Natalee Holloway Suspect Confesses, Again?

In Dutch tabloid interview Joran van der Sloot claims he dumped Holloway's body.

ByABC News
February 23, 2010, 6:44 AM

Feb. 23, 2010— -- Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, admitted that he was scared of prosecution and confessed to disposing the American teen's body in the marshy waters of the Caribbean off the island of Aruba, a Dutch tabloid newspaper reported this morning.

According to De Telegraaf, van der Sloot made these statements during an interview with RTL 5, a German television station. A full interview is expected to air this Sunday on the network.

This alleged confession comes almost two years after undercover tapes were released by Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, in which van der Sloot appears to admit he was present when Holloway died and that he helped dump her body in the ocean. De Vries, who sat down for an exclusive interview with ABC News' Chris Cuomo back in 2008 after the tapes went public, says he is "totally convinced Joran is telling the truth" on the tape.

"Joran is telling the truth about what happened to Natalee," De Vries told Cuomo, adding that "she died in his arms on the beach that night."

The chief prosecutor in the Holloway case, Peter Blanken, told 'De Telegraaf' that the so-called confession in 2008 resulted in a new investigation into the disappearance of Holloway, but eventually concluded without results. "It became clear that this statement is held together by lies and fantasy," Blanken said. "Times are wrong and named witnesses have denied."

Blanken said he finds van der Sloot's new alleged admission in the RTL-5 interview also not credible. According to CNN, Blanken said he tried to verify van der Sloots claims and ultimately that they " couldn't be true." Blanken added that, "We talked with several witnesses and reviewed several facts. The story is unbelievable and not true, in my opinion."

De Telegraaf reports that Van der Sloot is expected to conduct another interview this week in Frankfurt, Germany.

Holloway went missing back in May 2005 during a high school graduation trip to Aruba. Her disappearance received international attention.

The Man Who Lured Van der Sloot to Talk

In the ABC interview in 2008 Patrick van der Eem, described in detail how he painstakingly gained the young Dutch suspect's trust, took his suspicions to Holland's leading investigative reporter and began a sting operation that led to van der Sloot's caught-on-camera admissions.

"I am telling you honestly, I know what happened to that girl," van der Sloot told Van der Eem, on the undercover video. He goes on to say that Holloway died in his arms and that he called a friend to dispose of her body.