Killing for Pleasure or Profit: Van der Sloot Gets 28 Years

January 17, 2012

[ By Dr. Kenneth J. Ryan, a criminologist at California State University.  Read his Bio >> ] 

 

Nervously fidgeting in a hot Lima courtroom, Joran Van der Sloot listened to his sentence at the end of a 2-hour hearing.  The 3-judge panel sentenced Van der Sloot to spend 28 years in prison and pay $74,000 in reparations to the heirs of his victim Stephany Flores.  The 2-hour hearing listed the charges and overviewed facts of the case.  In the end, Van der Sloot was found guilty of the most serious crime of Qualified Murder, which is “murder for profit or pleasure.”  Additionally, he was also found guilty of Simple Robbery for stealing the victim’s money, credit cards and vehicle after the murder.  Van der Sloot was given credit for time already served, and will be released 28 years from the date of his arrest, on June 10, 2038. Once he's released from prison, he will be deported.

On January 11, 2012, Van der Sloot pled guilty and offered a “sincere confession” to the judges.  Perhaps it was his smirking, his overt condescension of the proceedings, or perhaps it was his yawning throughout the hearing a few days before.  The judges must not have believed the defendant’s sincerity in his brief statement of remorse (“I feel bad”).  Or perhaps it was the way he beamed at the judges after pleading guilty to the brutal beating and strangulation of Stephany Flores.  Perhaps the judges saw the happy, jubilant Van der Sloot as being prideful of his acts.  And perhaps the judges were very correct in doing so.  Van der Sloot offered the world a master’s class in how not to behave in a courtroom if one actually expects leniency.  It rivals the American trial of Bob Ward, whose daughters pled for leniency in statements laced with profanities. 

The judge chairing the panel sat behind a large crucifix on the bench, which is more than a little ironic.  Jesus appeared as a criminal defendant only once in his short life and it did not work out well for him.  Most scholars agree that the sentence he received was unjust, the charges trumped up, the witnesses false.  Prominently displaying the image of an unjustly treated defendant in a modern courtroom probably is not the best message a panel of judges can convey.  Nevertheless, by all appearances, on this day a criminal defendant was rightfully sentenced and justice was done

Consider that it was possible the judges in the Flores murder trial could have reduced Van der Sloot’s sentence to as little as 7 years.  Instead, the sentenced was mitigated only 2 years from the maximum.  Therefore, the sentence was reduced for what the sincere confession was worth.  In America, we learn of this news with some satisfaction, knowing that the suspected murderer of Natalee Holloway has come to justice somewhere; however, at the cost of the life of another victim.  There may be justice for Stephanie Flores today but it is likely there will never be justice for Natalee Holloway

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>>Read: A Smirking Van der Sloot Pleads Guilty

 

 

Photo Credit: AP Photos

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