(Newser)
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After more than a year in a Peruvian jail, Joran Van Der Sloot has been formally charged with the murder of a young woman found dead in his hotel room. Prosecutors say the Dutchman bludgeoned to death 21-year-old Stephany Flores in a rage after she discovered his link to the Natalee Holloway case. They're seeking a 30-year-sentence and a $73,000 restitution payment to her family, CNN reports.
Van Der Sloot's lawyer has offered a guilty plea in return for a much shorter sentence. "We think 30 years is too much for this crime since it was an isolated incident without any further acts of violence," he explained. Under Peruvian law, Van Der Sloot would have to be freed if there was no trial by the end of this year. A hearing has been scheduled for September. Van Der Sloot was arrested and questioned extensively—but never charged—in the 2005 disappearance of Holloway, an Alabama teen who vanished while on a high school graduation trip to Aruba.
