has lied time and time again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... $250,000 total...

GRACE: ... a quarter-million-dollar scam...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Van Der Sloot indicated a house where Holloway`s remains supposedly were located.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): How do you know she`s dead, Joran?

VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): I just know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He received a payment of $10,000 followed by a wire transfer of $15,000 to his account in the Netherlands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Van Der Sloot then showed investigators a house where he said Holloway`s remains were.

GRACE: By his own admission to authorities, Joran Van Der Sloot, the last one to be with her there on the beach. Now you`ve got Aruba claiming they`re going to reignite the search for Natalee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session," standing by outside of the Justice Palace, Lima, Peru. Jean, what`s the latest?

JEAN CASAREZ, "IN SESSION": Nancy, this is now a first-degree murder case. Prosecutors have filed formal charges saying that Van Der Sloot killed Stephany Flores during the commission of a robbery. They cite aggravating factors under Peruvian law, that he did it ferociously and that he also did it with great cruelty.

Joran Van Der Sloot was taken from prosecutor`s office to Justice Palace, which is behind my left shoulder here, and that is where a judge ordered that he would go to Castro Castro. It is one of the maximum security facilities in Peru. It is located in this area. This is where he will stay as this legal case goes forward to trial.

GRACE: Jean Casarez live in Lima. Jean, what more can you tell me?

CASAREZ: Well, these criminal charges are called enhanced murder charges, versus a simple murder charge. An enhanced murder charge under the Lima penal code -- and I`ve looked at it -- the law`s a little vague. It says that he can serve no less than 15 years but does not cite a maximum. Now, in talking with attorneys, I understand that in actuality, this could be a life term with these aggravating circumstances. But under the constitution of Peru, it`s not a life term, that the maximum is 35 years. So it ends up being in the hands of a judge. And normally, a judge does not sentence someone to life in prison. It is a very rare thing.

GRACE: Jean, what does all of this mean?

CASAREZ: Well, he`ll stay at Castro Castro. It`ll be a very slow process. Initially, we thought that it was a confession that would lead to a guilty plea. That would expedite the process.

But now, with his attorney saying that, We`re going to trial, and we are going try to suppress much of the evidence in this case, it will probably take its toll. But Joran Van Der Sloot will stay in this facility that houses those that have already been convicted -- some are violent felons -- and those that are awaiting trial.

GRACE: Out to you, Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer on the story. What can you tell me?

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, the big other bombshell that we`re learning from police is that Joran Van Der Sloot reportedly told them that he would divulge the location of Natalee Holloway`s body, but he would only tell it to the Aruban officials. So now he`s saying he does know where Natalee`s body is buried.

Remember, he`s said this before, and it`s all turned out to be false information. So this is a possible light at the end of the tunnel, him now saying he knows where Natalee`s body is, according to police.

GRACE: Ellie, what do you make of it?

JOSTAD: You`ll remember he`s actually confessed before at least three times. In that federal complaint for the extortion case, he told Natalee`s mother`s attorney that Natalee`s body was buried under the foundation of a house. That turned out not to be true. He also said in a secret hidden camera confession, or alleged confession, that her body was dumped at sea. He later retracted that. He also was paid to tell a Dutch reality TV personality what really happened. That time he said, her body was dumped in a swamp.

All of those things have not panned out. No evidence suggesting anything he`s said so far is true.

GRACE: Jean Casarez live in Lima. Jean, what more can you tell me?

