John Q. Kelly

“In theory, Joran took twenty-five grand, had a good laugh, and went about his merry way. It didn’t bother me at all, because I knew how it was going to play out.”

John Q. Kelly · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-04

Kelly said van der Sloot took the money and laughed it off, but Kelly knew how it would play out.

“I pretended like I believed this,”

John Q. Kelly · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-04

Kelly said he pretended to believe van der Sloot's claim about where Natalee's body was located.

“I thought it was complete bulls–t. I knew he had no intention of giving any truthful information whatsoever, but I told Beth there might be a play to get him trapped with extortion and fraud charge,”

John Q. Kelly · said date not stated · reported 2026-11-04

Kelly said he thought van der Sloot's offer was nonsense but saw a chance to trap him with extortion and fraud charges.