According to Peruvian authorities in Lima, Joran van der Sloot confessed to the murder of Stephany Flores Ramirez late Monday, and is expected to be charge with the crime on Tuesday. He is reportedly on suicide watch and is being monitored by four guards at all times.
He faces up to 35 years in prison and would serve his time at one of three maximum security prisons — Castro Castro, Pierdras Gordas or Lurigancho. There is no death penalty or life sentence in Peru.
Lighter sentences are often given if the suspect makes a confession. There has been no indication on whether van der Sloot will attempt to negotiate a lesser sentence for information in the Natalee Holloway disappearance. It is certain that authorities in Aruba will want another go at the suspect, whom they failed to bring to trial five years ago. The U.S. also has a vested interest in van der Sloot, whom they charged with extortion after his capture last week.
New information has surfaced about how the body of the murdered Peruvian woman was discovered. According to the hotel supervisor, a phone call was received at 11 p.m. June 1 from someone who wanted to speak to van der Sloot. The call was forwarded to his room but went unanswered.
An hour later, the same hotel clerk noticed that van der Sloot owed money for two nights and went to the room and knocked. The television was on, but no one came to the door. The employee reported this to the hotel supervisor, who sent the worker back to van der Sloot’s room with a spare key and instructions to enter.
She found Flores’ body on the floor, dressed in a black t-shirt and red underwear, half-covered with a piece of white cloth. She noticed that the woman had blood coming from her nose. She turned off the television, turned out the room light and went back to notify her supervisor and phone police.
Reports this morning indicate that van der Sloot, after three days of interrogations, admitted that he savagely beat Stephany with a bat, breaking her neck, after finding her reading his computer files when he returned from a short trip to retrieve coffee. He claims that the personal invasion of his privacy set him off.
The confession, according to authorities, was very dramatic. Van der Sloot reportedly broke down crying and claimed, “I didn’t want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life.”
View more photos and video coverage of the Joran van der Sloot confession and footage of the suspect with the victim below:
Photos: PicApp