JORAN VAN DER SLOOT TRIAL BEGINS

Joran_story

DATELINE: LIMA, PERU – The sensational murder trial of notorious Dutch thug JORAN VAN DER SLOOT begins!

Nearly seven years after Joran became the prime suspect in the unsolved disappearance of an American teenager who disappeared on holiday in Aruba, the incarcerated Dutch thug, 24, will stand trial for the murder of Stephany Flores, 21.

Joran is charged with killing Flores in his Lima hotel room May 30, 2010, after the two left a casino together in the day's wee hours.

As The ENQUIRER reported previously the slaying came five years to the day that Natalee Holloway, 19, was last seen leaving a nightclub with Van der Sloot before disappearing.

Peruvian police say Van der Sloot confessed to killing Flores, saying that he had become enraged after she discovered his connection to the missing teen on his laptop.

His attorney contended the confession should be invalidated because Van der Sloot’s then defense lawyer present was state-appointed and no official translator was present.

Prosecutors are seeking a 30-year prison sentence for Van der Sloot on murder and theft charges in a trial that will be held at Lima's Lurigancho prison.

Joran is accused of murdering Flores with "ferocity and great cruelty," and prosecutors charge he also stole $220 from the murder victim.

Lawyer Jose Luis Jimenez told media that Joran has remained at the maximum security facility, the brutal Castro Castro, sharing a cell with two other international criminals, separated from the general prison population.

Joran will be moved to Lurigancho prison Friday morning prior to proceedings.