Extortion trial delayed until fall for suspect in Natalee Holloway’s disappearance

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday agreed to delay Joran Van der Sloot’s extortion trial until the fall to give him more time to prepare a defense or decide if he wants to enter a guilty plea. Van der Sloot’s attorney, Kevin Butler, had asked for the continuance from the July 31 trial docket to give more time to “review the discovery, investigate this case, and prepare for trial.” Prosecutors agreed to the change. Van der Sloot, the chief suspect in Natalee Holloway’s 2005 disappearance in Aruba, faces federal charges that he tried to extort money from the missing teen’s mother in exchange for revealing where to find her daughter’s remains. He was extradited from Peru on June 8 to face trial on the extortion charge in Alabama, Holloway’s home state.