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On the Record

July 12, 2005

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Some explosive new details are emerging about the night Natalee Holloway (search) disappeared. The Aruban newspaper Diario broke the news on their front page on Monday. Joining us live from Aruba with the inside scoop is Diario's managing editor, Jossy Mansur.

Jossy, let me get straight to the main thing that struck everybody reading that article today, that Joran van der Sloot (search) claimed to the police to have buried Natalee. Is that right?

JOSSY MANSUR, DIARIO MANAGING EDITOR: That's correct, Greta. That happened on the second day of interrogations.

VAN SUSTEREN: Do you know when he supposedly made that statement to the police? Was it early on in his detention, or even before his detention or later?

MANSUR: No, it was when they had let them free. And when he came back, they (INAUDIBLE) him in as a suspect. On the second day of that detention, he broke down completely. He cried, and he admitted to the police, he confessed to the police that, we buried Natalee.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did he say where he'd buried Natalee?

MANSUR: He gave them indications. They put him in a police car. They brought him over here to the north of the Marriott Hotel, and he pointed towards some indistinct area by the fishermen's huts. Those are huts that the fishermen use them to guard their equipment, their nets, their knives, whatever they use in fishing.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. And we put up on the screen the picture of that area, the fishermen hut area, which is a little bit north of the Marriott Hotel there on the beach. Jossy, have the police searched the area to see whether or not there was, indeed, someone buried in that area?

MANSUR: They have searched it. I think the people from Texas also searched there. The Aruba search and rescue team also searched there. I think that based on this first confession, everybody went and concentrated on this area to the north of the Marriott Hotel, yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. And I take it that, obviously, that we would know if they had found anything. And indeed, we don't. Jossy, any idea how many different versions of what happened Joran has told the police in interrogation?

MANSUR: Well, as I understand it, between 14 and 16 different versions.

VAN SUSTEREN: Have you heard anything in terms of whether or not Joran's lawyer, for instance, thinks he's going to be released?

MANSUR: You know, I think that all defense lawyers carry that confidence in themselves that their clients will be set free. That's normal with any defense lawyer. However, if he's going to be set free or not will depend on the evidence that will be presented tomorrow by the prosecutor.

VAN SUSTEREN: And what's the prosecutor's view of their evidence? Do they have something brand-new to present to the court?

MANSUR: Perhaps not brand-new, in that sense. Perhaps the prosecutor has all the evidence that they haven't presented before, and that is one of the big possibilities in this case. It doesn't necessarily have to be brand-new evidence. It could have been evidence that they've hold back for their cases and will present now because they know that they have to present a strong case tomorrow.

VAN SUSTEREN: And in terms of Deepak and Satish, you know, what's the prosecutor's argument, or what's the evidence to put them back in jail?

MANSUR: Well, because for one, they were not satisfied that they were set free, to begin with. I think that the prosecutor is under the impression that the evidence was not looked at carefully, that they have the high hopes that by presenting, whatever evidence that they have held back, that they will present now, that they stand a very good chance of bringing the Kalpoe brothers back into detention.

VAN SUSTEREN: Do you expect, or are you hearing from any of your sources whether or not Paul van der Sloot has continuing legal problems?

MANSUR: You know, that I have no knowledge of, Greta. Absolutely none.

VAN SUSTEREN: Is there any indication that Joran van der Sloot is going to be formally charged in the very near future? And I assume that if he were, that murdered would be one of the counts.

MANSUR: Well, if his detention is confirmed for another 50 days, I think the prosecution has to make charges against him.

VAN SUSTEREN: Tomorrow, how many judges are going to make the decision on whether or not to re-lock up Satish and Deepak or release Joran?

MANSUR: There's going to be three judges, three independent judges that will be brought in from Curacao. They will be probably all three Dutch judges. Maybe there will be one Antillean among them. We don't know yet. The names that have been presented to us are unknown. I think these are very recent, newcomers to Curacao.

VAN SUSTEREN: Jossy, thank you.