Hunt for Joran Van Der Sloot: Former Lawyer Questions Evidence in Peru Murder, Natalee Holloway Case

Interpol has issued international arrest warrant for 22-year-old Dutch playboy.

ByABC News via logo
June 2, 2010, 1:23 PM

June 3, 2010— -- A former lawyer for Dutch playboy-turned-fugitive Joran van der Sloot is questioning the evidence in the murder of a young Peruvian woman, saying previous accusations against his one-time client have been heavy on rumor and light on credibility.

Van der Sloot is believed to be on the run in Chile, following this week's murder of 21-year-old Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramirez, whose body was found in van der Sloot's Peru hotel room.

Police believe she was killed exactly five years to the day of the disappearance in Aruba of American teenager Natalee Holloway. Van der Sloot has long been the chief person of interest in that case, but charges were never filed, even after two arrests.

"It just doesn't make sense to me," van der Sloot's former defense attorney Joe Tacopina told "Good Morning America" today. "I don't know enough about the facts -- the so-called facts -- of this new investigation."

Peruvian newspapers have taken to calling van der Sloot the "international assassin" and Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant.

Flores, who was reportedly an out lesbian struggling with her sexuality, was found beaten and stabbed to death in a room at the Miraflores Hotel Tac in Lima booked in van der Sloot's name, police said. The two were seen on surveillance video leaving a casino together. A hotel employee told police that Flores entered the hotel early Sunday morning with van der Sloot.

But Tacopina pointed out that her body was not found until Wednesday and questioned how it was possible she was killed days before without hotel staff knowing. Authorities believe van der Sloot fled Peru, passing through customs into Chile, and is on his way to Argentina.

"I don't know if he's innocent or not. I don't know if he's on the run or not," Tacopina said. "If, in fact there is an international warrant out for his arrest, then he should deal with it."

Tacopina said that after all the accusations in the Holloway case -- accusations that have yet to lead to charges or a conviction -- he's hesitant to believe anything the media presents about van der Sloot.

"There have been so many incidents where false facts have been presented," he said. "Rumors take on a life of their own."

Flores' funeral will be held today in Peru.

Though living openly as a lesbian, Flores struggled to balance her sexuality with her parents' intense disapproval, her ex-girlfriend Stephanie Jimenez told "Good Morning America" today.

Jimenez said that Flores had recently been hitting the casinos especially hard, spending thousands of dollars at a time. She described Flores as a good girl whose intense insecurity shaped much of her behavior.