The parents of an Alabama teen who disappeared last year while on a trip to Aruba with classmates filed a wrongful death suit Thursday against two brothers who were once suspects in the case — a day after the brothers sued the ‘Dr. Phil’ show.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Beth Twitty and Dave Holloway, claims that Deepak and Satish Kalpoe “intentionally, negligently, wantonly” caused fatal injuries to their daughter, according to court documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The couple is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Deepak and Satish played a role in my daughter’s death and should be held accountable,” Twitty said in a statement. “It’s unconscionable that they have not been punished so far.”
An after hours call to the Kalpoe brothers’ attorney was not returned Thursday.
The wrongful death lawsuit came a day after the Kalpoes, both residents of Aruba, filed suit in Los Angeles against television’s “Dr. Phil” show alleging libel and slander.
The brothers alleged that a private investigator secretly recorded a conversation with Deepak Kalpoe and aired it on the nationally syndicated show. The show altered portions of the recording to “create false, incriminating, and defamatory statements that the plaintiffs engaged in criminal activity against Natalee Holloway,” the lawsuit said.
The defendants named in the defamation lawsuit include talk show host Phillip McGraw, investigator Jamie Skeeters and CBS Television Distribution Group. Chip Babcock, an attorney representing all three defendants, denied the conversation was secretly recorded.
“We stand by the integrity of the ‘Dr. Phil’ show, our editing process and the accuracy of the program that we aired,” the defendants said in a statement released by Babcock.
Natalee Holloway was 18 when she disappeared May 30, 2005 while on a trip to Aruba with fellow Mountain Brook High School graduates. 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 a criminal trial in Aruba.
A similar lawsuit filed by Natalee Holloway’s family in a New York court against van der Sloot was thrown out by a judge this summer.
