His lawyer in Peru said that the Dutchman who was one of the last people to see Natalee before she disappeared was injured during a fight inside a prison while he awaited extradition to the United States.
Maximo Altes, the defense attorney for Joran van der Sloot, told NBC News that he was caught in a fight Saturday between rival gangs inside Challapalca Prison where he is serving a 28 year murder sentence.
Altez stated that van der Sloot’s injuries were “not too serious” while he was being treated at the medical wing of the facility.
The attorney stated that he had instructed his client not to oppose the extradition of the United States. “But he decided to do it,” and wants to come to America in order to face charges related to Holloway’s case.
Van der Sloot was first charged in 2010 with two federal counts extortion, wire fraud and extortion.
The prosecution claims that Holloway’s relatives sent him thousands of dollars on the false promise that he would reveal the location of Miss Holloway’s remains, and other details about her death.
Altez stated that there are still a few administrative issues to be resolved, including his client’s passing of a physical examination and the government making travel arrangements.
Altez, in Spanish, said: “The only remaining issue is administrative.”
No one could be reached Tuesday for a comment from the federal prosecutors and defense attorneys in Alabama or the United States.
Early morning hours on May 30, 2005, Holloway, along with others in her travel party, left a nightclub at Aruba.
Police in the area have reported that her friends returned to their hotel while Holloway, who was 18 at the time, got into , a gray or a silver Honda, with three young men – van der Sloot (then 17) and brothers Deepak and Satish Kapoe from Suriname.
Holloway is no longer alive and has been declared legally dead.
Van der Sloot, who has never been charged in Holloway’s death, is on the radars of both law enforcement and her family.
He pleaded guilty in early 2012 to the murder of business student Stephany Flees, 21 in his Lima hotel room on May 30, 2010 Flores was reportedly attacked after she examined his laptop and discovered that he had a connection to Holloway’s disappearance.
