Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot murdered Stephany Flores Ramírez five years after he killed Natalee Holloway in Aruba

NEED TO KNOW

• Joran van der Sloot murdered Stephany Flores Ramírez in 2010, five years after he killed Natalee Holloway
• Ramírez was a 21-year-old Peruvian college student
• Van der Sloot was sentenced to 28 years in prison for Ramírez’s murder

Five years after Joran van der Sloot killed Natalee Holloway in Aruba, he murdered Stephany Flores Ramírez in Peru.

The Dutch national — whose crimes are featured in the Netflix docuseries Taken: Natalee Holloway, which was released on Nov. 6 — quickly became a suspect in Holloway’s 2005 disappearance. He was arrested twice in connection with the Alabama teenager’s disappearance, but never prosecuted for her murder.

Then, in 2010, van der Sloot beat and smothered Ramírez to death at a hotel in Lima, Peru, after she learned he was suspected to be involved in Holloway’s disappearance, per CBS News.

Days later, van der Sloot was arrested in Chile and charged with Ramírez’s murder, per the Associated Press. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 28 years in prison, per the outlet.

In 2023, van der Sloot ultimately confessed to killing Holloway as part of a plea deal after he attempted to extort her family for $250,000.

Here’s what to know about the murder of Stephany Flores Ramírez at the hands of Joran van der Sloot.

Stephany Flores Ramírez was a student who lived in Peru

Ramírez was a 21-year-old student who lived in Peru and was the daughter of a well-known businessman in the country, according to an interview with Juan Callan, a retired Peruvian detective, in the docuseries Taken: Natalee Holloway.

Her father, Ricardo Flores, was a former race car driver who ran an event-planning business with his four sons, CNN reported in 2010.

According to her family, Ramírez was an avid poker player and loved soccer. She was in her third year at the University of Lima where she studied business administration, per CNN. She also managed the merchandising sector of the family’s business, per the outlet.

Her brother, Enrique Flores, described her as “very friendly” and someone who was “always smiling, always nice to everyone,” he told CNN.

She was murdered in May 2010

On May 30, 2010 — exactly five years after Holloway’s disappearance — van der Sloot killed Ramírez in Peru.

The Dutch native met Ramírez at a Lima casino, where van der Sloot was playing a poker tournament over several days and was on a losing streak, per the docuseries. Van der Sloot had arrived in Lima on May 14 from Colombia, according to the chief of Peru’s criminal police, Gen. Cesar Guardia, at the time (via ABC7).

On May 29, Van der Sloot played against Ramírez, who beat him at the game. He then offered to teach her how to play online poker and brought her back to his hotel to do so, per the docuseries.

Van der Sloot later claimed that while he and Ramírez were playing online poker, Facebook messages started popping up on his laptop about his alleged involvement in Holloway’s disappearance, per the docuseries.

When he revealed that he’d been a suspect in Holloway’s disappearance, van der Sloot claimed Ramírez punched him on the head, per CBS News.

Van der Sloot said his immediate reaction was to hit her in the nose with his elbow, per ABC News. He then thought she was about to faint, so he “grabbed her from the neck and strangled her for a minute,” he claimed, per the outlet.

He then described the scene. “There was blood everywhere. What am I going to do now? I had blood on my shirt. There was also blood on the bed, so I took off my shirt and put it on her face, pressing hard, until I killed Stephany,” he claimed in his confession, per ABC News.

“I did not want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life,” he told investigators, according to the Peruvian paper La Republica (via ABC News). “She had no right.”

Van der Sloot then claimed the murder was an “impulsive act.” Per CBS News, he said, “I lost control of my actions. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

Joran van der Sloot was arrested and confessed to killing her days later

Ramírez’s body was discovered in the room on June 2 by a hotel employee. She was beaten and smothered to death, per multiple reports.

Police said she died some time between 5 a.m., when they were seen entering the hotel, and 8:45 a.m., when witnesses saw van der Sloot leave, per ABC7.

In the hours after Ramírez’s death, van der Sloot ate breakfast, took a shower, shaved and changed his clothes. He also considered removing her body from the hotel room, but was worried about getting caught as he hadn’t paid for his stay.

“I was going to use one of my suitcases to take her out of the hotel, but I didn’t do it because I was afraid someone [would] stop me carrying my luggage without paying,” he said, according to La Republica.

After he killed Ramírez, he reportedly took about $300 in cash from her along with her credit cards, per the Associated Press.

Van der Sloot then paid a truck driver 1,500 Peruvian soles ($525) to bring him to the Chilean-Peruvian border, where he crossed into Chile by foot, ABC7 reported.

On June 3, van der Sloot was arrested in Chile on first-degree murder and robbery charges, per CBS News. He confessed to Ramírez’s murder while in custody.

He was sentenced to 28 years in prison in January 2012

Van der Sloot pleaded guilty to murdering Ramírez in January 2012, per the Associated Press and CBS News.

“Yes, I want to plead guilty. I wanted from the first moment to confess sincerely,” he told the court, per CBS News. “I truly am sorry for this act. I feel very bad.”

Van der Sloot’s lawyer argued his killing of Ramírez was triggered by the “extreme psychological trauma” he endured from being suspected of Holloway’s murder, per the outlet. 

He was sentenced to 28 years in prison by a three-judge panel, per the Associated Press. This sentence, including the time he had already served, would end in June 2038, per the outlet.

While in prison, van der Sloot married a woman named Leidy Figueroa and had a daughter with her, per ABC’s 20/20.

In May 2023, van der Sloot was extradited to Alabama to face federal charges for attempting to extort the Holloway family for money in exchange for information on Holloway’s death. Van der Sloot allegedly told Holloway’s mother, Beth, that if she gave him the funds, he would lead her to her daughter’s remains. However, Holloway’s body has never been recovered.

Van der Sloot eventually pleaded guilty to extortion and wire fraud and received a 20-year sentence for the crimes. He also admitted to killing Holloway, per ABC News. His sentence runs concurrently with his sentence in Peru, per the outlet.

He is currently serving out the rest of his sentence for the murder of Ramírez in Peru, according to the Associated Press.

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