The 31-year-old suspect who was arrested after the death of a 75-year-old woman was in a mental health institution in Halsteren. According to police, it appears that the suspect and the victim did not know each other. The entrance to the grounds of the institution where the 31-year-old suspect stayed is a few hundred meters away from where the body of the 75-year-old woman was found. “When we arrived, the suspect had just left,” police said.
“The staff is shocked. You don’t want this to happen,” says Lars Walder on behalf of GGZ Westelijk Noord-Brabant. Why the man stayed at GGZ Westelijk Noord-Brabant on the Vrederust estate is not disclosed for his privacy. “We can’t say anything specific about the client himself,” Walder indicates. “The staff is shocked, especially after the death of the 75-year-old woman. It is a dramatic story.”
The police tracked down the 31-year-old man on Friday evening. “We took immediate action and then went to the institution,” says police spokesman Alwin Don. “When we got there, the suspect had just left. So he had not yet been reported missing.”
Search in Amsterdam
The police searched for relatives in Amsterdam, among other things, because there was a suspicion that he had gone there on Friday evening. The man was eventually arrested on the street in Amsterdam around half past four on Saturday afternoon.
“It does not appear that the suspect and the 75-year-old victim from Halsterd knew each other,” the spokesperson said. “It was quite a difficult investigation because we were confronted with a victim in a forest area and all scenarios were open.”
Staff meeting
A meeting for staff is planned for Monday. “It is in people’s DNA to take care of each other. So the attention and aftercare is certainly there and will certainly be there in the coming period,” says Walder.
“Nobody wants this. You don’t want this to happen. We also want to know how this could have happened. We are going to work on this. I don’t know yet how this will be investigated.”
In recent days, the police conducted a search at the location where the woman was found.