Joran van der Sloot is now a father

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Convicted killer and prime suspect in the Natalee Holloway disappearance Joran van der Sloot became a father Monday when his Peruvian wife gave birth to a baby girl.

Leidy Figueroa gave birth to the couple's daughter, named Dushie, which means "sweet" in Papiamento, according to van der Sloot's attorney, Maximo Altez. The child's middle name is Trudie, named for van der Sloot's grandmother.

The Dutch inmate, 27, married Flores, 25, in July at the Peruvian prison where he is serving a 28-year sentence for the murder of Stepany Flores.

Van der Sloot was transferred in August from a Lima-area prison to a maximum security facility in the remote Challapalca, in the Andes, over alleged threats to kill a guard. He began a hunger strike in late August to protest the conditions at Challapalca, which he has called "worse than Guantanamo," and Altez says the strike is ongoing.

The son of a Dutch judge serving in Aruba, van der Sloot was the last person seen with Holloway, then 18, before her 2005 disappearance. He allegedly extorted $25,000 from Holloway's mother on a promise to lead her to the body, which has never been found.

Van der Sloot is due to be extradited to the U.S. years to face charges of defrauding Beth Holloway in 2038, after his Peruvian sentence ends.