The Dana Pretzer Show on Scared Monkeys Radio - Wednesday, November 26, 2008 - Tonight Dana Devotes An Entire Program To The Natalee Holloway Investigation

Tonight, Dana discusses the latest Joran Van der Sloot news with his distinguished guests:

• Clint Van Zandt, former FBI agent, discusses the recent Joran Van der Sloot interviews.
• Art Wood, former secret service agent and private investigator also discusses the Van der Sloot interviews.
• Stacy Dittrich, author and police officer discusses Joran’s recent media appearances.
• Steve Cohen, former spokesperson for Aruba, discusses the investigation.

Download and Comment at ScaredMonkeysRadio.Com

Natalee Holloway Missing: Aruban Investigators and Spin Machine Still Dancing Around the Truth … Aruban Can’t Can’t, Part Deux

After all this time has gone by in the case of missing Natalee Holloway in Aruba; the government,  the investigators and the Spin-Meisters continue to dance.

(Click on picture above for the Aruban Can’t Can’t)

One thing is for certain, if one can spin, one can dance .. these guys are great at both.

Aruba Can’t Cant, Part 1

AP Gets SUSPECT Facts Wrong Again … Aruban Kalpoe Brothers Try To Get Wrongful Death Suit Dismissed

AP, once and for all could you please get the facts correct in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway? Deepak and Satish Kalpoe are presently suspects in Natalee Holloway’s disappearance, not “were once suspects”. How difficult a concept is that for a new wire to comprehend and get correct? THEY ARE STILL CONSIDERED THE PRIMARY SUSPECTS ALONG WITH JORAN VAN DER SLOOT IN HER DISAPPEARANCE!!!

That being said the Kalpoe brothers are looking to get the wrongful death suit filed against them by Beth Twitty and Dave Holloway dismissed. So who is looking to make money of a missing, presumed deceased teenager? Suspects in the murder. Earth to US Court, this is the reason why the Aruban courts did not compensate the suspects for wrongful imprisonment and kept them as suspects in the crime.

By the way Deepak, why so many inconsistencies and contradictions in your statements?

Holloway’s parents sued Deepak and Satish Kalpoe in December in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming the brothers caused fatal injuries to their daughter. The young woman’s body has never been found.

Beth Twitty and Dave Holloway chose the Los Angeles court after the Kalpoes sued the “Dr. Phil” talk show there alleging libel and slander.

In court papers filed last week, an attorney for the Kalpoes argued that the brothers are residents of Aruba and have no ties to California and that the lawsuit against them should be dismissed. (AP)

It is truly amazing that these gold diggers would come to America and willingly subject themselves to a California Courts jurisdiction to sue for profit, yet cower when sued themselves for a wrongful death law suit. What brave men they are to knowing go to a bar full of American female tourists on their last night on Aruba one half hour before closing and have a girl in their car obviously intoxicated and possibly drugged for their own agenda, only to sue for money. The Kalpoe’s attorney, Kristina M. Beck, filed court papers on Tuesday to dismiss the lawsuit. Brave souls indeed.

Beck’s court papers state that an important ruling occurred Jan. 24, when another Los Angeles Superior Court judge, Edward A. Ferns, ruled that the wrongful death claim of the teen’s parents against the Kalpoes is substantially different from the siblings’ defamation case against “Dr. Phil” McGraw.

“These actions do not arise from the same or substantially identical transactions, happenings or events…,” Ferns wrote, in ruling that both cases should not be kept before the same judge.

The Kalpoes sued McGraw and CBS Television on Dec. 13, alleging they were defamed in a Sept. 15, 2005, show dealing with the still-unsolved case. Although the Kalpoe brothers had been released from Aruban police custody, the “Dr. Phil” episode suggested they gave Holloway a date rape drug and had non- consensual group sex with her, according to their lawsuit. (NBC4)

Read more

Steve Cohen & Aruba the Truth: Missing in Aruba

Has anyone seen this man? Steve Cohen has suddenly found himself in the “where are they now files”. Steve Cohen is added to a long line of  former Aruban spokes people that have faded off the map in to obscurity. Have the budget cuts in Aruba due to the dwindling tourism cost Cohen his funding?

MISSING: STEVE COHEN

Last seen spinning a yarn on TV and back tracking on a previously made statement implicating the three suspects.

