Dutch Citizen Pleads Guilty to Peruvian Murder

Dutch citizen Joran Van der Sloot apologized in court on Wednesday for killing a young Peruvian woman in 2010 and accepted murder charges against him in a plea that could lighten his sentence.              

Van der Sloot, admitted killing 21-year-old business student Stephany Flores after meeting her in a casino in Lima.

[Joran Van der Sloot, Pleads Guilty to Murder]:          

"I am sorry. The truth is I feel very bad."

He said "yes, yes" when asked if he was guilty and if he was accepting the charges in exchange for the chance of receiving a shorter jail term.

His lawyer, says that Van der Sloot's plea could reduce his sentence to 10 years from 25-35 years.

The murder probe brought renewed attention to the 2005 case of 18 year-old Natalee Holloway who vanished during a high school graduation trip to Aruba, where Van der Sloot was living.

Van der Sloot was arrested twice in the Holloway case but he was never charged due to a lack of evidence as they never found her body.

Van der Sloot's lawyer says that at the time of Flores's death, his client was suffering from "post-traumatic stress" caused by inquiries into his possible ties to Holloway's disappearance.

Police say Flores, a highly-skilled poker player and the daughter of a wealthy businessman, was robbed and killed on May 30, 2010, exactly five years after Holloway disappeared.              

Van der Sloot told police he strangled Flores after he found her looking at his laptop in his hotel room. 

The laptop contained emails about Holloway's death.               

Holloway's family has criticized Dutch authorities for not making more progress in the case.