Family and friends remember Peru murder victim

Lima, Peru - Today marks one month since  the murder of 21-year old Stephany Flores. So much is happening on the legal front and personally with her close friends and family.

Ricardo Flores, the father of Stephany, is meeting with Judge Carlos Morales Cordova, to give his formal “declaration.” In the United States we would call this a sworn affidavit or statement , but what makes this all so unusual by American standards, is that in our courts the prosecution builds their case and investigates along with police who would also be interviewing potential witnesses.

Here in Peru, although the prosecution is still very much involved with the investigation, it is the judge who is the primary fact finder. Although the Peruvian penal code is gradually changing to give prosecutors more power, at this point it is Judge Cordova who personally takes those formal statements.

Mr. Flores, along with the rest of his family, were the ones who alerted police that Stephany had not come home on May 29, 2010, and aided law enforcement in the search for his daughter, whose body was ultimately found on June 2, 2010, in the hotel room registered to Joran van der Sloot.

The family will have a memorial service Wednesday night.

On the defense front, Maximo Altez, the attorney for van der Sloot filed his formal appeal today in the 20th “juzgado” court here in Lima. This is the same court that rejected his Writ of Habeas Corpus. If they do not rule in his favor this time, he has told us he will be going to the highest court in the country, Peru’s Supreme Court.

On a very personal note, I recently met with close girlfriends to Stephany Flores. They have never come forward to speak publicly, but wanted to share with me their thoughts and memories of their dear friend.

There were a lot of tears, some laughter and much anger that the life of Stephany was taken, when she had her entire future before her.

They told me she was so intelligent and had tremendous ambitions for great success in the business arena. She once wrote a list of 23 businesses that she wanted to succeed in, and then checked them off one by one as she decided “yes” I will pursue this one, or “no” I’m not interested in this.

They said she came from a very privileged family, but you wouldn’t know it by talking with her, and was extremely giving along with being so very humble about her family’s wealth.

Friends told me she was extremely anti-drug and when I told them (to their surprise) that official reports say amphetamines were found in Stephany’s system, they said Stephany wouldn’t associate with people who did drugs and was adamant about her feelings on the issue.

They said they still cannot believe she is gone and that the University of Lima is now missing one of its brightest scholars. They say this is one reason why they are so angry.

The last thing Stephany said to them was that she was the happiest she had ever been in her life. She had her new car, her goals, her adored family and her friends.

Her friends say they don’t understand why she went to the room with van der Sloot, but do not believe it was to play online poker. They wish they could turn back time and stop her from going… but they never thought something like this would happen to someone so dear. They do not believe she even had a chance to fight back that night.

When I asked them all, if convicted, how much time should van der Sloot serve? Their answer was a unanimous “life in prison.” They know, however, a life term is rare in Peru and are very concerned, if convicted, van der Sloot will actually serve even less than ten years behind bars in Peru.

–Jean Casarez, In Session on truTV

Filed under: Case Updates • Joran van der Sloot