Joran van der Sloot: Honest or not? - Renee Ellory

To see the latest opinions I have on the Joran Van der Sloot case, click here.

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Case Overview: Natalie Holloway “…disappeared on May 30, 2005 during a graduation trip in Aruba. Holloway remains officially missing to this day, although according to Aruban authorities, she is most likely dead.^[1] The disappearance generated a media sensation in both the U.S. and Aruba and sparked considerable interest in the Netherlands.” (Source: Wikipedia) One person of interest in the case is Joran Van der Sloot as he was the last person to see Natalee alive.

Video of Interview:
Part 1, Part 2

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I watched the interview with Chris Cuomo, and Joran Van der Sloot last night. I taped it, and went back this morning to write down the conversations in the areas that concerned me. I will share them with you.

The first thing I noticed was that Joran was very neutral. He was your classic neutral person in this interview. He didn’t show emotions, he didn’t get excited, he didn’t get angry–he just spoke monotone without emotions. Joran was a blank slate 99.9% of the time. However, when you look at other videos of Joran, he is not a blank slate. He expresses emotion. His face is expressive.

This raises a red flag for me immediately. Joran should be full of emotions. Anyone would be full of emotions being wrongly accused. However, if you are accused of something you did– you would have every reason to hide those emotions, wouldn’t you?

In looking at the Joran case, I will tell you that Joran is a difficult read. When someone doesn’t offer up emotions like Joran, and conceals them quite well, we are only left with one thing: the facts. Is what Joran saying logical? Does it fit? Is he answering questions like an honest man?

Joran did offer a few odd smirkish smiles at strange times. They weren’t in “contradiction” to what he was saying, but they were odd, and what I’d consider inappropriate in their timing. These raise more red flags, but by themselves they are not enough to say anything. I personally don’t think a normal person, who is innocent in his situation, would smirk, or smile when he did. However, this is not enough to form an opinion. It is just a clue to a bigger picture.

With all real life situations, when you add up the pieces of the puzzle, you get a picture. You will get a picture of the truth, or you will see a lie. I don’t think I’ve ever called out that I didn’t believe anyone without a mountain of clues. One thing may be odd, or out of character, but when multiple things rear their head, and create a pile of questions, you can’t deny the painting that stands before you.

Below I will review segments of the interview with you:
CC = Chris Cuomo
J= Joran

CC: Did you remember who initiated the kissing?
J: Ah…yeah. I did.

CC: Did you ever say that she was the one who started kissing you?

J: I don’t know. Maybe. I said a lot of things.

Now Joran can’t remember the lies he told? He knows the truth. He just doesn’t want to tell you. Often times, thought not always, when people say “maybe” they mean “yes”.
J: We were planning on going to my house…because she said she wanted to go to my house.
CC: What were your intentions in taking her to your house?

J: Um…my intentions to take her to the house were…yeah..um…to have sex with her.”

Did she want to go to Joran’s house — or did he want sex? Which is it?? I suspect it was the latter.
Chris Cuomo goes on to say that Joran has second thoughts. He decides not to take Natalee to his house because he says his father and brothers are sleeping. Then he says Natalee has an idea to go to the light house on the northeast coast to see sharks.
I find this very odd:

a) Most people don’t look for sharks in the dark. This isn’t logical. I don’t think Natalee said this.

b) Joran first wants to go to his house sometime after midnight, and then he decides not to because he realized his family is sleeping. I don’t believe this. It isn’t logical. It wasn’t like he was going to bring Natalee home at 10:00 p.m., and then next thing it was 2:00 a.m. It was midnight, or later the first time he thinks about bringing her home. He knew his family was sleeping then! I’m not buying this.
Also, later in the evening, Joran says he made up all the lies the first time around because he had a girlfriend, and didn’t want his family, and friends to think bad of him. However, here he was willing to bring Natalee home to his house. He obviously wasn’t worried about what his dad, or family thought then, was he? This points to deception. Another piece of the picture.
CC: It’s 1 a.m., and you say Natalee wanted to see sharks. Are there a lot of sharks around Aruba?
J: No. Not at all. But she wanted to see the sharks. Yeah…and I don’t know. I told her there are no sharks on Aruba.

