ORANJESTAD, Aruba, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A man named by Joran van der Sloot as the person who helped him get rid of Natalee Holloway's body in 2005 says he can prove he was not in Aruba at the time.
Van der Sloot, 20, says that he made up the story he told a Dutch acquaintance, his lawyer said. A Dutch crime reporter, Peter de Vries, arranged for the conversation to be secretly taped and it was broadcast Monday on ABC's "20/20."
Daury Rodrigues's lawyer said that he was working in the Netherlands in May 2005, Expatica reported. Rodrigues, who knew van der Sloot as a teenager, has given a statement to the public prosecutor in Aruba,
Chris Lejuez said.
Van der Sloot told Patrick van der Eem that he dumped Holloway's body in the ocean after the 18-year-old passed out while they were having sex on the beach. Holloway was in Aruba on a graduation trip with other members of her Alabama high school class.
While Rodrigues is back in Aruba, van der Sloot is studying law in the Netherlands. His lawyer, Bert de Rooij, said he is willing to be questioned by prosecutors in Aruba, ANP reported.
Since the broadcast became public, van der Sloot has been in hiding.
"I don't think I can go to school here anymore," van der Sloot reportedly said in an on-line conversation with a writer who collaborated with him on a book. "Lots of people are angry."
