Published: February 28, 2007 11:29 pm      

Brothers seek to dismiss lawsuit in Holloway case

Dave Holloway said the two brothers who were former suspects in the disappearance of his daughter, Natalee, in Aruba are now attempting to “have their cake and eat it too.”

Deepak and Satish Kalpoe are seeking to dismiss a lawsuit brought against them by the teen’s parents because they say the case has no connection to California.

In court papers filed last week, the attorney for the Kalpoes argued the brothers are residents of Aruba and have no ties to California.

Dave Holloway, of Meridian, said it sounds like the brothers want to have everything go their way.

“They are the ones who first filed a lawsuit in California,” Holloway said Wednesday afternoon. “And now they say we can’t. Doesn’t make sense, does it.”

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

The brother’s lawsuit alleges the show altered portions of a secretly recorded conversation between Deepak Kalpoe and a private investigator to “create false, incriminating, and defamatory statements that the plaintiffs engaged in criminal activity against Natalee Holloway.”

“It was our reasoning that if they can use the California court system to sue the show, then we could use it to sue them,” Dave Holloway said.

A judge ruled Jan. 24 the wrongful death suit was substantially different from the defamation suit and should not be presided by the same judge.

Natalee Holloway, a Mississippi native, was 18 when she disappeared on May 30, 2005, while on a trip to Aruba with fellow graduates of Mountain Brook High School in Alabama. She was last seen getting into a car with the Kalpoes and their friend, Joran van der Sloot.

Police spent months searching for the missing teen but the case did not lead to any criminal trial in Aruba.

“We are just trying to get some answers,” Dave Holloway said.



The Associated Press contributed to this report.