What was Joran van der Sloot’s childhood like? Explored

The disappearance of American Teenager Natalee Holloway was one of the most sensationalized true crime stories of the last decade. At the center of the media circus was Joran van der Sloot, an affluent teen with a constantly shifting story and need to live on the edge. The then 17-year-old’s ever-changing alibi was problem enough, but his attempt to extort $250k from her mourning mother landed the heartless psychopath on everyone’s bad list. Joyously, van der Sloot confessed to the murder in 2023, and though Natalee’s remains will likely never be found, her family can rest easier know this scumbag is behind bars.

Natalee’s murder was far from the first crime van der Sloot committed. While his family has been fairly quiet about the whole affair, plenty of information has been uncovered about just how monstrous Joran van der Snoot was throughout his adolescence. It’s a frustrating situation compounded by the hindsight that his parents likely knew about his concerning behavior and chose to ignore it.

Joran van der Sloot’s childhood

Van der Sloot grew up in Arnhem, the Netherlands alongside his two brothers. Their father, Paulus van der Sloot, was a lawyer specializing in government law. After fighting a lengthy battle against the Dutch government to save his family estate, he turned his ambitions toward securing a place as a judge in Aruba. Joran van der Sloot’s mother, Anita van der Sloot-Hugen, is, by all accounts, a shy woman. She has only rarely spoken to the media about her eldest son. The secretive woman (who can blame her) is an art teacher.

The family left the Netherlands when Joran was 10, so Paulus could take a position as an attorney within the Aruban government. The gorgeous island is a tourist’s paradise, and the island’s elite are a tightly knit group. With ample money (Paulus was allegedly worth $9 million when he died in 2010), access to a wealth of nightlife, and a government official at his beck and call, Aruba was the perfect party place for a boy like Joran van der Sloot.

Little is known about Joran van der Sloot’s academic life. His teachers and school have stayed tight-lipped about the troubled teen’s time at The International School of Aruba. His younger brother, Kees van der Spek, has been the main source of documentation around Joran’s aggressive behavior. From an early age, van der Sloot was a master manipulator and a compulsive liar. On top of his propensity to fabricate stories, he had a temper and lashed out at those around him. Before his 16th birthday, van der Sloot had pushed a classmate through a glass window and thrown a homeless man into the ocean.

Van der Sloot’s childhood was marked with signs of a troubled youth; he was involved with numerous minor offenses, from theft to vandalism. He even moved into the family’s guesthouse to keep his nightly escapades secret from his parents. On a typical night, van der Sloot could be found at the casino, and partying at late-night bars, where he was accused of slipping date-rape drugs into women’s drinks. A former FBI investigator who was looking into Natalee Holloway’s disappearance found at least one woman willing to testify against van der Sloot – unfortunately, she changed her mind. Despite it being fairly public knowledge, officials have no explanation for why these complaints were never followed up on.

Kees van der Spek thinks the mystery is actually pretty straightforward. He’s recounted stories of his father enabling his brother by giving him money to gamble at the casino and allowing him to drive through both activities are illegal in Aruba until after one’s 18th birthday. It was rumored that van der Sloot was frequenting internet forums, soliciting couples for sex. But when police tried to investigate, the inquiry soon disappeared. Van der Spek told truTV, “What I do know is that Joran was the boss of his father and mother. He would tell them what to do and not the other way around.”

His behavior was dotted by incredibly selfish acts. Patrick van der Eem wrote in his book Overboard that if van der Sloot asked him to bring over food or drink, he only ever secured enough for himself. Van der Eem claims that he then ate in front of his obviously hungry roommates. Likewise, when van der Sloot was caught on tape recounting one of many different versions of Natalee’s death, he focused on how it affected him personally. He claimed that Natalee had a seizure, and as the young woman was dying he, “…was nearly in tears thinking ‘Why must this s**t happen to me?’”

FBI profiler Clint van Zandt thinks Sloot’s behavior means he’s likely, “a pathological liar…. The only time he will tell the truth about anything is when he believes it is in his best self-interest at the exclusion of anyone else on the planet.” It’s hard to diagnose without speaking to a patient but throw in some sociopathy, a healthy dose of narcissism, and some serious antisocial tendencies and we might be on to something.