Most Popular Law & Justice Stories of 2008

The year 2008 saw its fair share of unusual crimes, missing people and landmark cases.

It was the year O.J. Simpson, acquitted in 1995 of the murders of his ex-wife and her friend, was sentenced to prison for an armed robbery inside a Las Vegas hotel room; a suburban mother was convicted of cyberbullying her 13-year-old neighbor; thousands tuned in as investigators searched for a missing Florida toddler; and members of a polygamist religious sect clashed with authorities in Texas.

Here are the most widely read law and justice stories of 2008 from ABCNews.com.

Natalee Holloway Suspect: 'I Know What Happened'

Joran van der Sloot, a former suspect in the disappearance of American teen Natalee Holloway, said on surveillance recordings aired on a Dutch TV special that Holloway appeared to be lifeless on an Aruban beach three years ago during a romantic tryst and that "she'll never be found."

"I know what happened to that girl," van der Sloot announced during 20 hours of private conversations secretly recorded by crime reporter Peter R. de Vries.

Her body, van der Sloot said, had been dumped in the ocean by a friend with a boat.

"We're on the beach," he said on the recordings, according to the Dutch TV show. "Suddenly, she wasn't moving anymore."

Van der Sloot claimed he was lying in the secretly recorded conversations with Patrick van der Eem, a person he thought was a friend, but who was secretly working undercover for de Vries and his team of Dutch crime reporters.

Read the story: Holloway Suspect: 'I Know What Happened'.