Van der Sloot Confesses to the Murder of Peruvian Woman While Visiting Peru for a Poker Tournament

Joran van der Sloot has confessed to the slaying of a 21 year-old woman in a Lima Hotel, a high-ranking Peruvian official told reporters on Monday. The La Republica newspaper told quoted van der Sloot as saying, "I did not want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life... she didn't have any right. I went to her and I hit her. She was scared, we argued and she tried to escape. I grabbed her by the neck and hit her."

NBC News has reported that a lawmaker has confirmed van der Sloot’s confession to police during his interrogation. They did not however get any comment on the circumstances surrounding the interrogation process.

Van der Sloot who was a prime suspect in the disappearance of U.S. teen Natalee Holloway back in 2005 was arrested on May 30th on suspicion of killing Flores, a business student he met at a local casino. On Saturday police released a video tape that showed van der Sloot and the murdered woman enter his room together and van der Sloot exit by himself hours later. The woman’s battered body was found on the hotel room’s floor days later with her neck snapped.

Dave Holloway, the father of Natalee Holloway, now hopes that van der Sloot will reveal what happened to his daughter saying that search teams are still standing by ready to look for her body.

"He's confessed to this one," he said, "and I'd like for him to tell everyone what happened."

"I would just like to say that, you know, all the pain and suffering that we've gone through, hopefully justice is served this time," he added, speaking to the show by telephone. "We're hoping this is the end of the line for him."

If tried and convicted of murder, van der Sloot could face up to 35 years in prison.