FRANKLIN BRICENO
Associated Press
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian prison officials denied on Monday a claim that convicted killer Joran van der Sloot was stabbed by other inmates in the remote maximum security prison where he was recently transferred for disciplinary reasons.
A prisons authority official said Van der Sloot has been isolated from other prisoners in the Challapalca prison in Peru’s southern highlands. The official said he has two superficial wounds on his abdomen that were probably self-inflicted.
The prisons official spoke on condition of anonymity, saying she was not authorized to divulge the information publicly ahead of a press statement expected Tuesday.
The Peruvian woman who Van der Sloot married in July told reporters Sunday that he had been stabbed but presented no evidence. His attorney, Maximo Altez, made the same claim and said he was too busy to offer details.
The prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of the U.S. teen Natalee Holloway, Van der Sloot is serving a 28-year prison sentence for the 2010 murder of a Lima woman.
Van der Sloot was transferred to Challapalca from a prison outside Lima. Prison authorities said they had found him with a cellphone, which is against regulations.
Van der Sloot’s wife, Leidy Figueroa, gave birth to a daughter in September. The two met in a Lima prison.
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