CASAREZ: Well, some interesting facts. First of all, authorities said there was a tennis racket found in the room. But now even more questions because we were told in an interview with Peruvian national police, the head of homicide, that that tennis racket was sent to their forensic unit and no blood was found on that tennis racket at all. They also confirmed with us the cups of coffee we`ve heard about. There were two cups of coffee in the room, and they were filled with a coffee beverage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETH TWITTY, NATALEE`S MOTHER: It`s just despicable what he has done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s a very, very dangerous man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will justice finally prevail?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... vanished during a trip to Aruba back in 2005.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It could be that the anniversary of Natalee`s disappearance might have triggered rage about what`s happened to his life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... new details of Joran Van Der Sloot`s confession.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... a confessed killer...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... a very dramatic confession here in Lima, Peru.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... story is causing a great deal of a stir here in Aruba...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joran Van Der Sloot is a confessed killer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... broke down in tears when he made the dramatic confession to Peruvian authorities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... intense, 10-hour-long interrogation...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has lawyered up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The well has run dry. He`s not going to be talking about too much about anything from here on out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s already confessed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has a local Lima private attorney.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a little late for his lawyer to tell him not to cooperate, since he`s already given a damning confession.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators says Van Der Sloot told them it was Flores`s interest in the Natalee Holloway case that set him off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This guy lies -- lies, lies, lies!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight back to Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, "In Session," joining us in Lima, Peru, outside the Lima Justice Palace. You know, the whole incident, the murder in Peru, has ignited interest, and apparently, more efforts into the case of Natalee Holloway`s murder. But overshadowing that right now is the extortion plot. He`s been busted by the feds for trying to run a $250,000 scam on Natalee`s mother in exchange for the location of Natalee`s body.

What do we know? Now tonight, in the last hours, more details have emerged about the extortion plot, Jean.

CASAREZ: Well, you know what we`re learning -- and we learned this here in Lima, Peru, because of an Interpol international policing report that came to authorities here. We were able to receive it, and it says a lot more than the federal complaint in the United States because what it says is that this was a scheme that was hatched by Joran Van Der Sloot himself, that he met with a representative of the family, demanded $10,000 in cash. He got it. Subsequent to that, $15,000 was wired to him.

The total was to be $250,000, but apparently, before he got all the money, he said where the body was. He said Natalee`s body was part of the structure foundation or buried beneath a home that was being built at the time in Aruba. Well, they looked at the dates and they found out that the dates just didn`t match. And according to the Interpol document, he was confronted on that and he said, You know what? I lied. It`s not the truth.

GRACE: To Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer on the story. Ellie, it`s a very detailed plot. And the feds went -- they bent over backwards to nail Joran Van Der Sloot. He is on audio recording. He is on video recording. He is signing documents. The parties are taking pictures of each other as they`re signing these extortion documents.

Break it down for me. You know, a lot of people, Ellie -- and I don`t agree with it -- are attacking the feds for not swooping and arresting him immediately on the extortion once he takes that $10,000. But Ellie, isn`t it true that the U.S. feds thought they may be able to make a murder case in the Natalee Holloway case, and that`s what they were holding out for? How were they supposed to know he was going to go murder Stephany Tatiana?

JOSTAD: Well, right, Nancy. There are reports out there from FBI sources that what they were trying to do was find the location of Natalee Holloway`s body. Now, the way that this all went down is that a person connected to Beth Holloway, Natalee`s mother, was contacted by e-mail by Joran Van Der Sloot. He said in exchange for $250,000, he would give them the location of Natalee`s body and tell them how he (SIC) died.

However, the story he told -- and he says that when he and Natalee were together, he tried to leave, she stopped him. He pushed her down. She hit her head on a rock and died. He claims that he then went home, told his father what happened, and that his father attempted to hide the body in the foundation of this house.

Now, they were able to determine through aerial photographs, building report -- or building permits, rather, and also an interview with a contractor that built the house that there was no way what he said could be true. He later, when confronted with that information, admitted this was just another version that he`s given and that it wasn`t the case.

GRACE: Out to the lines. Renee in New York. Hi, Renee.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. How are you, Nancy?

GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good. Well, I was thinking that since they were playing poker together at the casino, that his real motive was to steal her money, and that it just seems so odd to me about the concocted story about the computer. And I`m sure when they do computer forensics, they may find out exactly. And like you said, you know, he`s so big, and I think she caught him in the act and that`s how it started. And one other thing. Thank God for surveillance cameras.

GRACE: To Jean Casarez joining us there in Lima, Peru, outside the Lima Justice Palace. What do you make of the caller`s scenario?

