I have wondered for some time what the real purpose of going to the hotel room was. As I said when the hotel video first came out, it looks to me as if they were on a mission, not going there to hang out. Stephany's demeanor, to me, looked like it was a duty to go there with him. She did not get up promptly when he got the keys, she lagged behind without any enthusiasm (clearly, she was not falling down/off-balance drunk or drugged though).
And, I think we all agree that there is some grain of truth in JVS's statements (even though it's hard to figure out which grain that might be) that he plays off of to come up with some far-fetched tale.
As I have thought about this, and what they may have talked about at the table that night, some of the dots connect up to support a theory that Stephany went to the room at JVS's behest for her to consider BUYING JVS's laptop.
Anyone else see these dots as connecting? JVS claimed they went to his room "for his laptop".That could be the grain of truth in his statement (although in his version was to play poker on it). He may have considered on his ride to Chile that her fingerprints/DNA would be on his laptop (because he encouraged her to "try it out"), so he thought, perhaps, that he either had to account for that, or that DNA on his laptop would "confirm" his version of events (i.e., went there to play poker, she saw email b/c she was on the computer).
And of course, they probably would have talked that very night about the fact that she just got money from her dad to buy a new laptop. They probably also talked about her business plans. I can imagine Joran telling her he had a really great, state-of-the-art, almost brand new laptop he picked up in Thialand for next to nothing back at his hotel room that he'd sell her for really cheap (then just get another one).
While the idea that she could pocket the change from the $1,000. her dad gave her (if Joran's computer was the end-all he claimed) probably appealed to her (and was meant to), I can only imagine that Stephany had already picked up on Joran's unsupported bravado about his poker ability, thought he was probably full of baloney. That is, she probably was not convinced his laptop was all he claimed and told him that she was just going to get a new one. Perhaps he persuaded her by asking for a ride back to his hotel room, saying that she could just run up to his room for a second and give his laptop a quick look-see, so she reluctantly agreed. That's what I see in the video...she was tired, he'd talked her into going up to his room when she didn't really want to...and now he doesn't even have the key to his room, so she has to wait for him to get his key. This fits her seeming apathy (like, "whatever, let's get this over with").
This scenario also fits with the fact that she apparently parked her car in a temporary spot (i.e., in some way that it needed to be moved/relocated, so the hotel staff told JVS when he went to get coffee) because Stephany didn't think she'd be there very long.
And, it could be that JVS really wanted to sell it for cash (because he was low on cash), or that he just wanted take/borrow some cash...but when she said, no, that she didn't want it (or that she wanted a "nicer" one), he got really ticked off that he couldn't sucker her.
It all just seems a little too uncanny...She was freshly in the market for a laptop. Had cash on her slated to purchase a laptop immediately. They went to his hotel room for, JVS says, because of something to do with his laptop. She didn't expect to be there long...
Does this hold water as a theory in anyone else's mind?