COURTROOM DRAMA

Van Der Sloot to Plead Guilty

Was expected to plead guilty in Peru.

A Peruvian judge has postponed Friday's trial of murder suspect Joran van der Sloot until Jan. 11. The Dutch national had been expected to plead guilty to the killing of 21-year-old Stephany Flores in a last-minute change to his defense strategy, according to CNN. His lawyer says a "sincere confession" could bring him a more lenient sentence than the 30-year-long one that prosecutors are seeking. Van der Sloot is accused of killing Flores in her hotel room in May 2010, but he is also a central figure in the disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway, who vanished in Aruba in 2005. He was never charged in connection with Holloway, and maintains he had nothing to do with her disappearance.