Van der Sloot expects never to be released, secret negotiations with lawyers to get lighter sentence

Joran van der Sloot does not expect that he will ever be released, he told De Telegraaf in an interview on Saturday. "To be honest, I expect never to be released. I don't have anybody to blame but myself," the Dutch main suspect in the case of missing American Natalee Holloway said.

De Telegraaf spoke to Van der Sloot via a video link from the prison in the U.S. state of Alabama, where the 35-year-old Dutchman has been detained since June.

Van der Sloot was already serving a 28-year sentence in Peru for the murder of 21-year-old Peruvian student Stephany Flores in 2010 and another 18-year sentence for drug smuggling. He was extradited from Peru to the United States after being charged with defrauding and extorting money from Holloway's family. The American girl disappeared in Aruba in 2005. However, her body has never been found.

Citing sources, De Telegraaf reported that the Alabama judiciary is in secret negotiations with Van der Sloot's lawyers to reach a settlement in the Holloway case.

The Dutchman himself said he hopes to return to Peru soon. "My lawyers are talking to the prosecution about how to proceed. I hope that all this will be resolved soon and that I can return to Peru. The conditions in Challapalca prison are not pleasant either, but I am not as isolated there as I am here, and at least I am a little closer to my young daughter Dushi and her mother Leidy," Van der Sloot said.

The newspaper reported that if the deal goes through, the 35-year-old suspect will be given a lighter sentence in exchange for a confession. In addition, there will be no jury trial.

Part of the deal is that Van der Sloot undergoes a lie detector test. However, the results of such a test are not legal evidence but according to the Alabama prosecutor's office, they give an important indication of the truthfulness of Van der Sloot's possible confession, De Telegraaf wrote.