Holloway suspect charged in Peru
Van der Sloot after his arrest in the Flores murder in 2010.
Joran van der Sloot, the young man suspected in the case Natalee Holloway, the blonde American teenager from Alabama who went missing in Aruba in 2005, has been formally charged in Peru with murder in another case.
Stephany Flores, a 21-year-old university student, met van der Sloot at a casino in Lima, the capital. That night, she was found dead in his hotel room.
Van der Sloot was caught in Chile with her money and bank cards. He initially denied killing her, but later confessed to the murder, Peruvian officials have said.
In that confession, he said that he attacked Flores after he caught her looking at files on his laptop related to Holloway.
Van der Sloot, a Dutch native, will be allowed to plea officially to the charges at his next hearing.
His trial begins next month. If convicted, he could face 30 years in prison.
Van der Sloot was never charged in connection with Holloway’s disappearance, and that woman’s body was never found. He was the only suspect in the case.
He has been in jail since last year in Peru, when he was arrested for Flores’ murder, and has admitted to killing Holloway in statements he has since recanted.