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Natalee Holloway killer Joran van der Sloot attacked in a Peruvian jail: ‘A lot of people want him dead’
Natalee Holloway killer Joran van der Sloot was injured in a violent brawl inside a Peruvian prison where he is serving a 28-year sentence for murder.
The 36-year-old was attacked by two inmates while in a common area of notorious Challapalca Prison, where the country’s most dangerous inmates are held, last week.
When other inmates joined the fracas, guards stepped in and separated the men.
Although van der Sloot suffered only bruises and lacerations, he was checked out by medical personnel before being released back into general population.
A spokesperson for Peru’s National Penitentiary Institute (NPI) would not confirm specific details of the attack, but tells The Post high profile inmates like van der Sloot are seen as vulnerable in prison.
The spokesperson also confirmed he will not face disciplinary action as he didn’t instigate the fight.
Dutch national Van der Sloot is in prison for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, business student Stefany Flores Ramirez, 21, in 2010.
It’s unclear if the men attacked van der Sloot because of a jailhouse beef, or because his victim was the daughter of Ricardo Flores, a popular entertainment impresario and former president of the Peruvian Auto Club.
“A lot of people want him dead,” admitted the NPI official.
Those who have found themselves in a lockup with van der Sloot say he bullies other inmates and often instigates arguments and fights.
“Arrogant, cocky, just a total douchebag,” says Emil Quiñones, who served time with van der Sloot when he was extradited to the US to face extortion charges related to Holloway’s family last year. “He walks around jail like he’s the boss. Demands what he wants, treats other guys like s—t. He made a lot of enemies because he’s such an a—hole.”
“He’s always been combative,” adds his childhood friend, Cas Arends. “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.”
After his transfer to notoriously overcrowded Challapalca, in a remote part of the Andes, van der Sloot somehow got a bunk, while other new prisoners were sleeping on mattresses on the floor.
“He’s connected,” says a Challapalca administrator, adding that officials don’t get involved in bunk selection unless violence erupts.
Van der Sloot was just 17 in 2005 when Holloway, then 18, vanished while on a class trip to the island of Aruba.
In 2023 he finally confessed to her murder as part of a plea deal in his extortion case.
He has not been charged with her murder because the statute of limitations on Aruba is 12 years.
The last person to see Holloway alive, van der Sloot often gave conflicting stories about her disappearance.
In 2010, he sent emails to John Q. Kelly, an attorney for the Holloway family.
In the emails, previously obtained by The Post, he demanded $250,000 in return for information about Natalee’s death and disappearance.
In the 2010 emails, van der Sloot said he was undergoing intensive treatment for “sociopathic tendencies” at the insistence of his father.
The family gave van der Sloot a $25,000 down payment.
In return van der Sloot gave them false information about the whereabouts of Natalee’s body, which has never been recovered.
With the money he received in 2010, van der Sloot went to Lima, Peru.
When 21-year-old business student Stephany Flores Ramirez confronted him about his involvement in the Holloway case, he beat, choked, and smothered her to death in a bloody attack.
In 2021, he was convicted of selling drugs in prison, and another 18 years were added to his sentence.
He is sentenced for release in 2045 due to a Peruvian law prohibiting prison sentences from exceeding 35 years if the prisoner has not been sentenced to life.
If van der Sloot gets out early — which is unlikely — he will be returned to the U.S. to serve the balance of a 20-year sentence for extorting Holloway’s family.
An attorney for van der Sloot did not return The Post’s request for comment.
“I don’t think he’ll ever get out alive,” says Quiñones. “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.”
