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Joran van der Sloot remained on the lam Thursday following news that a woman had been stabbed to death in his Lima, Peru hotel room Sunday. The body was found three days later.
Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramirez, who was reportedly an out lesbian struggling with her sexuality, was found beaten and stabbed to death in a room at the Miraflores Hotel Tac in Lima booked in van der Sloot's name, police said. Her father is a well-known businessman and former race car driver.
Van der Sloot was the top suspect in the Natalie Holloway disappearance back in 2005. The recent High School grad had disappeared during a trip to the island of Aruba. Van der Sloot was the last individual to be seen with Holloway.
The slaying of the young Peruvian woman, Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramirez, is making news in poker circles as van der Sloot was slated to play in the Latin American Poker Tour, sponsored by PokerStars.com. Van der Sloot has been linked to two online poker handles: "AANOTILTKK" and "Joran888" or "Joran" (his logo is a woman who resembles Natalie Holloway). He is believed to have finished in 5th place at a PartyPoker.com sponsored tournament last year, taking home some $12,000. Van der Sloot's overall poker winnings would not appear to support his jet-setting lifestyle, however. Fox News host Bill O'Reilly opined Wednesday night that he has always suspected Joran of being a drug dealer, something that is yet to be proven.
Flores Ramirez was killed nearly five years to the day since Holloway was first discovered missing.
"It just doesn't make sense to me," van der Sloot's former defense attorney Joe Tacopina told "Good Morning America" today. "I don't know enough about the facts -- the so-called facts -- of this new investigation."
Tacopina pointed out that her body was not found until Wednesday and questioned how it was possible she was killed days before without hotel staff knowing. Authorities believe van der Sloot fled Peru, passing through customs into Chile, and is on his way to Argentina.
"There have been so many incidents where false facts have been presented," he said. "Rumors take on a life of their own."
Flores' funeral will be held today in Peru.
Alejandro Botticelli, Gambling911.com
