The mother of Natalee Holloway, the 18-year-old who was killed while on vacation in Aruba in 2005, said she does not accept the apology from her daughter's killer, Joran van der Sloot.
Beth Holloway said in an interview with NBC News she does not believe van der Sloot is a changed man, as he maintained in his apology in the courtroom on Wednesday, where he pleaded guilty to guilty to extortion and wire fraud in connection with the Alabama teen’s case.
As part of the plea, van der Sloot admitted he bludgeoned Holloway to death on an Aruba beach in 2005. He'd been suspected in her disappearance for decades.
"He doesn’t have that in his existence. Just to say the words? It’s fine. It didn’t mean anything," Beth Holloway told NBC News' Sam Brock.
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Van der Sloot, 36, had previously pleaded not guilty to all charges, before he changed his plea to guilty and explained to investigators how he took Natalee Holloway's life — solving what happened to the teenager nearly two decades ago.
As part of his plea agreement, van der Sloot told investigators Natalee Holloway wanted to go back to her hotel, but he wanted to get dropped off farther away so they could walk back together and he "might still get a chance to be with her."
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While the two were on the beach, van der Sloot said Holloway rejected his sexual advances and kneed him groin to try to get free. He said he responded by kicking her "extremely hard" in the face.
Van der Sloot told investigators Holloway was unconscious, "possibly even dead," when he found a cinderblock nearby and struck her in the head with it. He then took her body to the water, he said.
"I walk up to about my knees into the ocean — and I push her off into the sea," he said.
Van der Sloot apologized to the Holloway family in the courtroom on Wednesday, saying he is a different person than he was nearly 20 years ago.
"I would like to apologize to the Holloway family," van der Sloot said. "I am no longer that person back then than I am today. I gave my heart to Jesus Christ, he helped me through all of this."
Beth Holloway responded to the apology in the courtroom.
"You are a killer and I want you to remember that every time that jail cell door slams," she said in court.
Beth Holloway told Brock that confronting her daughter's killer was not nearly as daunting as living with unanswered questions for nearly two decades.
"The reason why is because the not knowing is more torturous than the knowing," she said. "You brace yourself. You take the hit, but the not knowing is the never ending nightmare, and that’s worse."
She added that knowing how her daughter died brings her some peace and closure to move forward.
"Well, I think now it becomes easier for me to appreciate her life through my son’s life, and through his children’s lives," she said.
"I’ve been a little distracted," she added, wiping tears from her eyes. "So I feel like now I can kind of like ... now I can focus on that."
U.S. District Judge Anna Manasco called van der Sloot's crimes "heinous to the extreme," and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. The sentence will serve concurrently to the time he's serving in Peru for the murder of 21-year-old college student Stephany Flores.
If his 28-year prison sentence ends early in Peru, he would be returned to the U.S. to complete his sentence for his convictions on extortion and wire fraud, Manasco said.
"Even with this confession, though, he can’t be tried here for Natalee’s murder," Beth Holloway said. "But I am satisfied knowing that he did it, he did it alone and he disposed of her alone."
She added: "I have what I need. Her case is solved."
