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Thread 9: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1449981/posts |
Posted on 07/19/2005 10:21:13 AM PDT by TexKat
I hear ya. (or...I read ya?)
If you heard a Texas twang - then you heard me. :o) I was really pumped when I heard they were going to allow the FBI in. Sure would like to hear how that came about.
Take care and may God bless!
LOL...There's a lot of Texans on FR, huh. I feel outnumbered!!
Ditto!
The video of Natalie was heartbreaking. i cant get it out of my mind. I just could tell from her body language and expressions that she is just....such a nice gal.
This is such a shame.
AMEN to that. I can only pop in occasionally and TexKat and the group are a Godsend for info. Thank you.
Oh, I know you weren't! :-)
I've always thought Natalee was drugged or so drunk that she threw caution to the wind. Beth said she warned Natalee about C&C.....but I bet she didn't think of everything....like don't do shots! After a few of those, she no doubt forgot everything she was ever told!
And thank all of you caring and concerned Freepers for wanting to bring Natalee Holloway back home to her grief stricken parents and love ones.
May God bless them soon and bring an end to this prolong agony. And whatever the outcome may He shower them with His love and comfort.
And don't let someone slip you a roofie.
Too much alcohol, a roofie...and asthma. Nat becomes a corpse (which Jurine doesn't even know or care until he...and who know who else had their way with Nat).
To young Arubans, female tourists are fresh meat.
They have reduced the female tourist population to a less than human role in life. The hallmark of the sociopath is his ability to classify his subject as something inhuman...not so different than Islam and its attitude that non-muslims are the descendants of pigs and monkeys.
Goodnight Fritzy!!
I'm in the other thread right now. You're free to join at any time in the knowledge that, we, as American citizens, have a right to hear and TO BE HEARD through the free and open exchange of ideas and opinion.
Long live FR! An invisible voice yet an invincible one.
Did you notice the dude (I forget his name, bald apologist for the Aruban system, mangling the English language just enough so that his words are marginally understandable---I think they do intentionally)..anyway he said that the FBI analysis of evidence would not be admissable in Aruban courts. I am betting that this is a talking point to set everyone up in case the FBI analysis turns up anything incriminating on Joran. The evidence won't be acceptable to the Arubans.
"Now you want an immediate response. Gee, some people!!"
You know, you're so right. My fault. I ask forgiveness.
Oh, thanks for recognizing it for what it is - the piece, that is. What else? Not me. I ain't no misterpiece.
Yes, I've come around and think that Joran is guilty.
Gotta run now. I had to be in by 10:00 pm. Time flies. Uffah!!!
Oh, wait a minute, I forgot..
HAIL!!!
Thanks Tex Kat and All for the updates. Good news that the FBI will have more clout in the investigation.
While I believe Van der Straaten had to get the heave-ho, I still think the prosecutor Karin is working hard on the case and she will nail Joran as the murderer, and the Kalpoes and Papa Sloot as accessories.
I couldn't watch Greta's show tonight, as I had to watch "MONK". I am a devotee of the OCD detective and never miss a show.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, the clock is ticking. DNA testing under way in high-tech crime labs half a world apart at FBI headquarters, Quantico, Virginia, and the Hague, Netherlands. Scientists do their best to extract and identify DNA on four strands of blonde hair. It is day 54 of the Natalee Holloway missing girl case. An Aruban park ranger discovered the hair on duct tape found on an Aruban beach. And tonight, DNA samples from jailed suspect, the judge`s son, Joran Van Der Sloot, and the Kalpoe brothers also under the microscope.
And any hour, we here at NANCY GRACE will learn whether that hair belongs to 18-year-old Alabama beauty and star student Natalee Holloway.
Good evening everybody. I`m Nancy Grace. And I want to thank you for being with us tonight.
But first tonight, is blond hair discovered on duct tape on an Aruban beach Natalee Holloway`s. Dutch and FBI lab experts working around the clock to make that DNA comparison.
Tonight, on the phone from Meridian, Mississippi, Natalee`s father, Dave Holloway is with us; in New York, defense attorney Alex Sanchez; in Atlanta, defense attorney Renee Rockwell and prosecutor Eleanor Dixon; in L.A., psychoanalyst Bethany Marshall.
