Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, cannot be accused of murdering her because her body has never been found, his lawyer says.
Van der Sloot is the prime suspect in the Alabama student's May 2005 disappearance during her Mountain Brook High School of Alabama. senior class trip to Aruba.
The Dutch national is facing charges of extortion and wire fraud in the United States after he allegedly tried to sell Beth Holloway, Natalee's mother, information regarding the location of her daughter's body. The Peruvian government ruled earlier in May that he would be temporarily transferred to the United States to face those charges, then returned to the United States when he's sentenced.
Federal prosecutors say van der Sloot asked for $250,000 — $25,000 up front for the information and the rest being paid out when the body of Natalee Holloway was positively identified.
His Peruvian lawyer, Maximo Altez, told Fox News Digital that van der Sloot cannot be accused of killing Natalee Holloway because her body has never been found.
"Mrs. Holloway is sure that he killed her daughter. I have never said that [van der Sloot] had nothing to do with the homicide, what I have said is that they are taking Joran for extorsion and bank fraud. They can't accuse him of the girl's murder because the body has never been found," Altez said. "[van der Sloot] believes that he will win in the United States, the evidence shows that they were the ones who contacted him, not the other way around. Joran took the $25,000 USD and disappeared; the FBI lost track of him. The FBI itself did not know where he was. And he appeared in Peru."
Altez previously told Fox News Digital that van der Sloot has fans from "all over the world" who send him hundreds of dollars per month.
"All his fans from all over the world sent letters to Joran. I rented him a P.O. Box to receive them. Some letters brought 10 euros, 20 euros, 5 dollars. They were girls who wrote and sent him letters with money, and he answered them all," Altez said.
Van der Sloot is in a Peruvian prison for the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores in 2010. His original sentence was 28 years, but he got more time because of a drug smuggling scandal in prison.
He will be transferred from Challapalca Maximum Security Prison to a different prison in Lima, Peru before he's transferred from Peru to the United States in early June.
Natalee Holloway's mother, Beth, said in an earlier statement shared with Fox News Digital that the transfer gives a chance for justice to finally be served.
"I was blessed to have had Natalee in my life for 18 years, and as of this month, I have been without her for exactly 18 years. She would be 36 years old now," Beth Holloway said. "It has been a very long and painful journey, but the persistence of many is going to pay off. Together, we are finally getting justice for Natalee."
