Did Joran Van Der Sloot Confess to Killing Natalee Holloway?

April 17, 2018
By: Catherine Townsend

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Joran van der Sloot

Photo by: Policia Nacional del Peru

Policia Nacional del Peru

Joran van der Sloot

A woman who dated John Ludwick, a former friend of Joran van der Sloot, has come forward to reveal that Ludwick told her that van der Sloot had confessed to killing Natalee Holloway.

Emily Heistand, 23, said that she had only been dating Ludwick for a few months when he made his confession. “He told me that Joran did do it and hid the body,” Heistand told Dr. Phil in an interview that aired Monday.

She said Ludwick told her that van der Sloot met Natalee Holloway at an Aruba bar in 2005 and spiked her drink.

John told me that Joran got this Natalee girl all drunk at a bar, and Joran took her to the beach and they were having a good time, and she started seizuring,” she said.

Heistand said that, according to Ludwick, van der Sloot claimed Holloway had a bad reaction to drugs that he had secretly slipped her once they reached the beach — and that she started “foaming at the mouth.”

Emily Heistand

Photo by: Dr. Phil via DailyMail.com

Dr. Phil via DailyMail.com

Emily Heistand

She also shared that Ludwick told her that he helped van der Sloot get rid of Holloway’s body.

Heistand told Dr. Phil that her ex-boyfriend never told her the exact location of the spot where Holloway was allegedly buried — but told her that if they ever went to Aruba, he could locate the remains. “He told me that if we were ever in Aruba and went in the national forest, he would be able to find them,” she said.

Van der Sloot is currently serving a 28-year sentence in Peru for killing another woman there in 2010. He has never been charged in connection with Holloway’s death.

Asked if she believed that Ludwick was telling the truth, Heistand said that she did — at first — but that she has questioned his credibility because he told so many different versions of the story. She said: “Joran taught him to never be honest — never tell the truth — to always, always lie.”

Natalee Holloway senior yearbook photo [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]

Natalee Holloway senior yearbook photo

Photo by: Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons

Natalee Holloway senior yearbook photo

Case in point, Ludwick recently told an informant that he was paid to dig up and cremate Holloway’s remains. But after those remains were located and tested, it was proven that the bone fragments unearthed were not Holloway’s.

And Ludwick won’t have any more chances to share information about Holloway, as just last month, Heistand fatally stabbed him in self-defense after he tried to kidnap her. After her brief relationship with Ludwick ended, he tried to kidnap her as she arrived home early one morning in Florida.

She managed to take his knife away from him and stabbed him before escaping.

Dr. Phil told Heistand that she had definitely done the right thing — and reminded her that safety experts always advise against going to the secondary location with an attacker.

Watch the “Natalee Holloway: Lost in Paradise” episode of Investigation Discovery’s Vanity Fair Confidential on ID GO now!

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