Joran Van Der Sloot to Marry 5 Months Pregnant Girlfriend Next Week

By Sami K. Martin, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Joran Van der Sloot (2nd L) of the Netherlands i is transferred by the police to the Justice Palace to be held temporarily before being moved to a prison in Lima June 11, 2010. An official at the Peruvian national police's criminal investigations unit told Reuters on Tuesday that Van der Sloot admitted he killed 21-year-old Stephany Flores, whose body was found in a Lima hotel room last week. | REUTERS/Pilar Olivares

Joran Van Der Sloot, a person of interest in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, is reportedly set to marry his five months pregnant girlfriend in Peru. The nuptials are scheduled for May 22, and the bride-to-be claims that Van Der Sloot has changed "into a new person" and she could not be happier to marry him.

The two met in 2010 when Leidy Figueroa, 24, went to the prison with her cousin to visit a different inmate. The inmate actually acted as a matchmaker, and she has been visiting Van Der Sloot twice a week for the past four years. She brings homemade meals to every visit and enjoys spending time with her intended. Figueroa still needs to pick out a wedding dress for the ceremony, which will take place at the prison, where the witnesses will be Van Der Sloot's lawyer and Figueroa's godmother, she told "Crimesider."

Van Der Sloot is serving a 28-year sentence for murdering Stephany Flores. Once he is released from the prison in Peru, he will be extradited to the United States to stand trial on extortion charges in Alabama. Van Der Sloot allegedly took money from Natalee Holloway's mother in exchange for providing her information about her missing daughter. He then fled to Peru, where he killed Flores and was found guilty of the crime.

Right now, Figueroa is five months pregnant with a child she claims is Van Der Sloot's. She recently bought a home near the prison so that she can be much closer. Meanwhile, Van Der Sloot is studying international business management.

Some wonder if the marriage is a ploy to keep Van Der Sloot from being extradited to the United States. According to Peru This Week, Peruvian law states that if Van Der Sloot marries a Peruvian national, he would take on her nationality, complicating an already tenuous extradition plan. However, Van Der Sloot's lawyer insists that it is no ploy and that there is already an extradition treaty in place between the two countries.