The 22-year-old Dutch poker player Joran van der Sloot has been charged with the murder of Stephany Flores. Prison officials have said he lied about events surrounding the murder including times, that despite earlier reports, he wasn't high the night of it—and that he'll be locked in solitary confinement for months to come, "for his own safety."

Well, it looks like van der Sloot is finally going to be put away for a long time. On Friday, the 22-year-old Dutch native was formally charged with first-degree murder and robbery in the death of 21-year-old Peruvian student Stephany Flores, whom he confessed to killing earlier this week. The Peruvian judge who condemned him to one of Lima's most notorious prisons to await trial added that the murder had been committed with "ferocity and great cruelty."

Outside the court in Lima, he was taken away under a heavy police presence, onlookers shouted "Murderer," and rotten fruit and veg were hurled towards him. As, the police ushered van der Sloot into a vehicle marked Ambulance, the Judge warned of the grave danger he now faces in Jail. The presiding judge said "For his own safety, we cannot  mix him with the other prisoners. This murder case is so infamous that he could easily be killed." Van der Sloot was then driven back to the maximum security Miguel Castro prison, where he will face a lengthy part of his immediate future.

In true poker player style, some forum users are running a book on van der Sloot being murdered himself by Christmas this year. Not quite a subject many will want to think about, especially the family of Natalee Holloway. The last murder case victim he was associated with, and still remains an unsolved investigation. Investigators in the Holloway case will be no doubt be keeping a keen eye on proceedings in Lima, as he will most likely be extradited to Aruba after his sentence in Lima, to face further charges of extortion.

A new twist in the case has also emerged today, it is thought that Van der Sloot's attorney has resigned from the case. Maximo Altez Navarro stated that the case had "caused many problems for him." No one is quite sure what he meant by that, but rumour is circulating that threats to Navarro had become more severe. Navarro is the only man to have seen van der Sloot in prison, He is in a high-security area of the prison where only two of 10 cells are occupied, and he has no contact with inmates in the general prison population. Under constant armed guard, the only other prisoner on this block is the notorious Columbian hit-man Hugo Trujillo Ospina.

According to some reports of his confession, van der Sloot said he elbowed Flores in the face before strangling her and then suffocating her with his own shirt. After, it is thought she found e-mails regarding the Holloway murder case. Prison officials have said van der Sloot may be incorporated back into the general population of the prison, but many feel that this would be signing the death certificate for him. Peruvian hit-men in the prison are renowned for their dis-like of foreign prisoners and especially ones who have killed one of their own.