But first, to WBMA-TV reporter, Anastasiya Bolton. Anastasiya, bring us up-to-date, friend.
ANASTASIYA BOLTON, REPORTER, WBMA-TV: Nancy, following negotiations earlier this week, the FBI will now be able to more closely monitor the case in Aruba and actually be able to help Aruban authorities in this investigation.
If you remember, previously the FBI was just an observer on the island, watching what the authorities were doing in this investigation, trying to look for Natalee Holloway. Aruban authorities previously denied the FBI any access to statements, evidence, anything pertaining to the investigation.
Now, starting today, or possibly next week, they will have access to all of that material. They will not be able to interrogate the suspects. They will have access, though, to every single piece of evidence. That is, of course, a key development in this case.
Another development, the Texas EquuSearch team is going back next week. As early as Thursday, 14 members are going back with more equipment to look for Natalee Holloway.
GRACE: Very quickly to Natalee`s father, Dave Holloway. Dave, thank you for being with us.
My question to you is, is it second verse, same as the first? Will they really allow the FBI to take a role in the investigation, or is this just more lip service from the Aruban government?
DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY`S FATHER: Well, the role will be limited primarily to allowing the Arubans to utilize FBI resources and any other assistance they may need. As you`re well-aware, they`re not allowed to be involved in the investigation, because, if they were, that information or whatever they investigated would not be allowed in any prosecution.
So it`s basically allowing them to, I guess, utilize their equipment, resources, and put another eye on what investigation material that they do have now.
GRACE: Well, at least they`re sharing. At least they`re allowing the FBI in to a certain extent.
Back to Anastasiya Bolton with WBMA. I want to go back to the prosecutor, Karin Janssen. She`s gone on vacation for two full weeks, but at least she managed to drop off the DNA evidence at the Hague in Netherlands. Did she hand-deliver that?
BOLTON: Yes, indeed, Nancy, she did on the way to her vacation. She did hand-deliver that evidence, which is, of course, being processed right now in the forensic lab.
She`s not working alone on this case. She has another prosecutor helping her out and keeping a watch while she`s on vacation until August 3rd, as we understand it.
Overall, about 25 people are working on this case, including the FBI, including the police department in Nor (ph), which is right next to the beach where Natalee was last seen. And some people from the Dutch government are actually on the island helping out with the investigation, as well.
GRACE: I want to go back to Dave Holloway. With us is Natalee`s father.
Dave, I was talking about this the other night with Jug Twitty. Did you hear that Delta has chosen this moment to announce its new nonstop flights from JFK to Aruba, including signature cocktail drinks?
I don`t know. That just rubbed me the wrong way. It`s going to be a cold day in you-know-where before I head down to Aruba.
HOLLOWAY: Well, in their defense, they were able to help me out in my plane ticket. So...
GRACE: They did?
HOLLOWAY: They were helpful in my situation.
GRACE: OK, Dave. I`m going to go easy on Delta Airlines tonight. It`s hard to find an airline company, but I am willing.
Very quickly to defense attorney Renee Rockwell. Renee, we have both handled a lot of DNA cases, hair cases. Now up until recently, if you had two heirs, even if they belonged to the same person, you could not absolutely say, "This hair came from that head."
No. Now, however, with nuclear DNA, taking out of the roots of hair, mitochondrial DNA, which is traced only through the mother`s DNA line, you can make an absolute, 100-percent match to a particular person.
How devastating will it be? There were other hairs on that duct tape, too, Renee, dark hairs and blonde hairs. If this turns out to be Natalee Holloway`s hair on that duct tape.
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, it`ll be staggering, mostly because, if you remember the story given by the Van Der Sloots is that he last saw Natalee way up on the top of the island. The hair was found down on the bottom of the island, some 25 minutes away.
It shows foul play. If two hairs are on there, one from Van Der Sloot or any of the Kalpoe boys, it shows that they were together when there was foul play. And it certainly shows a horrible inconsistencies with the stories, as where they described they last left her.
