Joran van der Sloot (24), scheduled today (1/6/2012) to be sentenced for the May 30, 2010 murder of then 21-year-old Peruvian college student Stephany Flores, swaggered into court and advised the three judge panel that he needed more time to consider or "reflect" on his plea.  Surprisingly, the judges granted his request, notwithstanding he has already had over 1 1/2 years in a Peruvian prison to consider his day in court and his plea.  As the consummate sociopathic  con man and admitted killer of Flores, as well as the best suspect in the disappearance and presumed murder of American teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba some five years prior to the date of Flores' murder, one would have thought that the "fleeing Dutchman" would have had his final act together, but no; he needed more time. 

In this case he needed more time to consider a plea that he may have assumed would have seen him sentenced to at most 8 - 15 years, and in a country like Peru where he might expect to actually serve only 1/3 of his sentence, he likely believed he would be out of prison in as few as 3 or 4 years.  The Peruvian prosecutor, however, entered evidence of the brutal nature of Flores' murder (bludgeoning and asphyxiating her), evidence that could see Van der Sloot sentenced to 30 years, a prospect that the young Dutchman obviously wanted to avoid. (For additional background information see my article entitled "Joran van der Sloot confirms he is 'insane,' but just a little..." posted on Newsvine on 3/7/2011.)

Van der Sloot had originally offered to provide the court with "a sincere confession," i.e., a plea, but one crafted in his charming, cunning and manipulative mind that would qualify him for a reduced sentence.  By this he hoped to avoid the potential of a 30-year sentence and especially dodge the life sentence that Flores' family has continually argued for.  In his appearance in court today Van der Sloot was described as relaxed by some and disrespectful by others.  Flores' father has said that Van der Sloot's court room appearance was pridefully indifferent, all consistent with someone who has continually shown his total disrespect for the rights of others, living out his sociopathic existence where he is the sole center of his universe and where others are mere pawns for his use and ultimate disposal.

Joran van der Sloot, a self-confessed congenital liar, will return to court on Wednesday  (1/11/2012), this after he has finally completed his personal "reflection," to enter his plea.  Appearing to function as a Ted Bundy-like character, fully expecting to manipulate the system to his ultimate desire, we will have to wait until then to see if justice is really served in the murder of Flores.  But no matter his ultimate sentence, and no matter how much time he really serves in Peru, he must never forget that he can ultimately be extradited to America, not (unfortunately) to face murder charges in the Holloway case, but for extortion and wire fraud stemming from his cruel attempt to extort $250,000 from the Holloway family as payment for telling them what ultimately happened to their daughter, likely at his hands.

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