CASAREZ: Well, the attorney, the private attorney that Joran Van Der Sloot has now -- we spoke with him today. But last night, he did a telephone interview with San Americano (ph), which is a local affiliate. It was interesting, one of the things he said on that broadcast, he said that it was actually Stephany that borrowed money from Joran that night at the poker game. And that told me a lot of what the attorney believes the charges could be in this case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 18-year-old was last seen in public leaving a bar with Van Der Sloot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... Joran Van Der Sloot, twice arrested in connect with the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway...

GRACE: Five years later...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... lies...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no decency in him at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s been five years, and ironically, five years to the day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... a homicidal maniac...

TWITTY: I fully believe that he knows exactly where Natalee`s body is.

Totally, totally dragged us all through hell with him, this Joran Van Der Sloot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Tonight, we have traced Joran Van Der Sloot`s travels. This as reports emerge that he is possibly connected to the disappearance of two young girls out of casinos in Bogota, Colombia. To Clark Goldband, our producer there at the Telestrator. Clark, what can you tell me? Where has he been? And I wonder how many girls are missing from those locations.

CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, our team has traced his travels to the best of our knowledge, and here`s what I can tell you. We believe Van Der Sloot arrives in Aruba in February, after his dad passes away, stays there about three months, until the middle of May, May 13th to be exact.

Then there is a layover flight in Colombia. We`ve heard a lot about two girls that have vanished there in Colombia. May 13th was the day Van Der Sloot was there. We`ve learned from authorities he may not have left the airport. And to put this in some more perspective, it`s about 600 miles from that airport in Aruba to the airport there in Colombia. From there, it`s about another 1,200 miles all the way down to Lima, Peru.

And if we can go back to the last screen for just one more moment, you`ll also see some more travels of Van Der Sloot. He traveled all the way down to Chile. That was, of course, May 31st, when he was taken in and brought back to Peru.

GRACE: I want to go back out to the lines. We`re about to head out to Linda Allison. This is Natalee`s aunt. To Joann, Canada. Hi, Joann.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Love your show.

GRACE: Thank you, dear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was wondering, since the jails in Peru are so bad, could he confess to Natalee`s murder and end up in Aruba first?

GRACE: Now, that`s an interesting theory. Let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining us out of Long Island, international lawyer, criminal defense attorney Michael Griffith, Eleanor Odom, prosecutor, Atlanta, Peter Odom, Atlanta, Renee Rockwell, defense attorney, Atlanta.

What about it, Michael Griffith?

MICHAEL GRIFFITH, INTERNATIONAL ATTORNEY (via telephone): What did she say, Nancy? I couldn`t hear her.

GRACE: She wanted to know, would he confess to Natalee`s murder in order to get out of the horrible jails in Peru and back home to Aruba, where they`ll probably let him escape.

GRIFFITH: No. Absolutely not, Nancy. As a matter of fact, the way they handle this thing is, every U.S. embassy -- I`ve been in Peru -- has got a Department of Justice office and a legal attache. The United States works very closely with the Peruvians. What we should be doing through our contacts is to tell -- to tell this man through the Peruvians that if he gives up where Natalee Holloway is, OK, when he finally gets extradited back to the U.S. after he serves his time, that we may not -- we may not bring up murder charges against him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did you kill Stephany? Are you innocent?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why you kill her?

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Another young girl meets Van Der Sloot at a resort casino just like Holloway. Five years to the day that Natalee Holloway is reported missing.

BETH TWITTY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY`S MOTHER: My journey for justice has not ended.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Van Der Sloot was never charged in the case.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Efforts by Van Der Sloot to extort $250,000 for information about the location of Natalee Holloway`s remains.

PAT LALAMA, GUEST HOST: It`s revealed that $25,000 Van Der Sloot scams in exchange for the location of Natalee Holloway`s body may have funded his trip to Peru to allegedly kill all over again.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: $250,000 total.

