Van der Sloot (Creative Commons)

Hoping to receive less prison time, Joran van der Sloot "sincerely confessed" to the 2010 murder of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman on Wednesday. 

Van der Sloot, 24, pled guilty to the murder of Stephany Flores, who was killed in Lima on the fifth anniversary of the day that 19-year-old U.S. student Natalee Holloway went missing in Aruba. Van der Sloot has long been suspected of playing a role in the alleged murder of Holloway, a case that remains unsolved.

Police discovered the body of Flores days after Van der Sloot fled to Chile in a taxi. According to his earlier confession to police, Van der Sloot killed Flores in a fit of rage after she became aware of his alleged connection to Holloway's disappearance. 

According to the Wall Street Journal:

"Jose Luis Jimenez, Mr. Van der Sloot's lawyer, told reporters after the hearing on Wednesday that Mr. Van der Sloot hadn't carried out a premeditated murder, pointing out that he hadn't planned any escape route. Mr. Jimenez had said earlier that his client killed Flores as a result of 'extreme psychological trauma' tied to the investigation of the Holloway disappearance, local media reported."

By "sincerely confessing" to the crime, Van der Sloot is hoping he can receive a lighter sentence than what might be received with a straight guilty plea in Peru. 

His sentence will come Friday. 

Twice Van der Sloot has been detained in Aruba as a suspect of Holloway's disappearance, but he has never been charged. Holloway was celebrating her high school graduation in Aruba, where Van der Sloot grew up, when she disappeared. Her body was never found.