Dutch suspect confesses to murder
2010-06-08 09:10
Lima - A Dutchman has confessed to the murder of Peruvian woman Stephany Flores Ramirez and could be charged as early as Tuesday, police officials told local media.
Joran Van Der Sloot, 22, confessed on Monday before a prosecutor and his attorney to the May 30 murder of Ramirez, the 21-year-old daughter of a Peruvian former race car driver. Her badly beaten body was found just two days after her murder, in a hotel room in an upmarket area of Peru's capital.
Her neck was broken.
Van der Sloot is also at the centre of another criminal inquiry into the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway, an 18-year-old US student visiting the Dutch-run Caribbean island of Aruba.
According to La Republica newspaper, Van der Sloot admitted he broke Flores's neck in a fit of rage after she allegedly used his laptop without his permission and learned he was linked to Holloway's murder.
"I did not want to do it," La Republica quoted him as saying. "The girl intruded into my private life."
Witnesses told police Van der Sloot was seen entering the hotel with Flores. Video footage showed the two had spent time together at a casino beforehand.
Van der Sloot left Lima the day after the murder for Chile in a 1 300km, $620 taxi ride to the border, investigators said. He was extradited to Peru on Friday.
The maximum sentence for murder in Peru is 25 years prison.