GRACE: A quarter of a million dollar scam.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Van Der Sloot indicated a house where Holloway`s remains supposedly were located.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The FBI made an initial payment of $10,000, then a transfer of $15,000 to a personal bank account in the Netherlands.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Another angle of this case. The FBI now denying that it paid Van Der Sloot tens of thousands of dollars as part of an extortion sting.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: He made arrangements to travel to Peru after he got the money.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Others are asking the question, why he wasn`t arrested?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We`ve got new documents that we have just gotten tonight. This details exactly what Joran Van Der Sloot said about the murder of Natalee Holloway. All of this is branching from his arrest in Peru.

Back to Ellie Jostad, I have this document right in front of me. We`ve all combed over it. Explain what we learned.

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Well, Nancy, we found out that through a series of e-mails, Joran Van Der Sloot demanded that Beth Holloway, Natalee`s mother, give him $250,000 if she wanted any information about how her daughter died and where she was buried.

So they set up this meeting down in Aruba. Beth Holloway actually wired the money to a contact of hers, $10,000. He took the money in hand, cash in hand, went to Aruba. Allegedly met with Joran Van Der Sloot. The FBI says they have that recorded.

They actually signed a contract saying that Joran Van Der Sloot would get that $10,000 in cash, another $25,000 wired to him by Beth Holloway. Then after the body was located, they confirmed it Natalee, they`d pay him the remainder $225,000.

GRACE: And Ellie, he did a backflip trying to make it all official, let me say.

JOSTAD: Right.

GRACE: He made them sign a contract.

JOSTAD: Mm-Hmm.

GRACE: What an idiot. A contract for blackmail, for extortion?

JOSTAD: Right.

GRACE: He made them sign a contract that they would pay him a quarter million dollars in exchange for the location of her body. Didn`t they take photos of each other signing the contract? What he didn`t know is that the FBI was surveilling the whole deal. Explain, Ellie.

JOSTAD: Right. Exactly. Well, the FBI was actually recording that meeting. At that meeting, Van Der Sloot allegedly signed this contract which had already been signed by Beth Holloway back in the U.S. I was signed by her. It was signed by this representative of him.

It was signed by Van Der Sloot. They actual signed two copies. Then Van Der Sloot and this representative for Beth Holloway took pictures of each other signing the document. And as you said, the whole thing being rolled on by the FBI at the time.

GRACE: Don`t you just love it when your client insists that the crime be reduced to writing, Peter Odom? And then get photos of himself signing the extortion document? And then trying to slough it off on his father -- Joran Van Der Sloot insisting his father, Judge Paul Van Der Sloot, buried Natalee`s body. Helped him cover up the crime. And it`s all on video, Peter Odom. Thoughts?

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, I`ve read the indictment. I`ve read the FBI`s affidavit. It`s not extortion. There might have been a fraud involved. He might have been trying to get money by telling them he knew where the boy was but -- when he didn`t know where the body was.

But that`s not extortion, that`s fraud. Extortion requires some kind of threat of force. And even the FBI`s own documents don`t claim any threat of force. This is just --

GRACE: OK.

P. ODOM: There`s a big target on his back.

GRACE: You know, I know that we went to different law schools, Peter Odom. But I assume --

P. ODOM: I`ve got the definition right here.

GRACE: -- you went to law school in the United States.

P. ODOM: At Pepperdine University.

GRACE: Eleanor Odom, there doesn`t have to be -- Eleanor Odom, there doesn`t have to be a threat of violence for extortion. You have to be trying to get money for an illegal purpose.

ELEANOR ODOM, PROSECUTOR: Exactly, Nancy. And I love the way the defense attorney has tried to twist this around. I`d like to go up against Peter Odom any day in court and beat him while I`m at it.

GRACE: Yes, where did you get that criminal code, Peter? Peru?

P. ODOM: I`m reading the definition from the Federal Code. I can read English.

GRACE: Demanding money for an illegal purpose --

P. ODOM: By threat of force. By threat of force.

GRACE: -- is extortion. There doesn`t have to be threat of force for extortion.

P. ODOM: Well, maybe we went to law schools where they use different definitions, Nancy.

GRACE: Eleanor --

P. ODOM: It says by robbery or force.

GRACE: Eleanor, explain, please.

