Joran van der Sloot Formally Charged With Murder

Joran van der Sloot, the longtime main suspect in the 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway in Aruba, has been officially charged with murder in the death of Stephany Flores, who was murdered in Peru last year.

Van der Sloot, a 24-year-old Dutch national who was never formally charged in the Holloway case, already confessed to Flores' murder, but now prosecutors in Lima have filed formal charges following a year-long judge's review of the case. Prosecutors are seeking a 30-year prison sentence, five years short of the maximum penalty allowed by Peruvian law.

It's believed that van der Sloot intends to use a "violent emotion" defense during the trial, claiming that he beat the 21-year-old to death in his hotel room because he flew into a blind rage after discovering Flores reading about the Natalee Holloway case on a computer. [WaPo; image via AP]