Portrait Of A Monster
Páginas: 431 (107538 palabras)
Publicado: 2 de junio de 2012
A NOTE ON SOURCES
This book is based on scores of interviews and several thousand pages of police reports. We traveled in Aruba and Peru. We interviewed police, attorneys, witnesses, family members, scientific experts, and others tied to the story. We also made use of newspaper articles, television reports, and books written about the case. There are no fictional or “?compositecharacters.”? Certain events, sequences, and conversations were reconstructed from a synthesis of all the evidence, including the confessions, police reports, witness statements, interviews with participants, and other information.
CONTENTS
Title Page
A Note on Sources
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
ChapterSeven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Index
Also by LisaPulitzer & Cole Thompson
Copyright
PROLOGUE
TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 2010
LIMA, PERU
The frantic call came in just before midnight to the front desk of Lima’?s Hotel Tac, a budget lodging on the edge of the city’?s tourist district of Miraflores.
That night, nineteen-year-old receptionist Adeli Marchena picked up the line.
“?Mr. Van der Sloot, Room 309, please,”? the caller said.Adeli checked the computer to confirm that the man was still registered, as she did with all inbound calls, and then transferred the line to his room. About a minute passed when the call bounced back to the receptionist.
“?I’?m sorry, there’?s no answer,”? Adeli told the female caller.
Glancing at the room keys hanging on hooks behind her station, she noticed the one for Room 309 wasmissing. Since all guests were encouraged to leave their room keys at the reception desk when leaving the hotel and collect them upon their return, she assumed Mr. Van der Sloot must be upstairs resting. He’?d been at the hotel for more than two weeks, and she’?d become familiar with his comings and goings. She’?d been the one to check him in when he arrived at the hotel early on the morning of May 14,carrying a duffel bag and several other items. He was one of just five guests to check in that day, and the only foreigner.
Although the Hotel Tac catered mainly to Peruvians, tourists from Spain, Portugal, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, and even Switzerland lodged at the establishment during the first half of May. Many of the city’?s visitors were merely transients passing through Lima on their wayto Cuzco and the lost Incan city of Machu Picchu, discovered on a mountain ridge some eight thousand feet above sea level. Most travelers opted for the convenience of staying in the commercial district close to the casinos and shopping malls, but budget-conscious visitors chose more affordable lodgings such as the Hotel Tac, located on the outskirts of the main tourist area of Miraflores.Tourism was the lifeblood of the area and every measure was taken to keep the out-of-towners safe. The eighty-room Hotel Tac had security cameras in the lobby and strategically positioned on each of its seven floors. The reception area was manned twenty-four hours a day.
Adeli worked six nights a week. Her shifts began at 8:00 P.M. and ended at eight the following morning. Over the past two weeks,she’?d seen more of Joran van der Sloot than she had of any of the other guests at the hotel. The Dutchman kept strange hours, typically leaving the hotel near midnight and returning some time around dawn. Standing six feet four, with a pale complexion, angular features, and piercing brown eyes, the twenty-two-year-old cut a striking image. Adeli remembered him well. Peruvians tend to have black...
This book is based on scores of interviews and several thousand pages of police reports. We traveled in Aruba and Peru. We interviewed police, attorneys, witnesses, family members, scientific experts, and others tied to the story. We also made use of newspaper articles, television reports, and books written about the case. There are no fictional or “?compositecharacters.”? Certain events, sequences, and conversations were reconstructed from a synthesis of all the evidence, including the confessions, police reports, witness statements, interviews with participants, and other information.
CONTENTS
Title Page
A Note on Sources
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
ChapterSeven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Index
Also by LisaPulitzer & Cole Thompson
Copyright
PROLOGUE
TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 2010
LIMA, PERU
The frantic call came in just before midnight to the front desk of Lima’?s Hotel Tac, a budget lodging on the edge of the city’?s tourist district of Miraflores.
That night, nineteen-year-old receptionist Adeli Marchena picked up the line.
“?Mr. Van der Sloot, Room 309, please,”? the caller said.Adeli checked the computer to confirm that the man was still registered, as she did with all inbound calls, and then transferred the line to his room. About a minute passed when the call bounced back to the receptionist.
“?I’?m sorry, there’?s no answer,”? Adeli told the female caller.
Glancing at the room keys hanging on hooks behind her station, she noticed the one for Room 309 wasmissing. Since all guests were encouraged to leave their room keys at the reception desk when leaving the hotel and collect them upon their return, she assumed Mr. Van der Sloot must be upstairs resting. He’?d been at the hotel for more than two weeks, and she’?d become familiar with his comings and goings. She’?d been the one to check him in when he arrived at the hotel early on the morning of May 14,carrying a duffel bag and several other items. He was one of just five guests to check in that day, and the only foreigner.
Although the Hotel Tac catered mainly to Peruvians, tourists from Spain, Portugal, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, and even Switzerland lodged at the establishment during the first half of May. Many of the city’?s visitors were merely transients passing through Lima on their wayto Cuzco and the lost Incan city of Machu Picchu, discovered on a mountain ridge some eight thousand feet above sea level. Most travelers opted for the convenience of staying in the commercial district close to the casinos and shopping malls, but budget-conscious visitors chose more affordable lodgings such as the Hotel Tac, located on the outskirts of the main tourist area of Miraflores.Tourism was the lifeblood of the area and every measure was taken to keep the out-of-towners safe. The eighty-room Hotel Tac had security cameras in the lobby and strategically positioned on each of its seven floors. The reception area was manned twenty-four hours a day.
Adeli worked six nights a week. Her shifts began at 8:00 P.M. and ended at eight the following morning. Over the past two weeks,she’?d seen more of Joran van der Sloot than she had of any of the other guests at the hotel. The Dutchman kept strange hours, typically leaving the hotel near midnight and returning some time around dawn. Standing six feet four, with a pale complexion, angular features, and piercing brown eyes, the twenty-two-year-old cut a striking image. Adeli remembered him well. Peruvians tend to have black...
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