Settlement on the table in the Holloway case: 'Deal Joran van der Sloot for confession'
JOHN VAN DEN HEUVEL

Modified: 3 min ago1 hour ag oin THE INTERIOR

BIRMINGHAM - Justice in the American state of Alabama is conducting secret negotiations with the lawyers of Joran van der Sloot about a deal. This has been confirmed by sources close to the investigation. Deployment of the so-called plea deal is a full confession by Van der Sloot of what he did with Natalee Holloway in 2005 and of the extortion of her family in 2010.

The Dutchman who was handed over to the US by Peru in June would – if the deal is finalized – receive a lesser sentence in exchange for a confession. There will be no jury trial.

Part of the agreement is that Van der Sloot undergoes a lie detector test. The results of such a test do not constitute legal evidence, but according to the Public Prosecution Service in Alabama, they do give an indication of the truthfulness of Van der Sloot's statements and possible confession.

It is much more common in the American legal system for the prosecution to make a deal with suspects. This is usually done to avoid a time-consuming and costly jury trial. In the case of Van der Sloot, the aim of his lawyers is that he will receive a maximum of twenty years in prison in exchange for a confession, which partly parallels the sentence that Van der Sloot still has to serve in Peru. In that country, Van der Sloot received 28 years in prison for the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores. Later, another sentence was added for cocaine trafficking from prison.

In Peru, Van der Sloot must remain behind bars until 2045. If the deal with the American judiciary fails, a jury trial will follow this fall. After the trial, Van der Sloot then has to go to prison in Peru to return to the US in 2045 to serve his American sentence.