E. ODOM: Well, exactly. He`s asking them to give him money for information. He`s extorting that money from them. He`s looking at 20 years on that and 30 on the wire fraud for a total of 50. And I can`t wait until the feds get a hold of him after his stint in Peru.

GRACE: Joining me right now, Linda Allison, this is Natalee Holloway aunt. She is joining us from Arizona.

Linda, thank you for being with us. What do you make of these recent developments? Well, they`re recent to us. I mean, Beth, Natalee`s mom, had known about it for a long time. But now allegations are flying that Stephany Tatiana`s death is because of this sting that the feds were doing.

I mean the feds were hoping they can make a murder case in Natalee`s case and prove this against Joran Van Der Sloot. They had no idea he would go kill Stephanie Tatiana. I really resent the feds being under attack in this case.

LINDA ALLISON, NATALEE HOLLOWAY`S AUNT (via phone): You`re absolutely right. I can not see that it would be the FBI`s fault that Joran Van Der Sloot went to Peru and murdered a young lady. It`s just a very unfortunate, unforeseeable event that took place in Peru, and I just really -- my heart still breaks for the Flores family.

And I -- if you really want to point fingers, let`s go back five years ago at the Carlos and Charlie`s Bar. They never should have served Joran Van Der Sloot any alcoholic beverages because he wasn`t 18 years old. He should have never been in the casino gambling because he wasn`t 18 years old.

GRACE: And I, still to this day, Linda Allison -- Linda joining us from Arkansas, this is Natalee`s aunt -- believe that he had all those special privileges. Everybody turned a blind eye because he was Judge Paulus Van Der Sloot`s son there in Aruba. And now we have Joran Van Der Sloot confessing that his father, the judge, hid Natalee`s body.

We are taking your calls as we go to break. Happy birthday to a special friend from Alabama, Harris Emerson. A Navy veteran. He met his wife, Doris, his wife of 62 years. And she immediately dropped her fiance, and a couple of months later, married him.

There he is pictured with our superstar, Dee Emerson, three children, eight grandchildren later. They`re still going strong. Here he is with beautiful Dee.

Happy 92nd birthday, Harris Emerson.

And happy 100th to Georgia friend Frank Brown. Love the Atlanta Braves, growing tomatoes, and southern cooking. He misses his wife, Vernelle, they were married 69 years. Three children, four grandchildren, eight great. Celebrating tonight.

Happy birthday, Frank.

And get well to California furry friend Ben. Adopted by animal lover Linda from Menlo. He loves sleeping on Linda`s bed and the New York Yankees.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Joran Van Der Sloot --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he is a very arrogant psychopath.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joran Van Der Sloot --

HOLLOWAY: (INAUDIBLE) and then killing.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Joran Van Der Sloot --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s got an account to settle.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The main suspect in the Natalee Holloway disappearance.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Admitting he lies to people.

JORAN VAN DER SLOOT, SUSPECT IN THE MURDER OF STEPHANY FLORES (Through Translator): I tried everything.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Van Der Sloot has said he sold her in the sex trade.

VAN DER SLOOT, (Through Translator): He didn`t say nothing. Nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were all, quote, "lies."

VAN DER SLOOT, (Through Translator): (EXPLETIVE DELETED) What is going on?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said he threw her in the ocean.

VAN DER SLOOT, (Through Translator): It was over.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Earlier we told you or Jean Casarez told you that Joran Van Der Sloot had actually divulged to Peruvian authorities behind jailhouse walls he knows where Natalee`s body is.

For those of you just joining us, back to Jean Casarez standing by Lima, Peru in front of the Lima Justice Palace.

Explain exactly what we know, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Well, Nancy, my producer has been meeting with Peruvian police tonight. And we can confirm with you that during part of this interrogation, the Natalee Holloway case was brought up in the fact that we now are learning that Joran Van Der Sloot said that he knows where the body of Natalee Holloway is, but he would not go into any more details.

GRACE: You know, Jean Casarez, I`m just wondering what Aruba is going to do with that information.

But to you, Dr. Bethany Marshall, so he tells the Peruvians that. He won`t tell where the body is. Them and who else? They might as well get in line. He`s told everybody that he thinks will help him with. He knows where the body is.

