Joran van der Sloot pleads guilty to murder of Peruvian Stephany Flores (VIDEO)

GlobalPost

Joran van der Sloot pleaded guilty Wednesday to all charges related to the killing of Peruvian Stephany Flores, the Associated Press reported. He is the main suspect in the disappearance of American Natalee Holloway.

Van der Sloot is accused of killing Flores, 21, in 2010. He met Flores at a casino in Lima. His trial opened last week, and he pleaded guilty Wednesday to "qualified murder," CNN reported.

"Yes, I want to plead guilty. I wanted from the first moment to confess sincerely," he said in court. "I truly am sorry for this act. I feel very bad."

More from GlobalPost: Holloway suspect charged in Peru

Prosecutors have argued that Van der Sloot killed Flores after he met her at the casino because he wanted to rob her of the money she won. Police have said he killed Flores and then fled to Chile with her money and bank cards, CNN reported.

However, Van der Sloot said in a confession soon after Flores's death that he killed her after she looked through his computer and found evidence of the Dutch citizen's connection to Holloway's disappearance.

Van der Sloot was arrested twice, but never charged, in connection with Holloway, and his lawyers insist he was facing "extreme psychological trauma" related to the case.

Holloway was on a graduation trip to Aruba with her school when she went missing in 2005.

Van Der Sloot Pleads Guilty in Peru Killing

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