Joran Van der Sloot attends his murder trial held at the San Jorge prison in Lima, Peru, Friday Jan. 6, 2012. Van der Sloot, 24, stands trial Friday for the 2010 murder of the 21-year-old Stephany Flores, of Peru, nearly seven years after he became the prime suspect in the unsolved disappearance of an American teenager on holiday in Aruba. (AP Photo/Karel Navarro)
Joran Van der Sloot attends his murder trial held at the San Jorge prison in Lima, Peru, Friday Jan. 6, 2012. Van der Sloot, 24, stands trial Friday for the 2010 murder of the 21-year-old Stephany Flores, of Peru, nearly seven years after he became the prime suspect in the unsolved disappearance of an American teenager on holiday in Aruba. (AP Photo/Karel Navarro)
Joran Van der Sloot enters the courtroom for the start of his murder trial held at the San Jorge prison in Lima, Peru, Friday Jan. 6, 2012. Van der Sloot, 24, stands trial Friday for the 2010 murder of the 21-year-old Flores, of Peru, nearly seven years after he became the prime suspect in the unsolved disappearance of an American teenager on holiday in Aruba. (AP Photo/Karel Navarro)
Joran Van der Sloot, center, enters the courtroom for the start of his murder trial held at the San Jorge prison in Lima, Peru, Friday Jan. 6, 2012. Van der Sloot, 24, stands trial Friday for the 2010 murder of the 21-year-old Stephany Flores, of Peru, nearly seven years after he became the prime suspect in the unsolved disappearance of an American teenager on holiday in Aruba. (AP Photo/Karel Navarro)
LIMA, Peru (AP) ? Joran van der Sloot asked for more time Friday to decide how to plead as his trial opened in the murder of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman. The Dutch citizen said he was inclined to confess but doesn't accept the aggravated murder charges sought by the prosecution.
The presiding magistrate of the three-judge panel ordered the trial to resume on Jan. 11.
When he was asked moments earlier by presiding judge Victoria Montoya to enter a plea, Van der Sloot answered:
"I want to give a sincere confession, but I don't agree with all the charges that have been placed on me by the prosecutor. Can I have more time to think about this?"
The 24-year-old defendant, who is also the prime suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of U.S. teen Natalee Holloway, had repeatedly shaken his head as the prosecutor described for the three judges how Van der Sloot allegedly beat and strangled the victim, intending to rob her.
Van der Sloot long ago admitted to police that he killed Stephany Flores in his Lima hotel room on May 30, 2010.
But he claimed in that confession that he did it in a fit of rage after she discovered Van der Sloot's connection to Holloway's disappearance on Aruba, the Caribbean island where he was raised. Police forensic experts have disputed that version of events.
Defense attorney Jose Luis Jimenez told The Associated Press before the hearing that there was a 70 percent chance Van der Sloot would plead guilty, which could help him get a reduced sentence.
Prosecutors are seeking a 30-year prison sentence on murder and theft charges.
Jimenez contends his client was in a state of emotional distress when he killed Flores and would "seek to reduce the charge from first-degree murder to simple homicide."
The latter carries a prison sentence of from eight to 20 years.
Van der Sloot entered the courtroom in Lurigancho prison in Lima Friday morning in a blue blazer and faded blue jeans with a bulletproof vest beneath the jacket. He sported a crew cut and wore an untucked long-sleeved gray shirt.
He took off the vest in the courtroom, which lacked air conditioning, and fidgeted, yawning several times and slouching in his chair.
That drew Judge Montoya's reproach.
"Sit up straight and show some respect for the court," she told him.
The prosecutor, Jose Santiesteban, told the court Friday in summarizing his case that he would prove Van der Sloot "brutally attacked the victim, with cruelty in different parts of her body."
"He strangled her with his own hands," he said.
He said Van der Sloot then left the hotel room and, to hide the crime, bought two cups of coffee across the street, before asking a hotel employee to open his room when he returned.
He said Van der Sloot later left the room with 800 Peruvian soles (more than $200) in cash and the victim's credit cards.
Flores' father, Ricardo Flores, told the AP that he has no doubt that Van der Sloot preyed on his daughter because he was hard up for money and had learned she had just won $10,000 at the casino where they had met while playing poker.
He said casino employees and two of his daughter's friends were prepared to testify to that effect.
Video taken at the casino show Van der Sloot leaving with Stephany Flores in the wee hours of May 30, 2010, and closed-circuit video taken at the defendant's hotel shows the two entering together and then Van der Sloot leaving alone hours later, bags packed.
"I think its good for the family if this concludes rapidly," Ricardo Flores, a circus promoter and former race car driver, told the AP.
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Associated Press writers Franklin Briceno and Carla Salazar contributed to this report
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