OM’s explanation of evidence do not tally
12/22/2007
In a press conference, lawyers Hose Figaroa, Ronald Wix, and Elgin Zeppenfeldt explained the media that according to them, none of justice’s evidence tally.
ORANJESTAD – The lawyers of the three former suspects, Hose Figaroa, Ronald Wix, Elgin Zeppenfeldt, and David Kock said in a press conference, that the ‘new’ evidence that the Public Prosecutor (OM) provided after the dismissal do not tally. Their office has been swamped lately with hatred mails and threats, including death.
A girl from Surinam told the Dutch detectives in June of this year that right after the disappearance of Natalee Holloway in 2005, she had a conversation with Satish. “That can never be convincing after two years, is the opinion of Wix. “”She might have said that something was wrong, but for as far as I am aware of, she only said that Satish was sad.” Wix also has problems with the other testimony taken out of an old chat-session of Deepak’s computer. “That chat session was about two subjects: the disappearance of Natalee and the death of a tennis instructor that drowned near Conchi. The word ‘su’ that can mean ‘his’ or ‘her’ in Papiamento, was interpreted wrong in the transcript. Instead of ‘su morto’, his death, it became her death. Also the court realized the misinterpretation; Deepak would have otherwise been behind bars. Nobody has ever said that Natalee is dead, but the OM assumes that with this testimony.”
The lawyers consider the fact that Justice hinted that the former suspects of manslaughter on Natalee Holloway haven’t seen the last of them, even worse. The OM said in a press conference this week that the case has only entered a new phase, and is not closed. As soon as there are more clues, these will be investigated, and the former suspects, including Joran van der Sloot, will be arrested again. Wix says that what the OM said is indeed possible, but the evidence must be ‘very weighty and new’. “The OM keeps the delusion that the three are still suspects. Legally, they must be left alone, and due to the dismissal, Aruba has nothing to say about their innocence. Let them find the girl first and only then can they annoy our clients. They cannot even proof that there was a crime.”
Justice’s other reason for arresting the three former suspects was based on their declarations to the media that they would tell what exactly has happened in the night Holloway disappeared. They didn’t say anything though. According to Wix, everything has already been said. “They said that they won’t talk, but in the meantime they have already given at least 20 declarations. They were arrested because there was new evidence, but then it turned out that there was no new evidence, so they had nothing to say.”
Wix, together with his brother councils, will probably demand damages. They are currently considering via the court whether they can recover the costs for among others hiring a lawyer in the US. Wix won’t say what the amount is.
The firm David Kock & Wix was swamped with threats during the ‘reopening’ of the Holloway-case. They received many hatred mails and also death threats. “I received two more of such e-mails on Thursday. One of them wishes the death for me and my family. The other one said, ‘you must wish that I do not come to Aruba. Maybe, I ought to report that”, said Wix.