(Pic Hat Tip: Klaas)

It seems as though Aruba figured out that maybe if they say nothing, that is better than insulting peoples intelligence with the SPIN that was being spewed with regards to Natalee, her disappearance, the investigation and the family. News Flash … not commenting is no comment.

The lack of a comment is also looked upon as an admission of guilt.

It would appear that Tim Miller and Texas Equusearch may have to be called back to Aruba to find Steve Cohen as well. Steve, has the cat got your tongue? Or is it the Aruban officials? For a spokesman you are not saying much these days.

Steve Cohen, the artist formerly known as the “Special Adviser to the Aruban Government,” has been conspicuous by absence. Was Steve Cohen a victim of the Aruban budget cuts due to the loss of tourism in response to how Aruban officials have handled the Natalee Holloway case?  Or was he a victim of his own comments like promising arrests and closure of the case with the next few months? Of course that promise came from Steven Cohen on January 17, 2006.

Spokesman for the Aruban government, former CBS journalist Steve Cohen, is predicting a closure to the case in the next six months.

Mr Cohen expects one or all three suspects - Dutch national Joran van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe - to be charged for rape and murder.

He says he’s optimistic that they’ll be able to wrap up their current probe and be able to present a case to the judge “in the next few weeks or a few months”.

 Or was it because he stated that the prosecution believes the three suspects are guilty of wrongdoing  against Natalee Holloway.

Dr. Phil asks him, ”From your opinion, based on what you know, do you believe that these boys are guilty of wrongdoing here?” Steve says that he does. “Do the prosecutors believe they are guilty of wrongdoing?” Steve says that they do. “Do you believe that [the boys] have available, intimate knowledge of what happened to her that night?” Again, Steve confirms that he does.

The Aruban OM and Defense were certainly not happy with some of those comments. The ATA and Briesen also disturbed about Cohen’s comments. What, that they may have been true?

Maybe Steve Cohen is no longer in the picture because he tells the Travel Video the boys had sex with Natalee. Then of course there was the promise and prediction that Cohen made during the Christmas holiday that Joran Van der Sloot would be re-questioned within the next 10 days.

Steve Cohen has not been seen from in months. The spokesman for The Aruba Strategic Communications Task Force is MIA. For that matter so is The Strategic Task Force. The web site “Aruba Truth” must have run out of more “truths” to tell.

Just in case Aruba Truth thought they had lost all the posts that they had previously done, we wanted to make sure everyone still had access to them. Aruba Truth archive. I know you would not want all that information lost. We are only looking out for you.

Aruba, if you think you can ignore this and its just going to go away … think again. No justice … no tourism. Solve the case and find those responsible and get on with it. While you are at it why don’t you prosecute those that were complicit in the negligence in this investigation.

Steve Cohen and Arlene Ellis Schipper Now Spin for Attorney David Kock?

Steve Cohen and Arlene Ellis Schipper have basically been in the “where are they now” category of late in discussing the disappearance of Natalee Holloway and the situation regarding the three suspects, Joran Van der Sloot, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. That was until last nights Rita Cosby’s, ‘Live & Direct’.

The other night the Kalpoe’s attorney, David Kock, stated the following:

Of course, it’s a call of the DA. But from the information that we are getting, it seems like, you know, they know, too, they have to round this up. I won’t be surprised if, you know, summer, June, July the case will be presented.

Now for some reason Steve Cohen and Arlene Ellis Schipper feel it their need to SPIN for a defense attorney? These two people are members of the Aruban government sponsored, Aruban Strategic Communications Task Force. Steve Cohen is the Aruban government’s spokes person; why on earth is he coming forth and stating what David Kock either did or did not mean to say? Even for Aruba this is peculiar.

The comment Steve did and got quite the tongue lashing from Rita Cosby in the process. Read the following as the fur certainly flew on last nights show. Quite the interesting development in that Steve Cohen feels the need to tell everyone what another individual meant to say. Hey Steve, you speak for the government; you do not speak for David Kock.

Live & Direct; March 21, 2006

And now let‘s bring in, if we could, Steve Cohen. He‘s a special adviser to the Aruban government. And joining us now live on the phone from the island is Aruban attorney Arlene Ellis Schipper.

