EXCLUSIVE: Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway, has “fans” worldwide who send him an average of $400 per month, according to his Peruvian lawyer.
Van der Sloot is the prime suspect in Natalee Holloway’s disappearance during her senior class trip to Aruba in May 2005 with Mountain Brook High School of Alabama.
He’s facing charges of wire fraud and extortion in the United States after allegedly trying to sell Beth Holloway, Natalee’s mother, information on where her daughter’s body was located. The Peruvian government ruled earlier in May that he would be temporarily extradited to face trial in the U.S.
Federal prosecutors say van der Sloot asked for $250,000 — $25,000 up front for the information and the rest being paid out when the body of Natalee Holloway was positively identified.
“All his fans from all over the world sent letters to Joran. I rented him a P.O. Box to receive them. Some letters brought 10 euros, 20 euros, 5 dollars. They were girls who wrote and sent him letters with money, and he answered them all,” Altez said.
Altez added that van der Sloot receives around $400 per month.
Bryan Kohberger, who is charged with the murder of four University of Idaho students, also receives love letters from people around the country.
Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for his arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court May 22, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. (Zach Wilkinson/Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP)
One Facebook user claims to be a single mother from Kentucky and has sent dozens of love letters to Kohberger, saying the suspect is her “divine masculine counterpart.”
“I mean, he’s been getting fan mail since the first day he went to jail,” Kerri Rawson told Fox News Digital. “And he’s got quite a large bank account. I mean, it’s probably a couple thousand dollars last I knew.”
Rawson said she’s seeing that some women are “obsessed” with hardened criminals such as her dad.
“He gets these women all caught up in his life. And when you’re in prison, it’s not like you can approach somebody. They have to approach you. So these women are willingly coming to my father, you know, visiting him,” Rawson said.
Beth Holloway fights back tears as she participates in the launch of the Natalee Holloway Resource Center June 8, 2010, in Washington, D.C. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
“I was blessed to have had Natalee in my life for 18 years, and as of this month, I have been without her for exactly 18 years. She would be 36 years old now. It has been a very long and painful journey, but the persistence of many is going to pay off. Together, we are finally getting justice for Natalee.”
— Beth Holloway
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.