Anita Van Der Sloot Said Sneaky Son Would Leave House at Night for Casinos

June 24, 2010— -- The mother of accused killer Joran van der Sloot said that even as a boy her son was a sneaky liar and he may have missed his chance to be an actor.

In a Dutch interview obtained exclusively by ABC News, Anita van der Sloot said her son was not a difficult child, but had a tendency to sneak out of their Aruba home at night.

She noticed, but didn't know that he was leaving to go to casinos.

Gambling became a big part of his life, and led to his involvement in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba five years ago, and to his arrest in the May 30 murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores in Lima, Peru.

Van der Sloot met Flores and Holloway in casinos. In both cases, he's confessed to killing the women, then withdrawn his confession.

Holloway's disappearance is still unsolved, and the 22-year-old van der Sloot remains the prime suspect.

His mother said he initially denied any wrongdoing involving Holloway. The van der Sloots believed their son's protestations of innocence, but his story started to change.

At home, her husband, Paul, would question their son, telling him "'if you know something, tell us, because you're going to the police, and you tell the truth,'" she said.

On different occasions, Joran van der Sloot told reporters that Holloway died accidentally, that he killed her and that he sold her into slavery.

In the end, he claimed he was just bragging and lying.

"Maybe he missed a chance to become an actor," his mother said. "Maybe that should've been a role in his life. I really don't know. I can hardly believe that he can … fake this."

She has also said her son was mentally ill, and that he could possibly have harmed Stephany Flores, who was killed exactly five years to the day that Holloway, 19, disappeared.

In addition to being charged with Flores' murder, he is also accused of extorting $25,000 from Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, promising to show her where the teen's body was buried in exchange for the money.