Steve, does the Aruban government want to see this case go to trial and wrapped up in some shape or form, whichever way it is?

STEVE COHEN, SPECIAL ADVISER TO ARUBAN GOVERNMENT: There‘s no question that the goal has always been to figure out what happened to Natalee, who was responsible, if anyone, was there criminality? You know, we want that result.

But all that‘s happened here, Rita, is that you have an aggressive producer who got hold of the attorney, and the attorney, just talking out loud, thinking out loud, came up with these suppositions that are totally…

COSBY: All right, Steve. I got to interrupt you. I got to interrupt you on two counts.

Read more

More Predictions Not Commented on From Steve Cohen in the Natalee Holloway Investigation

Earlier this week, many in Aruba were upset over the comments that Steve Cohen had made on behalf of the Aruban prosecution, investigators, government and tourism industry. But why not comment on all the statements that were made? Also, I guess it was OK for Karen Janssen to make the “fireworks” comment. First we had the OM and defense not happy with statements Cohen.

The Public Prosecutor (OM) has called Steve Cohen, spokesperson of the Strategic Communications Task Force in the United States to account his statements in Dr. Phil’s show of last week. During the show in question, Cohen had declared that the OM is of the opinion that the three boys are guilty of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. The OM had asked Cohen in a letter where he got the information from and called him to account the fact that he declared the three boys guilty.

Then the ATA and Briesen also disturbed about Cohen’s comments an put out a statement.

ATA emphasized in a press release that ATA and Tourism-minister Edison Briesen (MEP) do not agree with the statements of Cohen on the details of the investigation and the guiltiness of the three suspects.

Cohen had already made such statements in Dr. Phil’s show that was recorded on January 10th, five days before Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) conference. Cohen’s statements had been on the Task Force’s website for some time. Cohen had also added an elucidation on the same website. Both articles are meanwhile removed from arubatruth.com.

Of course the fact that Steve Cohen is a spokes person for the Strategic Communications Task Force and Arubatruth.com is the on-line communication vehicle for that group just makes it all the more puzzling why they would need to take down any article from the web site. How can there be a communication issue? They are the same entity? Maybe this is the lack of communication that Dave Holloway and Beth Twitty have been discussing for nearly eight months.

However, its not just the Dr. Phil show that Steven Cohen was making such comments and predictions. Sure the American public heard Steve Cohen’s comments regarding the guilt of the three suspects, but did they hear it from The BBC Caribbean?

Read more

Dave Holloway on Live & Direct (1/23/06), “Paulus early on in the investigation, he was pointing the finger back towards the Mountain Brook kids”

Rita Cosby, Live & Direct: January 24, 2006 : (Dave Holloway & Steve Cohen)

LIVE & DIRECT right now is special adviser to the Aruban government, Steve Cohen. Also with us on the phone is Natalee Holloway’s father, Dave Holloway.

Steve, why are they doing this now?

STEVE COHEN, SPECIAL ADVISER TO ARUBAN GOVERNMENT: Well, I think it’s just a matter of a process of elimination. You know, we go through a lot of these scenarios. Finally, we get to the point where we say we need to talk to some of those who were with Natalee the day and then the night that she disappeared.

We have to go through a process through the FBI in Barbados to get access to these individuals. And by the way, the FBI will be questioning them and the Aruban authorities will be the observers in keeping with the covenants that we have with the United States government.

COSBY: What do you think they could provide, though, Steve? Is there a question of Natalee’s state of mind? Is there a question of something else, speaking to them, maybe they heard or saw? Where do you think it’s headed?

COHEN: Well, all of those things are important. Let me talk first about just the circumstances surrounding that evening. Anything that investigators can find out about what it was like that evening just generally is important and then specifically, what was Natalee thinking? Was she in a good mood or a bad mood? And then, of course, what was her physical state? All of these things will add into the puzzle of what these teens say versus what the Aruban authorities collected from other witnesses.

COSBY: Dave, what do you make of all of this? Do you think this is going to get any step closer to finding your daughter? Or is this sort of just grasping for straws?

DAVE HOLLOWAY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY’S FATHER: Well, I think it’s going to close some of the holes in the investigation. You know, when I met with Paulus early on in the investigation, he was pointing the finger back towards the Mountain Brook kids. And I think it’s just a way of just closing that gap and putting that to rest.

