Military Ruud S. (22) will remain in prison for at least three months for stabbing his own daughter Emily to death. The baby was not yet allowed to be six months old. S. would have stabbed her to death in a house on the Wolphaertsbocht in the Rotterdam district of Oud-Charlois.
The East Netherlands Public Prosecution Service reports that S. is suspected of murder or manslaughter. The extent to which he intended to kill the girl will play a role in the final suspicion. The Public Prosecution Service will not make any further announcements. S. is still in restrictions, which means that he can only have contact with his lawyer.
Military courtroom
It is not the Rotterdam judge who decided whether S. should stay longer, but the one in Arnhem. Unlike other suspects, military personnel are tried in a so-called ‘military court’. The officer and the judges all have military backgrounds there.
According to the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, Ruud S. was an ‘actively serving soldier’. He was an IT person. According to his mother, he had been on the Sickness Benefits Act for a few months because of psychological problems.
At Emily’s funeral, one question from the funeral director about the unimaginable drama lingered. “Why? Why? A question that may never be answered.”