Van der Sloot delays plea in Peru murder trial

By msnbc.com staff and news services

LIMA, Peru --? Joran van der Sloot, on trial in the murder of a young Peruvian woman Friday nearly seven years after he became the prime suspect in the unsolved disappearance of an American teenager on holiday in Aruba, appears to be on the verge of pleading guilty.

The 24-year-old Dutchman?is charged with killing?Stephany Flores, 21,?in his Lima hotel room on May 30, 2010, after the two left a casino together in the day's early hours.

Joran Van der Sloot, best known as the prime suspect in the disappearance of U.S. teen Natalee Holloway in Aruba five years ago, goes on trial for the murder of a young woman in Peru. NBC's Lilia Luciano reports.

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The slaying happened five years to the day after the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, a 19-year-old from Alabama who was celebrating her high school graduation on the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba and was seen leaving a nightclub with van der Sloot.

Her body has never been found and he remains the prime suspect in that killing.

Van der Sloot?shook his head as the prosecutor detailed the case against him in the Flores case. When asked how he would plead, he answered in rudimentary Spanish, "I want to give a sincere confession, but I don't agree with all the charges that has placed on me by the prosecutor. Can I have more time to think about this?"

Judge Victoria Montoya agreed to the postponement.

Van der Sloot entered the courtroom Friday morning in a blue blazer and faded blue jeans with a bulletproof vest beneath the jacket. He sported a crew cut and wore a long-sleeved gray shirt.

Paolo Aguilar / EPA

Joran Van der Sloot enters the Third Penal Courtroom at Lurigancho prison in Lima, January 6.

Defense attorney Jose Luis Jimenez told The Associated Press Friday that there was a 70 percent chance Van der Sloot will plead guilty, which could help him get a reduced sentence.

Flores' father, Ricardo Flores, told the AP Friday that the family would participate in the trial in hopes of ensuring that van der Sloot is also accused of robbery in connection with the killing,

Prosecutors are seeking a 30-year prison sentence on murder and theft charges.

But Jimenez has said he would argue that his client was in a state of emotional distress when he killed Flores and "seek to reduce the charge from first-degree murder to simple homicide." The latter carries a prison sentence of from eight to 20 years.

Police and Flores' family dispute Van der Sloot's version of her death. They say the defendant was hard up for cash and knew the Peruvian business student had been winning at the casino.

"We hope that throughout this process our attorneys can demonstrate the true motives for the killing of my daughter," Ricardo Flores said.

Van der Sloot has in several interviews described himself as a pathological liar. He has been in custody after his arrest in neighboring Chile just days after Flores' death.

Van der Sloot shares a cell with a Mexican and a Chinese inmate at the maximum security Miguel Castro Castro prison, separated from convicted prisoners, said Jimenez.

He said Van der Sloot spends his days making crafts and reading self-help books.

"His mood is super good," Jimenez said during a telephone interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday.

The defendant has granted several jailhouse interviews to media and was confronted there in September 2010 by Holloway's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, when she accompanied a Dutch television crew. Her lawyer, John Kelly, said at the time that she was determined to get answers about her daughter.

Van der Sloot has told several people he was involved in Holloway's disappearance, only to later deny it.

U.S. law enforcement officials say he extorted $25,000 from Twitty after offering to lead Kelly to Holloway's body in Aruba, using the money to fly to Lima on May 14, 2010, just days after meeting with Kelly.

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The Associated Press and msbc.com staff conributed to this report.

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/06/10008110-natalee-holloway-suspect-joran-van-der-sloot-begins-murder-trial

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