Natalee Holloway Case: Another Setback Announced in Joran van der Sloot Extortion Trial

Another extension has been granted in connection with fraud and extortion charges in Alabama for Joran van der Sloot, the suspected killer in the Natalee Holloway case, according to authorities.

On Sept. 12, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gray Borden approved the extension, the second extension requested by Van der Sloot, AI.com reported.

In his order, Borden wrote, “Given the defendant’s need to adequately prepare his defense and to make an informed decision on whether to enter a guilty plea or proceed to trial, the court finds that the ends of justice served by extending the pretrial deadlines and granting a continuance outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial.’’

A 45-day extension was granted and prosecutors did not object, officials said. A pretrial motions deadline has been set for November 13.

Van der Sloot was serving a 28-year sentence in Peru for the 2010 murder of 21-year-old college student Stephany Flores, Front Page Detectives previously reported.

He was extradited from the South American country to Alabama to face federal charges accusing van der Sloot of trying to extort money from the Holloway family in 2010.

Natalee Holloway went missing while vacationing in Aruba and Van der Sloot remains a prime suspect in her disappearance.

Holloway, who was 18 at the time, went missing during a senior class trip, and though her body was never located, she was declared legally dead by an Alabama judge in 2012.

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Van der Sloot, prosecutors alleged, promised to lead the teenager’s loved ones to her body in exchange for $250,000 – $25,000 to disclose the location of Natalee’s body and an additional $225,000 after Holloway’s remains were recovered.

Van der Sloot has never been charged with Holloway’s disappearance, but officials believe he and two other men are the last people to see Holloway alive.

Van der Sloot remains behind bars at the Shelby County Jail in Alabama.