For his part, van der Sloot's escapades are well chronicled, particularly by the Dutch tabloids. He has posed nude for an online porn site, and European broadcasters have complained that he often demands payment for his television appearances--especially when he confesses--about the Holloway case. During a recent trip to Thailand he hinted that he wouldn't mind getting into the business of sex trafficking and even joked that he'd sold Holloway as a sex slave. He was in Lima to take part in an international poker tournament known for its drug climate.

His friends in Holland and Aruba say his reputation is one of arrogance and self-entitlement. When Peter R. de Vries, one of Holland's toughest crime reporters (picture the male Greta Van Susteren) questioned him on a television program about Holloway's murder, his response was to throw a glass of wine in the journalist's face the moment the show ended. "This says something about Joran," de Vries said after the broadcast. "He doesn't have complete control over his behavior."

Hmmm... maybe there's his out.

Even his own lawywer says he brings a lot of on himself.

The court of public opinion can still reach into the court of law. New York lawyer Joseph Tacopina, who consulted Knox's defense and represented van der Sloot in the Holloway case in Aruba, maintains that both are victims of bad press, but admits the prejudice is largely fed by their own actions. "In both instances, the sensationalism far outweighed the facts of the cases," he told NEWSWEEK.

Famed criminal defense lawyer Roy Black told ABC's "Good Morning America" that, "The murder case in Peru takes precedence over" the extortion charges, and that the chances of van der Sloot getting extradited to Alabama "are zero."

"He's going to get a very long sentence in Peru," Black said. "By the time he gets out of jail, if he ever does, this would be a footnote in history."

The lawyer said, however, that the Holloway disappearance could be used "as evidence of proof in Peru," and the Holloway family may ask a Peru court "for a longer sentence because of Natalee's murder."

Jeralyn, you thought maybe a boyfriend, but as she is a lesbian, that was not likely so you mentioned the possibility of a girlfriend.  I had a hard time picturing a woman having the strength for that severe of a beating, but a baseball makes your suggestion seem more possible.