When Joran says “Yeah, …and I don’t know” he smiles very oddly, as if, he does in fact know something. It’s perplexing. It’s another odd odd piece of this picture.

Which picture is it painting for you? An honest one, or a deceptive one?
Chris Cuomo says Joran says he left (Natalee on the beach) without his shoes.
CC: Should the fact that you left your shoes be seen as a sign of panic? That you were nervous and scared about what had happened there?

J: No. Because that is not what happened.

Joran has glint of a smile, again, when he replies to Chris Cuomo. Why is he smiling? Another question mark. Another piece of the picture.
J: I’d left them on the beach, I’d walked to the car, we got in the car, and right then, there, I couldn’t go back because… we were going home.
The timing of his pause in the sentence above is odd “because…(Was he thinking of a reason?)…we were going home.”

Furthermore, is his answer logical? Absolutely not. Add to that his shoes were never found.

We are painting a picture here. Actually, Joran is. What do you see?
CC: When you heard that a girl had gone missing on the beach what did you think?
J: Um…..well, the first thing that popped into my head was…(bleep)…what if something happened to her? What if she went swimming…I was thinking after everything she told me, she probably might have gone back to her hotel, hooked up with…gone to someone else…hooked up with someone else and wanted to stay another day on the island.

First of all, Joran’s answer is not free flowing. It is broken up, hesitant, chopped, and not logically said at times. Second, the fact that he insinuates that she “probably, might have hooked up with someone else” is disturbing. He is trying to push everything away from himself.
Chris Cuomo say something to the effect of why didn’t you go to the police, and tell them everything you know. That would be a normal reaction.
J: That’s what should have been the reaction…but…ah…I guess…ah.. we decided that I didn’t want anyone to know that happened.

This is interesting because there are three boys here, but clearly this is about him. He says “we decided that I didn’t want…” He decided. That’s the truth. Furthermore, he stutters for words, a lot. When people tell the truth, they don’t stutter like this. Just another piece of the picture.
CC: What is your first impression of Natalee’s mother?
J: … She screamed at me, tell me where my daughter is.

CC: And did you?

J: I told her I don’t know.

Chris Cuomo goes on to say to the audience ” But he told them more that that. ” Joran told everyone that he, and his friends dropped off Natalee at the Holiday Inn.

CC: People don’t lie when they have nothing to hide. Why did you lie if you had nothing to hide about Natalee ?

J: I lied because…yeah…I was scared. I had a girlfriend at the time. I didn’t want my dad to think bad about me, I didn’t want my friends to think bad about me.”

Earlier, Joran was willing to bring another girl who was not his girlfriend home to have sex with him, and he wasn’t worried about what his parents might think THEN. But NOW he cares?? This doesn’t add up.

Second, he had a girlfriend, yet he is out with Natalee, and wants to have sex with her. This show that Joran doesn’t not have good moral values. He is deceptive, and willing to use people for his own benefit regardless of HOW others feel. He admits to that much.
CC: Why not just tell them the truth?
J: I didn’t want anyone to know. I didn’t want anyone to know I left her on the beach.

If you honestly didn’t do anything, why would you lie? It just doesn’t add up. Most normal people would get out there, and start looking, would confess everything they know in hopes of finding Natalee. They would think about Natalee instead of themselves.
CC: You tell the police that Natalee fell out of the car when she got out to go (at the Holiday Inn). Why did you tell them that? (Referring to Joran’s lies).
J: For no specific reason.

At this point, Joran gives a smirk that is puzzling. I believe there is a reason. I believe at one point Natalee did fall out of the car.

CC: Was there a little bit of the truth in it? Was Natalee more drunk than you are letting on?

J: No, not at all.

When Joran says “No. Not at all.” There is another odd grin.
Chris Cuomo says Joran now says he might have told the police the real story, the one he’s telling you tonight, then and there, if the family hadn’t been so aggressive when they met that first night.
J: The way they were putting pressure on us probably…uh..made us lie more…because it seemed like we were in big trouble.”

