Joran van der Sloot, a Dutch citizen widely suspected in the disappearance of American teen Natalee Holloway, will begin his trial for murder on Friday in Peru.
Van Der Sloot, 24, is charged with “qualified murder” in the death of Stephany Flores, a 21-year-old Peruvian woman in his Lima hotel room in 2010.
The trial comes nearly seven years after Van der Sloot made international headlines as the main suspect in the Alabama teen's disappearance. Since then, he has described himself as a pathological liar in interviews and often contacts Holloway's family, baiting them with knowledge of their missing daughter. Most recently, American officials say he extorted $25,000 from Holloway's mother offering her to lead her to her daughter's body in Aruba.
There is no evidence that he followed through on that promise.
Authorities say that Van Der Sloot confessed to killing Flores, the Peruvian woman, after he saw her looking at stories about Holloway on his computer in his hotel room. Her family's lawyers, who are allowed to participate in the trial under Peruvian law, also believe that he killed her to steal money from Flores that she won at the casino where they met.
Van der Sloot's lawyers told the Associated Press that his confession was made without an attorney or proper translator present and will argue that he was in a state of distress when he killed Flores, and hope to reduce the charges to from first degree-murder to simple homicide.
"He is a young man ... who has practically lived persecuted for a crime he says he did not commit ... or for a disappearance that he cannot explain," his lawyer told CNN. "Movies and books have been made ... At that age, and with other characteristics of his psychological profile, ... in that moment, he felt threatened and reacted in a brutal manner."
If Van der Sloot’s lawyers are successful, he would face between eight and 20 years in prison, the AP reported. If he is convicted of first degree murder, he could face life.
His lawyers told the AP that their client is doing well in prison, reading self-help books and doing crafts.
"His mood is super good," his lawyer, Jose Luis Jimenez said.
Twitty, Holloway's mother, had no comment on the case when the Associated Press reached her by phone
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