Forensic Thoughtprints

April 14, 2008

Aspiration Seizure: The convulsion leading to Natalee's death

Joran told Patrick van der Eem that Natalee suffered a seizure and died. So now seizures are discussed ad infinitum until the media’s blue in the face, occasionally speculating that it may have been a cardiac event causing a sudden death. Besides that simple speculation, the media and investigators remain frustratingly fixated on the idea of a literal “seizure.”

But what if Joran only gives us part of the truth and that part of the truth which is most  favorable to him? That’s what criminals typically do when they’re starting to confess. As much as they can, they try to make themselves look good. What if Joran colors the truth about the type of crisis which occurred with Natalee so that he looks good, would we be surprised? Not on your life! What if Joran, however, in describing a seizure, actually hinted at a more ominous event, an event which made him much more culpable?

Let’s look at a couple possibilities.

1—Let’s say he offered her cocaine which she took voluntarily. The stimulant effects of that drug could possibly have induced a cardiac seizure in an inexperienced user (remember Len Bias).

2—Or say he surreptitiously drugged her which led to her sudden death.

What might that drug be? GHB-- or Ecstasy? If he had spiked one of her drinks, Ecstasy would be most likely because of its aphrodisiac nature. GHB routinely causes blackouts and as well Ecstasy fit particularly with Joran's previous m.o. (And once again, in a carefully planned group attack the last thing the three suspects wanted was an unconscious Natalee on their hands.)

Aspiration Most Likely Possibility

What if he did something else which led to some type of medical crisis and involved jerking type bodily movements, then sudden death? What if Joran was trying to tell us that “seizures, jerking and shaking” really meant “sudden bodily movements” and not a true seizure? Actual seizures involve a neurological event in which the brain misfires sending the body into spasms and convulsions. An event simply involving sudden bodily movements would explain much more reasonably why he/they wanted to dispose of the body.  

The likely scenario is even worse. On top of drugging her, Joran had also done something else which contributed to a seizure or a total body spasm of some type—both leading to her death. The possibilities are not many at this point: a drug, desperate bodily movements, and sudden death followed by CPR.

And what does CPR tell you by itself? She can’t breathe, she stopped breathing, and he hopes if he can get air into her that she will be OK. If he could get her to breathe, he thinks he could get her heart going again because by this time it had likely stopped beating. 

Now the trail narrows and we arrive at the likelihood of a sudden death associated with desperate bodily movements not the result of a true seizure. This leaves only one possibility—death by aspiration.

Natalee was vomiting, choking, swallowing, trying desperately to get her breath, sitting up, leaning over at first while turning red then quickly turning blue. The crisis would have drawn a reflexive response from Joran, pounding on her back, shaking her by the shoulders followed by an overt mouth-to-mouth chest pumping. This desperate CPR effort failed when Joran couldn’t get air into her lungs because, as he told us, she was VERY DRUNK, meaning her lungs were filled with fluid.  

So what clues do we have of such an event? By his own admission, Joran shook her and tried CPR. It was sudden, he told van der Eem, and the fact that she was very drunk is a crucial clue. Joran’s (and Deepak’s) description suggest Natalee’s intoxication involved both vomiting and passing out. Drunk and drugged suggests two substances contributed to her vomiting—alcohol and Ecstasy. 

This worst-case scenario is staring the media and investigators in their faces, but somehow they’re unable to see it.  

Let’s go back to what happened after last call at Carlos’n Charlie’s. Natalee was casually conversant in Deepak’s car. Joran has pointed out that she expressed her discomfort with the porn video the Kalpoes were playing on the Honda’s TV system. Other conversation regarding her mother, Aruban tourist sites and the Kalpoes’ racial identity also took place. If the boys had slipped her some GHB, Natalee would have been unconscious by the time they arrived at Fisherman’s Huts and the beach.

If Joran and the Kalpoes simply planned to rape a girl, the secluded beach would seem to be ideal place for such activity, but analysis of Deepak’s email clearly shows that the gang rape took place in Deepak’s Honda. 

Aspiration is a far more likely occurrence under the conditions of a group assault than a rare seizure due to drugs or pre-existing medical condition. Consider this fact: choking is by far the most common cause of death during rapes.

More clues pointing to aspiration

Joran describes a sudden death on Natalee’s part, just as Deepak did. Joran reports that she went into convulsions and then lapsed into unconsciousness and death. He denied that she was “foaming at the mouth” but his denials were excessive.

In short, by mentioning the foaming repeatedly—even though he denies it happened—Joran is hinting that Natalee threw up, went into convulsions and started jerking because she couldn’t get her breath which led to her sudden death from aspiration, Deepak’s identical scenario. (In Deepak’s version, Natalee died suddenly of asphyxia during a three-way sexual attack while she was bound around the neck in the backseat of his Honda at a secluded location not far from the beach.) 

“No, no foaming at the mouth, not that I saw,” Joran tells van der Eem in three rapid-fire denials—“No, no foaming at the mouth (adds details), not that I saw.” with his extensive use of denial including the details “no foaming at mouth” and a reference to his vision, “not that I saw,” he strongly suggests that Natalee was foaming at the mouth, meaning vomiting. Remember criminal suspects characteristically use denial to tell us the truth. That’s exactly what Deepak was doing when he insisted over and over in his email “I would NEVER HURT anyone.” Another telling denial was Deepak’s email assertion that, “Natalee wasn’t nude and nothing sexually went on in car against her will.”

If Joran had simply said “No” or “No foaming,” we would be more inclined to take him literally. Beyond that, when he elaborates, he is, as Shakespeare put it, “protesting too much.”  
Joran even matches Deepak’s insistence that Natalee was “very drunk,” meaning filled with drink/liquid and unconscious, again suggesting an aspiration death. (Simply think what “very drunk” implies: staggering drunk, out of control, pass out drunk, etc.) And his comment, “I was shaking the bitch,” vividly matches Deepak’s profile which revealed that Joran was the one choking her (probably with a noose around her neck) for the purposes of controlling the rape victim, Natalee. In saying her shook her, Joran is also referring to his failed CPR efforts.

Investigators must open their minds

It’s a shame that initial clues from Joran and Deepak regarding vomiting have totally gone by the wayside. For example, Charles Croes, who discussed the case with Joran one day after Natalee disappeared, reported Deepak’s excessive concern that Natalee might vomit in his Honda.

Police investigators and investigative journalists have failed to think symbolically. They have foolishly taken everything literally and believe everything the suspects say. They fail to realize that, of course, the truth will be hidden, that suspects will lie and mislead. The worse the truth makes the suspect look, the more he will conceal it. But he will inadvertently tell the truth between the lines, in vivid symbolic images.

The truth is there, but investigators must know how to look for it.

Police and the media both run in packs. There is a kind of herd mentality which too often prevents them from thinking outside the box. They are tied too strongly to their professions’ antiquated methods and procedures. Their reluctance to adopt innovative investigative techniques seriously limits their effectiveness

It’s time for police, prosecutors and the press to open their minds to new approaches. The Holloway case offers a perfect opportunity for professional investigators to embrace a cutting-edge psycholinguistic technique that will inevitably reveal the truth.