LIMA (RNN) - Joran van der Sloot has pleaded guilty to murdering Peruvian national Stephany Flores, according to CNN.
"I am really sorry for what happened," CNN quoted van der Sloot as saying.
According to the news agency, van der Sloot, 24, pleaded guilty to both "qualified murder" and simple robbery charges.
Authorities in the Peruvian capital of Lima accused van der Sloot of murdering Flores in his hotel room in May 2010 before he stole from her wallet and fled to the neighboring nation of Chile, where he was later arrested.
Prosecutes in the case argued that van der Sloot killed Flores in order to steal her winnings from a Lima casino where he met the daughter of one of Peru's most prominent families.
A three-judge panel will sentence van der Sloot on Friday, according to the Associated Press, who said the plea was aimed at securing a reduced sentence. Prosecutors sought 30 years in prison for the Dutch national, whose trial began last week, the news agency reported.
Although he was never charged, van der Sloot remains the prime suspect in the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, who went missing while celebrating her high school graduation in Aruba in 2005.
Flores was killed five years to the day of Holloway's May 30 disappeared.
An Alabama judge could officially declare Holloway dead Thursday, according to CNN.
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Joran van der Sloot (Source: CNN)
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