A six-year prison sentence and TBS with compulsory treatment have also been demanded on appeal against Izzy P. (32) from Tilburg, who killed his housemate Yke Engel with 38 stab wounds. This became apparent on Monday at the court in Den Bosch. Yke’s family will be happy when the process is finally over. “After two years I am tired, tired of all the pleas from your lawyer. Sit on your blisters,” says Juul, Yke’s sister.
On October 18, 2022, things went completely wrong in Yke’s house on Bisschop Godschalkstraat in Tilburg. While she was sleeping, Izzy stabbed her to death. He lived temporarily with Yke, who was 35 years old at the time, and her son Dean (7). She helped him, because Izzy suffered from delusions, schizophrenia and psychosis. “I thought there were people in the house and things had moved around. When I got into the bedroom, I saw Yke smiling and that increased my paranoid,” says Izzy.
READ ALSO: Yke was killed with 38 stab wounds: six years in prison and TBS for housemate
It is not the first time for Izzy to experience psychosis. The first time was in 2016. He then became suspicious and slept with a knife under his pillow. He decided to stop smoking, but by the time he moved in with Yke he had started again. “Cannabis gives me peace,” he says.
The judge, as a judge in the court of appeal is called, then says that according to previous statements, it did not stop at that one piece of smoke. “Whole grams went through it. You have been a pharmacy assistant, so you know that there are other solutions to relax than hash and weed.”
“What I can remember is that I stabbed once and Yke shouted ‘no’.”
An important question for the court is whether or not Izzy realized what he was doing at the time of the murder. He himself says that it only dawned on him when he was incarcerated later. “And what I can remember is that I stabbed once and that Yke shouted ‘no’. I don’t remember the rest,” he says flatly.
After stabbing Yke to death, Izzy attempted suicide and then called 911. On the phone he calmly said that he had killed a woman. The police who arrived on the scene also found him not confused, but calm. They took him to the emergency room for his injuries. “You then asked how it was possible that an officer had so much compassion for someone who had done something so terrible,” says the councilor. “So you realized then what you had done.”
“Let’s not give this man the opportunity to destroy any more lives.”
Yke’s family is sad and frustrated. During the right to speak, sister Juul says that she thinks her sister’s murder is ‘pure femicide’. She thinks Izzy should sit on the blisters. “Unfortunately, we won’t get Yke back, but let’s not give this man the opportunity to destroy any more lives.”
Yke’s mother says that she got to know Izzy as ‘an engaging man, intelligent, open to discussion, humor too’. “When you came to live with Yke, everything slowly changed. You barely ate, you sat on the couch like a zombie. Yke was there for you day and night,” she says. What especially affects her is that son Dean, who was seven years old at the time, now has to live without his mother. “No matter how well everyone tries to do, mommy Yke remains irreplaceable.”
“I see a child who misses his mother and is traumatized.”
The father says that Dean is afraid of Izzy and what Izzy could do to him if he gets out. “Dean has a lot of difficulty expressing emotions. He often dreams about his mother. I see a child who misses his mother and is traumatized. No one should have to experience this at such a young age.”
The court in Breda sentenced Izzy to six years in prison and TBS with compulsory treatment in July 2023. Izzy’s lawyer appealed against this and is now arguing for TBS with conditions instead of compulsory treatment. The Public Prosecution Service is virtually sticking to the original sentence. Because the case took too long, the Public Prosecution Service is only asking for a one-month reduction in the sentence. The court will give its ruling in two weeks.
YOU MAY ALSO FIND THIS INTERESTING:
Sister of Yke, murdered with 38 stabs, speaks: ‘I am so angry with you!’
Juul cannot get her murdered sister back, but wants changes