The public gallery is full of relatives of the victim. Her brother has put down a photo of his sister, right behind the suspect. “The grief that my sister has been taken away from me is still there. That will never go away,” he says when he takes the floor. “That my father has to experience this hurts a lot.”
“My joy of life was taken away from me at the age of 85,” the father writes in his statement. He is in the room, but he can’t handle it to read his statement himself. His brother does it for him.
“It is not fun and not nice to hear. I hope they get peace after all this has happened,” Van L. responds quietly after he listens it stoically.
Spend the night after years in prison
From the explanation of Van L. and The reconstruction carried out In the crime scene, a careful picture comes to the fore what would have taken place in the home.
A few days before death, Kevin van L. is released from prison. He agreed with the woman that he can spend the night with her for a few days.
But in the early Friday morning there is a scuffle between Van L. and the friend of the woman. He gets a blow, after which Van L. returns.
Struggle with knife
The woman calls that L. must go out of her house. “Get out here,” I thought. I grabbed my things and at that moment she comes to me with a knife. “
A struggle is created, in which Van L. gets her from behind in the wood grip. His arm is sitting around her neck and he drags her to bed. “I wanted to get her calm.”
Once on the bed, Kevin notices that the woman is becoming calmer. “Her body became limp. I let go and saw that she wasn’t moving anymore.” He also sees moisture spots on the bed, which turns out to be urine later.
Van L. gives her pain stimuli on her arm and eye, feels for her wrist and puts on a blood pressure monitor that he normally uses for his own illness. He has Addison’s disease. But there is no sign of life. He drags her to the bathroom. He leaves her there.
Police station Den Bosch
After hours of doubt, he takes the woman’s car and he also takes her mobile, TV and debit card. He doesn’t succeed, but he does sell her mobile at Used Products in Hilversum. There is no interest in the TV.
He then drives towards Brabant. Runs The police station in Den Bosch inside. He says that there has been a struggle and that he suspects that he stabbed the woman.
Trail
Research by experts from the Pieter Baan Center shows a number of personal aspects of Van L.. For example, his criminal record is now 18 pages and he has been using from the age of 17. “On and off,” he says. Traces of cocaine have also been found in his blood.
Lying and problems with aggression and self -control are also attributed to him as a characteristic. His father and ex-partner confirm that in the study.
Question marks
Despite the reconstruction and the explanation of Van L., there are still question marks that remain.
For example, traces of morphine and methadone are found in the blood of women. But despite these traces and signs of ‘nipping’, a definitive cause of death cannot be determined according to the forensic doctors.
It is also not clear on the camera images that the man with whom Van L. had a scuffle leaves the house. Whether that man was present in the home at all is uncertain.
And when the police try to go into the house, it appears that the front door is closed on the inside. The agents have to go into the house through the window, after which it appears that the front door is locked from the inside.
How and who has locked the door from the inside is unclear. Nobody can be seen on camera images who went into the home after the departure of Van L. and the find of the body.
The court will rule on 4 April in the case