A Peruvian judge has set Jan. 6 as the trial date for Joran van der Sloot in the killing of a Peruvian woman five years to the day after U.S. student Natalee Holloway disappeared.
The 24-year-old Van der Sloot remains the prime suspect in Holloway's 2005 disappearance on the Caribbean island of Aruba.
Peruvian prosecutors are seeking 30 years in prison for the Dutchman on first-degree murder charges in the killing of Stephany Flores.
Van der Sloot met the 21-year-old Lima student in a casino and took her to his hotel room.
He confessed to the killing but says he became enraged upon finding Flores reading about the Holloway case on his laptop. The laptop contained emails about Holloway's death.
Flores' family and prosecutors contend he planned the killing in order to rob the young woman.
If convicted and sentenced to a 30-year prison term, Van der Sloot would be eligible for parole after serving 10 years.
Van der Sloot fled to Chile after Flores' death but was arrested there and returned to Peru for questioning.
The investigation of the murder of Flores, daughter of a wealthy businessman, brought renewed attention to the case of Holloway, who vanished during a high school graduation trip in the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, where Van der Sloot was living.
Van der Sloot was arrested twice in the Holloway case but he was never charged due to a lack of evidence. Holloway's family has criticized Dutch authorities for not making more progress in the case.