BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Beth Holloway, the mother of Natalee Holloway, spoke with CBS 42’s Sherri Jackson Wednesday to discuss her reaction to Joran van der Sloot’s confession in court, as well as the details surrounding her daughter’s death.

“It’s hard, but when you spend 18 years trying to hear what happened and learn what happened, it’s still not as hard as the not knowing, but when you hear a killer confess to [his] intent to kill her, that’s pretty shocking,” said Holloway. “I think you start to think it had to be an accident, it had to been perhaps manslaughter or you know, you don’t think of it being an actual intentional kill.”

“And that is brutal to hear, but it’s still something that parents, that victims, you know loved ones that become victims of crime, you want to know what happened. You just want to know what happened, no matter how painful it is, you don’t want to be left living your life with never knowing the details,” Holloway said.

Watch the full interview in the video player above.