GRACE: And to Eleanor Dixon. Eleanor`s handled a ton of DNA cases, as well. The developments in hair evidence, mitochondrial DNA, explain.
ELEANOR DIXON, PROSECUTOR: Well, I think it`s good, because now, as you said before, we can get DNA if we have the root of the hair. And that`s great in this type of case.
It`s very helpful, especially if they can find out that one is the defendant`s -- or I`m sorry, or the judge`s son, and one is the victim, Natalee Holloway, although I`m not sure if they`ll be able to determine that or not and if they`ve said whether or not it`s the root.
What I find interesting, Nancy -- and I don`t know about you, but I`ve never been asked to take evidence to the crime lab. And I find it interesting that the prosecutor actually took that evidence to the crime lab. And it makes me wonder what kind of importance this evidence has in this case.
GRACE: Well, another reason she`s saying that, Alex Sanchez -- I agree with her. I`ve stood by many a time and watched through a glass wall while a defendant had his blood taken for DNA analysis, Alex.
But, in this country, you have a chain-of-custody problem. If the prosecutor takes the evidence to the crime lab for DNA comparison, then they become a witness. They`ve actually -- they`re the link between the drawing of the blood and the crime lab.
And what`s the prosecutor going to do, put down her files, and go get up on the stand, and swear herself in? What do you think about the prosecutor herself taking the DNA, the hair, the actual hair? We`ve only got four of them, Alex, to the Hague.
ALEX SANCHEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t like it.
GRACE: I don`t like it either.
SANCHEZ: I think it`s an improper procedure. They should have an independent investigator conducting these type of investigations, handling the evidence, vouchering the evidence, holding on to the evidence, delivering it to the Hague or wherever they`re going to deliver it, and then bringing it back to court, so that that person can get on the witness stand and be cross-examined.
Otherwise, at least in this country, you could have the prosecutor removed from the case and call them as a witness in the case. So why put yourself in that position?
GRACE: But, of course, we`ve learned that everything there is upside- down compared to our system. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE "JUG" TWITTY, STEPFATHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: With the new investigative team, I`ve got T.J. down there. And I know he`s going to dig. He`s going to dig into some things that nobody else will give me answers to.
I want them to go back from the beginning. I want the statements from the two uniformed officers that were there with me that night that spent two hours with us, at least their written report that they had that night. And I want them to dig into Paulus Van Der Sloot.
And he`s involved in this, and I want them to dig and dig and find out more information.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Very quickly to psychoanalyst Bethany Marshall.
You know, Bethany, we just showed Judge Van Der Sloot`s backside as he was running down an alley. CNN correspondent Karl Penhaul was chasing him with a microphone, trying to get some answers.
You know, for a while, the judge was behind bars, under suspicion as well. To me, it would be a huge sign of good faith if he, too, submitted himself to a DNA sample.
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: I would agree, because, not only have the kids changed their stories, but the parents on the side of the suspects have shown no remorse. They`ve shown no willingness to go along with the investigation.
I have all admiration for Beth Twitty. If all the mothers in the United States were like Beth Twitty, there wouldn`t be as many crimes.
GRACE: I got to agree.
You know, Dave Holloway, if it hadn`t been for you guys going down there, I think you brought a lot of the information to the police before they could get it themselves in Aruba. You were all over that.
Very quickly, Dave Holloway, did you meet up with Van Der Sloot`s father at the jail?
HOLLOWAY: I did.
GRACE: What happened?
HOLLOWAY: Well, we had a -- our initial conversation prior to entering the jail was about the fact that I wanted to meet with his son and ask him to profess his innocence, that he`s claiming that he`s innocent in this case, well, just tell me to my face and let me hear it, because I`ve heard everything on the news media and through limited information.
We got through the police that he says he`s innocent. So I wanted him to tell me that. And of course, his father stepped in and indicated that too much time had passed, and I would not be allowed to do that.
And I ended it with, "Well, why don`t you just discuss it with your son? And if you have a change of heart, let me know." And then I decided to stay until the end of the visitation and approached Paulus again. And he again declined that I meet with his son.
GRACE: What do you mean, "too much time has passed," it`s too late to talk to his son?
