Joran van der Sloot, 24, has pleaded guilty to the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores. Flores was found strangled to death on May 31, 2010 in van der Sloot’s hotel room after meeting him at a casino in Lima, Peru early that evening. Flores was the 21-year-old daughter of an influential and wealthy Peruvian businessman. Van der Sloot’s lawyer argued that Flores was murdered due to “extreme psychological trauma” he experienced after accusations in the disappearance of American teen Natalee Holloway in 2005.
Holloway was an Alabama native who disappeared in May 2005 while on a senior class trip to Aruba. In a confession made by van der Sloot, he states that he killed Flores after she found information on his computer linking him to Holloway. “Yes I want to plead guilty. I wanted from the first moment to confess sincerely. I truly am sorry for this act. I feel very bad,” he said today in court, according to The Associated Press.