Read more

Amigoe: OM and Defense Not Happy with Statements Cohen

Amigoe: January 23, 2006; OM and defense not happy with statements Cohen

ARUBA — The Public Prosecutor (OM) has called Steve Cohen, spokesperson of the Strategic Communications Task Force in the United States to account his statements in Dr. Phil’s show of last week. During the show in question, Cohen had declared that the OM is of the opinion that the three boys are guilty of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. The OM had asked Cohen in a letter where he got the information from and called him to account the fact that he declared the three boys guilty.

“As Public Prosecutor, we are not allowed to comment on the question whether a person is guilty or not, and we will never do that either, neither will we relinquish detailed information from the investigation”, said spokesperson Mariaine Croes of the OM. It upsets the OM that Cohen, as official spokesperson of Aruba, has done this. Also the lawyer of the Kalpoe brothers, David Kock, has indicated not being pleased at all with the firm statements of Cohen. He says that Cohen should have maintained the indication that the three boys are suspects, but Cohen decided to assume the judge’s position by indicating firmly that they are guilty and his statements are considered very important since he is partly being paid by the government.

Read more

Aruba officials take steps to move island’s tourism industry ahead

The Aruban Tourism industry continues to make such bold and positive claims, yet where are the posted tourism numbers since the summer? It’s not just Americans that are asking such questions, its Aruban politicians as well. From Travel Weekly comes the following:

“Despite the publicity surrounding the tragic disappearance of Natalee Holloway and the events that have followed, 2005 was a successful year for Aruba in terms of visitor figures and the launch of new projects on the island. Not all figures are in yet, but we recorded an overall growth of 3% from the U.S. market through October.”

Really?

Echoing that sentiment was Edison Briesen, minister of tourism, who addressed the media at the recent Caribbean Marketplace in San Juan. Briesen outlined several projects in the works on the island:

• The development of a second tourism corridor at Baby Beach on the eastern end of Aruba;
• A $60 million expansion plan at Queen Beatrix International Airport and an expansion of the cruise ship terminal;
• An upgrade and renovation project in downtown Oranjestad;
• The launch of a tourism-training program for locals called The Promise;
• More than $150 million in various hotel renovations;
• The continuation of Aruba’s successful ACE (Aruba Certified Expert) program for agents.
• (But no money for this?)

Read more

Amigoe: Spokesperson blunders: ‘There is no declaration on sex’

From Amigoe: Spokesperson blunders: ‘There is no declaration on sex’; January 21, 2006

Steve Cohen has the feeling that he didn’t do that bad in Dr. Phil’s show

(Didn’t do that bad? Steve Cohen may want to read what his supporters are saying after the appearance on the Dr. Phil Show. He does not have to worry about the people who questioned his motives prior to the interview, but those that supported him. What was the Amigoe comment? That was the second time that the spokesperson of the Strategic Communications Task Force had failed big time.)

ARUBA — Steve Cohen, spokesperson of the Strategic Communications Task Force, indicated that he didn’t mean to say that the two main suspects had actually told him that they had consensual sex with Natalee Holloway. “None of the boys have declared that they had consensual sex with her. The official viewpoint on this has not changed.”

Cohen says that he made the statement after questions on the possible interrogation of Holloway’s fellow travelers. He only wanted to give an example of a reason why these young folks have to be interrogated. He says that it has to do with amongst others Holloway’s position at the time she got into the car with the boys. “Come to think about it; I should have used the word ‘if’ in front of the statement; that would have made it clear.” Meanwhile, there is a declaration on the website ‘Aruba Truth’ that clarifies Cohen’s words.

(Just for clarity lets post Steve Cohen’s exact quoted comment that Aruba the Truth even posted on their web site:

“Two of the boys said they had consensual sex with her. Whether consensual or not, depends on her ability to be conscious and make a choice,” said Cohen.

Cohen was guest in Dr. Phil’s TV-show of yesterday afternoon. “It was a very difficult experience. I knew that I was going to be the only person to defend Aruba against three other persons, Beth Twitty, her lawyer, and Dr. Phil”, said Cohen, who had a very hard time rectifying the statements he made in December last, about the main suspects being interrogated within 10 days. That was the second time that the spokesperson of the Strategic Communications Task Force had failed big time.