Geraldo: Not A Fan of Joran van der Sloot

Geraldo Rivera was fired up this morning about “murdering SOB” Joran van der Sloot, the 22-year old Dutchmen accused but never convicted of murdering Natalee Holloway in Aruba five years ago. He recently confessed to Peruvian police that he murdered Stephany Flores Ramirez in a Lima, Peru hotel room two weeks ago.

“The devastating irony is that but for the Natalee Holloway investigation, Joran van der Sloot would not have had the money to fly from Aruba to Lima, Peru to meet Stephany Flores Ramirez,” said Geraldo, host of Fox News’s “Geraldo at Large.”

Van der Sloot had reached out to Natalee Holloway’s mother Beth a few months ago, claiming he was ready to come clean and tell her the truth about what happened between him and Natalee. He asked for $250,000 in exchange for information.

“They gave him a $25,000 down payment,” said Geraldo. After the extortion was committed, van der Sloot took Beth’s representative, lawyer John Q. Kelly, to the place he claimed he had buried Natalee: in the foundation of a house that had not even been built at the time of her disappearance. Nothing was found.

“He disappeared, three days later he’s in Lima, Peru at a gambling tournament, gambling with Beth Holloway Twitty’s money, meeting this 21-year old local woman, the daughter of a prominent Peruvian,” said Geraldo, failing to mention (until Imus prompted him) that the FBI was involved in the sting on van der Sloot the whole time.

“They had at least ten, maybe 12 agents in Aruba,” Geraldo said of the FBI. “That’s why the FBI is really looking pretty embarrassed right now, because they did not tail Joran.”

Once the bribe was consummated, Geraldo charged that the FBI should have moved in and arrested him. Instead, he found his way to Lima, met Flores Ramirez, took her back to his hotel room, beat her, killed her, tried to flee to Chile, was captured there, and extradited back to Peru.

Having confessed to murder, van der Sloot faces a maximum of 35 years in prison in Peru, where there is neither a life sentence nor a death penalty. But that doesn’t mean he’ll make it out of the super max prison alive.

“I assure you, as a Latin father, that this guy, had he done it to anyone related to me, would not really survive 35 years in a Peruvian prison,” said Geraldo. “I totally expect an extra-judicial resolution of Joran van der Sloot. I think some thug’s going to kill him in jail.”

Unless, of course, van der Sloot convinces Peruvian authorities to send him back to Aruba on the grounds that he’ll tell the truth about what happened to Natalee Holloway.

“That’s his only trump card,” said Geraldo, who can’t really see it happening. “It’s a huge long shot they’ll allow him to go to Aruba in any way, shape, or form.”

Also a long shot: hoping that Geraldo would know to stop talking while Imus was trying to ask him a question. Maybe next time.

-Julie Kanfer