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": Joran always knows. You know this whole extortion thing, he is so arrogant and so grandiose and so fond of power that he believed he could have this kind of power over Beth Twitty.

I wouldn`t be surprised to learn that he feels he has power over the people who have him in captivity and he`ll just spin one yarn after another to amuse them because that is his style.

He loves to tell stories to amuse other people. And don`t forget, he was paid to tell some of those stories. And now he felt that he could get Beth Twitty to pay him to disclose where Natalee was buried, and so he has escalated in the nature of his crimes just like the first murder. The second murder was an escalation, perhaps, in violence of the first murder.

GRACE: To Renee Rockwell, what about it? Will it benefit him in any way in Peru to throw out another location of Natalee`s body?

RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Only with some agreement, Nancy. And I would imagine that consent would have to come from the family of Stephany for any consideration to be given with that information on Natalee`s body.

GRACE: Out to the lines, Kathy in Florida, hi, Kathy.

KATHY, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Hey there.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

KATHY: Got a question and a comment. Was there any of Stephany`s friends at the casino with her? And just an observation. When she comes in and walks up to the table, it`s as if she recognized him and out of curiosity, she wanted to sit down because she immediately introduces herself and him to her.

And then she looks over her left of her shoulder as if she`s got friends. Then he gets up momentarily, and she motions very quickly like, this is him or something like that. And as soon as he walks back again, she catches him out of the corner of her eye and stops. So --

GRACE: You know, Kathy, we`re showing that video right there. It`s my understanding she came to the casino with friends but they left. Is that right, Jean? Very familiar. Sound like the story with Natalee Holloway.

CASAREZ: Yes, that`s exactly right. She dropped her friends off. She came to the casino. If you really watch that casino video, she walks - - she`s trying to look at what table she`ll go to. She looks at the other table.

GRACE: You`re right, Jean. We`re showing that right now. So the friends were not there at that time. She must have been waving at someone to get a soda or a drink.

I want to go to Dr. Marty Makary, physician and professor of public health, Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Marty, again, thank you for being with us. Reports were rampant like wild fire after all of this by Joran Van Der Sloot that Natalee`s skull have been discovered. At this juncture five years later, would it be intact?

DR. MARTY MAKARY, PHYSICIAN, PROF. OF PUBLIC HEALTH, JOHNS HOPKINS: Most likely the skull would be intact. And that would be sort of a treasure trove of DNA evidence and evidence that there may have been a hard impact, a trauma, and potentially even a drowning. So that could contribute to the mechanism of death in this case.

Mr. Van Der Sloot is going through his own little experience with the medical profession. He`s getting a full medical examination. His skin and his entire external body is being reviewed and doctors there are looking for fingernail marks. They`re looking for bruises, grips, bite marks, anything that could indicate a struggle.

GRACE: Andrew J. Scott, former chief of police, Boca Raton, vice president, Scott-Roberts Associates, joining us tonight out of Miami.

Andrew, again, it`s great to have you with us. You know the FBI is saying it hadn`t fully developed its extortion case against Joran Van Der Sloot. But they`ve got him on tape. They`ve got him on photo. They`ve got him signing a document for extortion. And a payment had been made and accepted.

What do you think? Do you really believe they were trying to make a murder case? I do.

ANDREW J. SCOTT, FMR. CHIEF OF POLICE, BOCA RATON, FL.; VP OF SCOTT- ROBERTS AN ASSOCIATES, LLC: You know, I agree with you, Nancy. I think the FBI was trying to be diligent on behalf of the family and to try to solve this case in Aruba. And it makes sense that they would let this happen.

But God knows they had no idea that he was going to do this and this was going to happen if Peru. But I think their tact was a smart one. Unfortunately, the court of public opinion is going to think otherwise, though.

GRACE: Everybody, as we go to break, we are taking your calls. But I want to wish a special happy birthday to my sister-in-law, Jan. She put herself through school, government her master`s degree while raising two little boys, Dan and Sam, spent a lifetime in education, touching the lives of more people than she will ever know.

There we are together in Times Square with my brother, Mac.

