Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, was being transported from South America to the United States on Thursday to face extortion and wire fraud charges.
The 35-year-old Dutch citizen was handed over to U.S. custody and departed Peru on a flight to Alabama, about one month after both countries agreed on his extradition, the Associated Press reported.
FBI agents were transporting him to the U.S. where he’ll stand trial in the Northern District of Alabama.
Van der Sloot has been serving a 28-year sentence in South America for the 2010 murder of a Peruvian business woman.
His extradition, which moved forward Tuesday after a Peruvian judge approved temporarily transferring his custody to U.S. authorities, stems from an alleged attempt to profit hundreds of thousands of dollars from Holloway’s parents.
The teen was last seen with van der Sloot and two others 18 years ago in the Dutch Caribbean Island of Aruba.
On Thursday, video released by Peruvian authorities shows van der Sloot shake his shoulders and smirk as law enforcement adjust his handcuffs and remove an Interpol-marked vest off him. Photos released by the government also show the FBI and a health care worker in a conference room with the convicted killer.
Here’s what to know about the case and pending trial:
Who is Joran van der Sloot?
The son of a judge, van der Sloot was never charged in the death of Holloway, who was last seen in May 2005 and later declared dead.
Van der Sloot is wanted in the U.S. on one count of extortion and one count of wire fraud − the only charges to have ever linked him to Holloway’s disappearance.
He is serving a 28-year sentence for admittedly killing 21-year-old Stephany Flores in his hotel room in 2010 after meeting her in a casino. Investigators suggested that he was angry Flores had apparently seen information on his computer about the Holloway case. He also stole her money and credit cards and briefly fled the country.
Van…
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