“He wrote that he’d stop at nothing.” The man in question: Joran van der Sloot, the young Dutchman awaiting trial in Peru for the killing of local young woman, Stephany Flores. The words are those of a friend of Joran, who has told Dutch police how the 24-year-old chatted with him from Peru via the MSN online messaging service and told him he was flat broke and desperate. It appears this testimony could be crucial when it comes to the decision where the Dutchman is to face a murder or a manslaughter charge in Peru.

In May last year, Joran Van der Sloot told his friend that he only had enough money for food. Two days later he killed 21-year-old Stephany Flores in a Lima hotel room after an evening playing poker. Three days later he was arrested in Chile and extradited to Peru, where he’s been waiting for a year for his trial to begin.

Dutch police questioned his friend in June 2010; one month after Joran van der Sloot was detained in Peru. The interview came after the Peruvian authorities formally asked the Dutch for assistance. A 40-page Dutch report has been delivered to the prosecution and defence teams in Peru. The testimony appears to show the degree of desperation on the part of the defendant, who was in Lima at the time for a poker tournament. It could, in fact, ultimately see him facing a murder charge instead of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Natalee Holloway
The defendant has always claimed it was manslaughter, saying he killed Ms Flores in a fit of temper. He says the young woman used his laptop and discovered that he had been linked to the death of US teenager Natalee Holloway, who disappeared without a trace in Aruba in 2005. Joran van der Sloot says he went berserk and wasn’t responsible for his subsequent actions. His former lawyer Máximo Altez is reported to have advised him to stick to this version of events. A conviction for manslaughter rather than murder would result in a far lower sentence.

“The information from the Netherlands undermines Van der Sloot’s evidence,” says the lawyer representing the Flores family, Edward Álvarez. It would appear to show that Ms Flores did not die as a result of a fit of rage over the laptop but simply because she refused to give Mr Van der Sloot money. The laptop story is also contradicted by results from the Peruvian police investigation, which reveal that no documents were opened on the laptop on the day of the murder.

Flat broke
Since his arrest, there have been further indications that Joran van der Sloot was and is penniless. The same friend in the Netherlands says Joran begged him - from his cell - to send him money. He says he sent 50 euros for the purchase of soap and toothpaste in prison. Money was also the reason for the departure of Mr Altez as the Dutchman’s lawyer. “Financial disagreement” and differences of opinion about how to conduct the defence case were the reasons given. It is said that Mr Altez stood to earn nothing from the case.

The Flores family lawyer says the Dutch defendant will face a heavy sentence if money was indeed the motive for the killing. “Here, you get life for robbery with murder,” he explains.

In today’s preliminary court session, both Ms Flores’ father and Joran van der Sloot will have a chance to see security camera footage taken around the time of the killing. Over the next few weeks, it should become clear when the trial is likely to start in earnest. The lawyer says it could be another three months before the proceedings get properly underway. It is not yet known who will represent the defendant.

(mw/tf)