Joran Van Der Sloot Beaten to a Pulp in Jailhouse Beating 'Related to Gang Rules': Lawyers

Joran van der Sloot was “severely beaten” in a Peruvian prison over the weekend, RadarOnline.com has learned.

The startling incident reportedly took place inside the Challapalca Prison where van der Sloot is currently being held as he awaits extradition to the United States in connection to the still-unsolved 2005 disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway.

Van der Sloot’s Peruvian attorney, Maximo Altez, told ABC News that he does not believe the prison beating was a result of the 35-year-old murder suspect’s upcoming extradition – although Altez does believe the attack was in connection to “gang rules” inside the prison where van der Sloot is being held.

The suspect’s attorney further revealed that van der Sloot is currently in the prison’s medical aisle and that Altez filed a request with the Peruvian Justice Ministry to have van der Sloot transferred to a different prison “as soon as possible.”

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, van der Sloot is suspected of being involved in the May 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway.

Natalee was on a trip to Aruba with her Alabama high school classmates at the time of her disappearance. She was last seen driving off with a group of young men, including a then-17-year-old van der Sloot, nearly 20 years ago.

Although van der Sloot was detained in connection to Holloway’s disappearance, he was ultimately released. He was then indicted five years later by an Alabama grand jury for allegedly attempting to extort the Holloway family in 2010.

According to federal prosecutors, van der Sloot contacted Natalee’s mother in March 2010 and offered to reveal the location of the teen’s body in exchange for $250,000 with $25,000 of the cash paid upfront.

John Q. Kelly, Beth Holloway's attorney, executed a recorded sting operation and met with van der Sloot in an Aruba hotel to hand off $10,000 of the initial $25,000 while Natalee’s mother wired the remaining $15,000 to the suspect’s bank account.

Van der Sloot claimed he accidentally killed Natalee after her head hit a rock after he slammed her body down. He also claimed he took the teen’s body to his now-deceased father’s house and Natalee’s body was buried in the home’s foundation.

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Van der Sloot’s claims were deemed “worthless” by Kelly and prosecutors, and the murder suspect fled Aruba for Peru shortly thereafter.

The suspect is now serving a 28-year sentence in Peru for the May 30, 2010 murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores, but Beth Holloway announced on May 10 that van der Sloot will be extradited to Alabama in the coming weeks “to answer for his crimes.”

"Almost exactly eighteen years later, her perpetrator, Joran van der Sloot, has been extradited to Birmingham to answer for his crimes," Natalee’s mother said earlier this month.