HOLLOWAY: He wouldn`t elaborate on it.
GRACE: That doesn`t even make sense, Dave.
HOLLOWAY: ... wanted to go back in.
GRACE: That doesn`t even make sense. Too much time has passed? Yes, 53, 54 days have passed since Natalee went missing.
HOLLOWAY: That`s right. And then the other excuse he gave was that he could understand my situation, but, as a father of Joran, he`ll do anything to protect his son.
GRACE: Well, at least he spoke to you, Dave. Every time we`ve tried to speak to him, he shows us his backside and takes off running.
I want you to know there`s a standing invitation to the families and attorneys of Joran Van Der Sloot, including that father, the judge, to come on and answer some questions, as well as the Kalpoe brothers. So far, for some reason, they have declined.
And just a few hours ago, the Alabama House of Representatives has passed a resolution asking Alabama residents to boycott travel to Aruba until Aruban officials help us solve this case of Natalee Holloway. Stay with us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE "JUG" TWITTY, STEPFATHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: For to us have a police chief that`s retired and just drop the case totally, I guess now. First I heard he was going to stay on, now he`s going to go to Holland. And now you`re telling me my prosecutor is going to leave for two weeks? I just don`t know who`s running the show.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TWITTY: We need to speed this process up. It seems like every day it`s starting to speed up a little bit.
Somebody`s going to talk down there. And I hope T.J. can get down there, as I say, and make his magic work, because I can`t get anybody to communicate with me, from the police and even the FBI.
I know they`ve worked hard, but I think they feel like that they can`t tell me -- worried about what the Aruban police are going to say, if they do tell me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back, everybody. I`m Nancy Grace. We are live in Aruba and the latest on the case of a missing American girl, Natalee Holloway.
As the case drags on, finally Aruban authorities have allowed the FBI to at least take a look at the files.
Back to Anastasiya Bolton, WBMA-TV reporter. Tell me about the boycott that has been now requested by the Alabama House of Representatives.
BOLTON: Nancy, the legislature here is in a special session. And they used today partially to, I guess, issue a statement, or a resolution, rather.
They`re suggesting that Alabamians boycott any travel to Aruba. They`re hoping that travel dollars, when the Aruban authorities feel the pinch of the lack of travel dollars, they will do something or more on this investigation.
The representatives are concerned that 53 days have passed since Natalee has been last seen and nobody has been charged in this investigation.
GRACE: To Renee Rockwell, how soon do you think that the results from the DNA will come back? And what`s the significance of September 4th?
ROCKWELL: The September 4th significance is that, if there`s nothing that shows that there`s strong suspicion that any crime was committed, Van Der Sloot is out of jail.
There`s a two-year window to complete this investigation and prosecute this case. But with the DNA, it`s not going to take a long time, it just seems like there needs to be more than people going on vacation and turning over investigators on this case. Thankfully, the Holloways have hired their own detective.
GRACE: To Dave Holloway, Natalee`s father. You know, Joran Van Der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers both gave DNA saliva swabs this Tuesday for DNA testing. But do we know what authorities are going to compare those swabs to, Dave?
HOLLOWAY: No, I don`t. In fact, Beth and I both gave DNA samples to the FBI and the Dutch authorities within days of our arrival in Aruba. So I know that request was asked of them sometime in early July. And it was just out in the field. So I have no idea about that.
GRACE: You`re seeing newly released video of Natalee Holloway. Dancing was one of her loves in life. She was a star student in Alabama and has a full scholarship waiting for her at college. Her dream, to become a doctor and help other people. This newly released video of Natalee Holloway, you`re seeing it right now.
As we take a look at that, Eleanor Dixon, why parents` DNA? Obviously, the parents weren`t even there at the time Natalee went missing.
DIXON: Because, obviously, they`ll be able to determine something about Natalee Holloway`s DNA from her parents` DNA, obviously because she got hers from them. That just makes sense.
So they`re going to get everybody`s DNA who`s involved as suspects and also parents of Natalee, because they don`t actually have Natalee here, sadly, to get samples from her. And that way they can compare it and compare the suspects, as well.
