Joran van der Sloot’s murder trial postponed
The murder trial of Joran van der Sloot began on Friday in Peru. Although proceedings began, the case has been postponed to January 11 due to a request made by van der Sloot.
He is on trial for murdering 21-year old Peruvian business student Stephany Flores on May 30, 2010. The postponement was granted because van der Sloot is still determining how he would like to plead. The Associated Press quoted van der Sloot
explaining the situation. “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 a five day extension.
Those involved with the case believe he will confess to the murder but van der Sloot is hoping to have the charges brought against him reduced from first-degree murder to simple homicide. This would reduce his sentence from an estimated 30years to eight to 20.
Flores’ family disagrees with the lesser sentencing and hopes the judges will pursue theft charges in addition to murder. The family stated that they will participate in the trial if it means a harsher sentencing.
Van der Sloot remains the main suspect in the disappearance of American Natalee Holloway from Aruba back in 2005. According to USA Today, van der Sloot was charged with attempting to extort a million dollars from Natalee Holloway’s family. He claimed he would tell them where her body was. However, he still insists he was not involved in her disappearance.
