Expert: Extortion won't hurt Van der Sloot

LIMA, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Joran van der Sloot's admission that he extorted money from Natalee Holloway's parents likely won't hurt him at trial, a legal expert said.

Van der Sloot told De Telegraaf he took $25,000 from the parents of the Alabama teen, who disappeared in Aruba in 2005, because "they have been making my life tough for years.

"When they offered to pay for the girl's location, I thought 'Why not?'" Van der Sloot said.

CBS News Legal Analyst Jack Ford said the admission likely will not hurt him in court.

"I think your first instinct is, 'This must hurt him in terms of the Natalee Holloway case.' Curiously, legally, it really doesn't," Ford said Tuesday on CBS's "The Early Show."

"At best, it's stunningly insensitive by him, at worst, it could be a whole lot of other things, but legally it's not an admission. He's not saying, 'Yes, I killed her.' He's saying, 'Well, I wanted to get back at the parents here.' So, does it create another suspicious element? Yes, but is it enough for a prosecutor to say, 'Now we got him for Natalee Holloway'? The answer is 'no,'" Ford said.

Van der Sloot is on trial in Peru for the May slaying of 21-year-old Stefany Flores. He confessed to the killing but later said his confession was coerced. Multiple requests to have his statements invalidated have been unsuccessful.

If found guilty in Flores' killing, Van der Sloot could face up to 35 years in prison.