CC: Even though they were being hostile , they were searching for a girl that hasn’t been found.

J: They were searching for a girl who wasn’t found…but…a…and I lied to them about it but….a….ah…how they acted towards my family and …ah…my friends is not a normal way parents would go about….if their daughter was missing.

It’s not normal?? Here Joran is playing the victim. He wants people to feel sorry for him. He doesn’t not have the ability to have any compassion for Natalee, or her family. This, again, is odd. Most people who were innocent would have GREAT compassion for the family, and would defend their innocence.

Also, Joran stutters a lot, and talks odd. This raises my eyebrows repeatedly.
CC: Nobody had a sense of right and wrong at the time among you three.
J: No.

Chris Cuomo goes on to say that over eleven days, the three boys all met at Joran’s house to discuss the situation.

J: Deepak and Satish came to my house about every day, and we talked, and we talked. We…a…tried to… and we discussed things. And we were like a…we also at that time said, well maybe,, its time to go to the police, and tell them exactly what happened.

Why is Joran’s speech so chopped up? He isn’t nervous. Is he thinking of what to say, and has to “change his story” to hide the truth? Why is he talking nonsense?
Chris Cuomo says that neither of the two brothers admit to driving Joran home that night.
CC: Why would they lie?
J: I don’t know. Well….the thing that…the only explanation I can…a..get for that is at the point if they said they would have picked me up…all…the…everything goes towards them…because…then that meant that they dropped me off at my house and ah…I went to sleep…and they had a car and they could have done anything they wanted.

Joran — This answer makes absolutely no sense. None. The brothers had the car all night long regardless. That doesn’t mean they committed murder now, does it? Or, were involved, but that is what Joran is suggesting. This sentence really raises my eyebrows. He is having hard time saying clear, sensible answers time, and time again. This is nonsense. People who are honest don’t talk nonsense.
CC: Do you think there is a chance one of your friend went to that beach where she was to hurt Natalee?
J: I cannot answer that question. The thing that keeps me …that does make me think they know something more about it is they won’t tell the truth about Satish picking me up.

Now…listen to the next sentence.

CC: The one thing you three agree upon is that you were the last person to be with Natalee.

J: Um..Yes.

Does that make any sense at all? It doesn’t.

Time and time again.
CC: Do you think you did anything wrong that night?
J: Yes.

CC: What was your responsibility as you see it?

Joran says he shouldn’t have left her at the beach.

J: I should have brought her back to her hotel, or I should have …um…made sure I left her with someone, one of her friends, but I should have gotten her back to where she should have been.

Here Joran is honest. Look at how his speech flowed naturally, normally and without chop, hesitation and nonsense. Very interesting.
CC: Have you ever given a girl a drug?
J: (smirking) No. Never.

I don’t believe this. Why is he smirking???
This was the most shocking part of the interview!!!
CC: What would you say to Natalee if you were still able to speak to her?

J: If I were to see her, if she’d be found tomorrow, I’d hate her. Yes, I’d hate her if she really ran away from home, I’d hate her.

First, he doesn’t have anything he’d say to Natalee. His brain didn’t even think in those terms. Why?? Instead, he thought about how he’d feel. He’d feel HATE.

This shows a callousness about Joran that is scary. This whole situation is about him, and he has no sympathy for Natalee, or her family. People who are honest would most likely respond something like this: “I’d be thrilled. ” “I’d hug her.” “I’d hug the ground I walk on. It would prove my innocence.” “Thank god.” “I’d ask her what happened?”. “I’d say how could you do this to me? You had to see on the news, I was being framed for something I didn’t do!!!” “I’d be relieved.” “The truth would be revealed.”

Honest people would say anything but HATE HER. Joran, however, DOES hate her. I have no doubt about it. He hates her because SHE has RUINED HIS LIFE. Perhaps due to his actions?

19 pieces to this puzzle. What picture does it paint for you?

Joran is still a big suspect in my eyes. I believe he knows way more than he is telling us. I think he knows where Natalee ultimately ended up.

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