GRACE: Dave Holloway, did you supply Natalee`s DNA, such as a toothbrush, a hair from a comb, anything?
HOLLOWAY: I think Beth had all that information, which Natalee`s suitcase was packed and ready to go. And it did have hair samples on it and her toothbrush.
GRACE: And I, very quickly, want to go to Alex Sanchez. I`m concerned as to where the defense will go.
Even if we get a positive match, all right, from this hair, the defense will then have another fallback position. You know, they say they left the girl at one spot. The tape and the hair turned up somewhere completely different. Will they have a fallback position, if the hair matches Natalee?
SANCHEZ: Look, if the hair matches Natalee, I mean, that`s not a good development for the defense. I think at this point -- I mean, just looking at it from a defense point of view, the best thing the defense could do is just remain quiet, because if nothing develops beyond the hair matching, I don`t know if the hair matching is enough to establish criminal liability.
GRACE: Please, what would her hair be doing on duct tape?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
GRACE: You know, when you go out for a night at Carlos and Charlie`s, you don`t expect to have your head wrapped in duct tape, Alex.
SANCHEZ: Yes, well, you know something, Nancy? I`m going to tell you something. I hope that that hair is not Natalee`s, because I hope that -- and maybe this is just wishful thinking. I hope she steps off a boat, and walks into her parents` arms, and says, "Look, I`m home."
I really don`t want there to be evidence indicating that she`s a victim of a violent crime.
GRACE: Well, none of us do, Alex. None of us do, Alex. But I want to know which way these defense attorneys are going to take the Kalpoes and Joran Van Der Sloot, if it does come back as a positive match.
We`ve got more from Aruba, but we`ve got to take a quick break. Very quickly to "Trial Tracking." Jacksonville, Florida, police say a couple found in a shallow grave in Georgia were buried alive. The sheriff`s office says the cause of death for Carol and James "Reggie" Sumner, both 61 years old, was asphyxiation. Eighteen-year-old Bruce Nixon tonight being held without bond in jail on charges of murder, kidnapping and robbery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN CLARK, REGGIE SUMNER`S SISTER: But my family`s very upset, devastated. You know, just a mess. To take lives over a little bit of money, if this is the case, and this is the motive, is a terrible thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Just think about that, an 18-year-old, possibly burying a couple alive. Three others face possible charges of murder and bank fraud for using the Sumners` ATM card after the couple went missing.
GRACE: The search goes on for 18-year-old Natalee Holloway. Tonight, Aruban officials announce they will allow the FBI to at least look at the files. Texas searchers called EquuSearch head back to Aruba to help look for Natalee with a new piece of equipment that actually looks down into the earth.
We`re hearing tonight, Renee, that some of the hair is not 12 inches, that it`s four inches. Significance?
ROCKWELL: Well, it could -- certainly, her hair was long, but it could be her bangs. It could be hair that was broken off. It`s certainly a change of events.
It`s not as exciting and maybe as helpful as it would be, if it would have been her hair.
GRACE: The spot, both at Tortuga, the spot on the island where the hair on the duct tape was found, Renee, you say how far from the Marriott?
ROCKWELL: It`s about a good 20-minute drive by car. So it`s certainly out of the realm of their last stories.
GRACE: Anastasiya Bolton, what`s the reaction back home in Alabama to the duct tape discovery?
BOLTON: People are cautiously optimistic out there. I`ve spoken to the family. And of course, people in the community are constantly asking me what is going on.
But so far, so many things have come out in this case, so much stuff possibly related to Natalee Holloway`s disappearance, have been discovered in the last 50 days, they`re cautiously optimistic.
GRACE: Dave Holloway, very quickly, final thoughts as we go to break?
HOLLOWAY: Well, just like the other guy said, I`m kind of hoping it`s not her hair on the duct tape. And again, whatever happens has already happened. And if this is the clue that God gives to us resolve this, then, you know, maybe we`ll have resolution.
But you know, we just keep hoping and praying that something will develop and break in the case. And this may be one of them.
GRACE: With us tonight, Natalee`s father, Dave Holloway, still hoping for a miracle.
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