Report: Joran Van der Sloot Offers to Plead Guilty to Slaying for Lesser Sentence

Joran van der Sloot, the Dutchman long suspected in the disappearance of U.S. teen Natalee Holloway, is offering to plead guilty in the slaying of a Peruvian woman in exchange for a reduced sentence, according to The Associated Press.

Van der Sloot's attorney, Maximo Altez, said his client is willing to plead guilty to the May 30 killing of Stephany Flores, but will plead "violent emotion," the AP reported.

In this June 4, 2010, Dutch citizen Joran Van der Sloot is escorted by police officers outside a Peruvian police station, near the border with Chile in Tacna, Peru.

Karel Navarro, AP

Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot is escorted by police officers outside a Peruvian police station, near the border with Chile in Tacna, Peru, on June 4.

Flores, a Peruvian business student, was found dead in van der Sloot's hotel room in Lima on June 2. Van der Sloot has been charged with first-degree murder and robbery in the case. He has been held in a Peruvian prison since his arrest in June. Van der Sloot is also a longtime suspect in the 2005 disappearance in Aruba of Holloway, an 18-year-old from Alabama.

Altez said van der Sloot became enraged and killed Flores because she had used his laptop to look up information on the Holloway case, according to the AP.

"I did not want to do it," van der Sloot allegedly told police, according to a Peruvian newspaper report published shortly after his arrest. "The girl intruded into my private life. ... We argued, and she tried to escape. I grabbed her by the neck, and I hit her."

Last week, prosecutors in Peru said there is sufficient evidence in Flores' slaying to keep van der Sloot behind bars until 2040. If van der Sloot's plea is accepted, he would face three to five years in prison.

Investigators believe Flores was killed on May 30, 2010 -- exactly five years after Holloway disappeared. The Alabama teen's body has never been found, and van der Sloot has never been charged in her disappearance. He was indicted in the U.S. on charges that he extorted $25,000 from the young woman's parents. Prosecutors said that in exchange for the money, he promised to reveal how Holloway died and the location of her body.