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Van der Sloot scheduled to be in court Tuesday

From Patricia Janiot, CNN
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Ricardo Flores says the last hearing was the first time he saw Van der Sloot face-to-face
  • Van der Sloot is suspected in the killing of his daughter in a Peruvian hotel
  • If Van der Sloot does not have a lawyer by Tuesday, the judge says he will appoint one

Lima, Peru (CNN) -- Joran van der Sloot is scheduled to appear in a courtroom in Peru Tuesday for a closed-door hearing about evidence in a case involving the killing of a Peruvian woman.

The hearing was postponed last week because van der Sloot did not have legal representation.

Ricardo Flores said the hearing was the first time he saw the alleged killer of his daughter face to face.

"It was a very tough moment," he told CNN shortly after leaving a courtroom inside Lima's Castro Castro prison, noting that it seemed van der Sloot was enjoying many privileges. "I thought I'd see someone skinny ... but no, he was fatter than when he first went to prison."

His daughter, Stephany Flores, was found dead in a Lima hotel room registered to Van der Sloot in May 2010. Police say van der Sloot took money and bank cards from her wallet and fled to Chile, where he was arrested a few days later.

2010: Inside van der Sloot's cell
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Earlier this month, van der Sloot's defense attorney, Maximo Altez, resigned, citing differences in strategy.

If van der Sloot does not have an attorney for Tuesday's hearing, the judge said he would appoint one, Flores said.

The 23-year-old van der Sloot has been the prime suspect in the disappearance in Aruba of American Natalee Holloway, who vanished at age 18 while on a graduation trip. He was arrested twice but never charged in connection with her disappearance.

Shortly after his 2010 arrest, a federal grand jury in Alabama indicted van der Sloot on charges that he tried to extort $250,000 from the Holloway family.

Van der Sloot offered to provide what turned out to be bogus information about the whereabouts of Natalee Holloway's remains in exchange for the money, according to the indictment.

Once the discovery phase of the case ends, prosecutors will file charges and a trial date will be set.

In Session's Mayra Cuevas contributed to this report.