Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch national, who killed Natalee Hollay, 18, of Alabama, during her high school trip to Aruba in 2005 as a senior, was beaten in a Peruvian prison where he had previously boasted about conjugal visits with several women.
The 36-year-old murderer has been imprisoned in Peru since 2010 for the death of Stephany Fernandez, the daughter of a Peruvian magnate whom he murdered in his father’s gambling hall five years after Holloway was killed.
According to The New York Post which reported the incident first, the motive for the attack was unclear. Two inmates had jumped him before guards intervened in the prison’s common area. He was treated for bruises and cuts by medics, who then returned him to the general population.
Maximo Alted, Van der Sloot’s Lima-based lawyer, has slammed the claims.
He said, “He is fine, it’s fake news.”
Altez complained to prison officials that they had restricted his communication with his client.
The authorities did not respond immediately to a comment request.
The Post was told by a spokesperson for the national prison that “Many people want him dead.”
A former inmate who served time with van der Sloot in Alabama during his brief imprisonment last year said that the killer is an arrogant, “douchebag.”
Emil Quinones, a reporter for the newspaper, said: “He treats the other guys like —-. He walks around the jail like he is the boss. He demands what he wants. He made many enemies because he is such an a**hole.”
Van der Sloot, who is currently serving time at Challapalca Prison in Peru, has previously stated that he dislikes the prison so much that he would be willing to speak to U.S. prosecutors about federal extortion allegations against him.
Quinones, a Post reporter, said that Quinones’ attitude didn’t seem to help.
He said, “I don’t think he will ever make it out alive.” “I think he enjoys prison, and that’s all he knows.” He will either commit another crime to remain in prison, or someone will kill him. I don’t even know if he cares.”
Van der Sloot admitted to the murder of Holloway in Aruba with a cinderblock in October as part of an extortion case and fraud in which he attempted to extort $250,000.
He is currently serving his sentence in Peru under an international plea agreement. The U.S. charges against him for extorting Holloway’s mother were dropped.
Van der Sloot is adamant that Challapalca is “hell,” according to Altez, his lawyer. It is well-known that the prison’s temperatures are below freezing every night and it is so far away from cell service, that there is no cell coverage.
Altez, a lawyer for Altez, told Reuters in 2014 that his client was stabbed at least three times while in prison. This occurred months after he had been transferred there due to his unruly behavior. Officials told the outlet, however, that the wounds appeared to be self-inflicted.
Van der Sloot’s Peruvian sentence was previously extended following a scandal involving drug and cellphone smuggling.
Aruba authorities are open to the possibility of prosecuting Holloway there even though the statute has expired for Holloway’s death.