Jan, happy birthday.

And tonight, everyone, "CNN Heroes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN BURTON, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: I`m writing in regards to my parole plan. I`m 21 years old with two strikes. I`m scared to relapse again. I want to be a success story. Please hold (INAUDIBLE) for me.

We all leave prison saying I`m going to get my life on track. And you end up getting off a bus, downtown Los Angeles, Skid Row. People know who you are when you come off that bus, and you`re targeted.

Many times you don`t even make it out of the Skid Row area before you`re caught up into that cycle again.

My name is Susan Burton. After my son died, I used drugs. I just spiraled into a pit of darkness. I went to prison six times. Finally, I found rehab. And I thought I can help women come home from prison.

I pick them up, bring them back to the house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Miss Burton is like a mother to all of us. She offers you a warm bed, food. Like a real family.

BURTON: I want to you shine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She made me want to change my life.

Are you proud of me, Miss Burton?

BURTON: Sure. You came a long way.

I want the women to realize that they have something to contribute. This is giving life. That`s what it`s all about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories and, more important, the people who touched our lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did you kill Stephany? Are you innocent?

ROBERTS: Caught on tape.

GRACE: Spying, chilling surveillance video.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police released this hotel surveillance video.

ROBERTS: New surveillance video --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There`s Van Der Sloot and Flores together, going to his room.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The last time she was seen alive.

GRACE: Here he is leaving as cool as a cucumber. He says something like, "don`t bother my girl."

TWITTY: I wanted to come to the TV and then kill him, I mean, peel his skin off his face.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A very dramatic confession.

CHETRY: A confession this morning.

ROBERTS: A murder confession.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: His words were, "I did not want to do it."

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER, AUTHOR OF "KILLING FOR SPORT": This guys lies. Lies, lies, lies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The girl intruded into my private life."

CASAREZ: And that is the beginning of the end of Stephany Flores.

GRACE: The killing machine, judge`s son Joran Van Der Sloot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he`s a psycho.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He`s the only suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Murderer.

GRACE: Confesses to murder.

CASAREZ: Was it premeditated? Was it something that he planned ahead of time?

GRACE: And he divulges motive.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He found her looking at his computer. She was Googling and found his name and realized that he had been linked to the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hoody. Hoody-hoo Holloway.

NATALEE HOLLOWAY, MISSING TEEN FROM ALABAMA: Hi, friend.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you properly buckled? Oh, you`re not!

TWITTY: My journey for justice has not ended.

ROBERTS: Caught on tape. New surveillance video.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We have just received this video showing Joran Van Der Sloot at a casino with 21-year-old Stephany Flores Ramirez, just hours before she was killed.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Van Der Sloot has been moved out of a police compound.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A crush of media captured video of the transfer.

CASAREZ: He was transport this morning from the National Peruvian Police location.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Van Der Sloot`s attorney said he`s going to fight the confession.

CASAREZ: That it was not voluntary. This case is going to go to trial.

GRACE: I would be beeped if I said what I thought about that.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Authorities insist his confession was not coerced and Van Der Sloot was intelligent and described the brutal killing in detail.

GRACE: After beating her to a pulp.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need justice.

GRACE: And breaking her neck.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need justice. For our family.

GRACE: Van Der Sloot kicks back and sips a little coffee and eats Danish. Stephany, dead on the floor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need justice for Natalee`s family, too.

HOLLOWAY: I had the best time of my life.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Let`s stop and remember, Army Sergeant Robert Sanchez, 24, Satellite Beach, Florida, on a fifth tour. Also served Afghanistan. Fulfilled his dream of becoming an army ranger, awarded the Purple Heart, Ranger Tab, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal.

Loved skydiving. Leaves behind grieving parents Lindsay and Will, an Army 1st sergeant, grandparents James and Mary, brothers Jacob and Logan.

Robert Sanchez, American hero.

Thanks to you guests but our biggest is to you for being with us, and a special good night from the New York control room.

Good night, Brett, Rosie, Norm. And who`s hiding behind Rosie? There she is, Squeaky.

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END