During a very dark period in his life, Alfred van N. (51) from St. Willebrord developed a blur in his eyes. He threatened his ex and a crematorium employee with death and was arrested. And that is why he was in court in Breda on Wednesday, almost two years later.
All alarm bells went off on June 15, 2022. Alfred was on his way to his ex in Etten-Leur to ‘finish her off’. The man turned out to have a significant criminal record and was sentenced to two years in prison in 2016 for prohibited possession of weapons. The police managed to stop him near her house by tasering him twice.
Alfred had been angry with his ex for years and raised his son himself. There had been no contact with his ex for years and his son also wanted nothing to do with his mother. But, on May 1, 2022, their shared son (17) died in a traffic accident. Alfred’s ex also wanted some of the son’s ashes and that made Alfred furious.
So furious that the justice department decided to confiscate the urn. And that is why things got out of hand at the crematorium in Roosendaal when Alfred wanted to pick up the urn there with his parents. An employee was threatened with death with statements such as ‘you may be big and broad, but I will kill you with ten of my friends’.
“I’ll put an end to it.”
When the police heard that Alfred was then on his way to his ex with the words ‘now I’m fed up, I’m going to kill her’, Alfred was quickly arrested. In court he stated that this was all a misunderstanding. “I’m putting an end to it,” he had said. And that did not mean that he was going to kill her, but that he wanted to make it clear to her once and for all that their son never wanted contact with his mother and that she would now not receive any part of his ashes. For example, she was not allowed to attend the funeral.
The public prosecutor understood that Alfred was very emotional in the period after his son’s death. “But there are also limits,” he indicated. He showed mildness and demanded a community service order of 40 hours and 60 hours of probation and a fine of 200 euros. In addition to the threats from his ex and the crematorium employee, Alfred had also threatened a boa at the end of 2021 who came to check for illegal fireworks. A large carving knife was also found in the car in which Alfred was on his way to his ex.
“I have nothing here anymore.”
Alfred shook his head frequently. He no longer needs contact with his ex. That is a closed book, he said. And he actually wants to leave too. “I have nothing here anymore,” he said. “And I would prefer to emigrate to Spain as soon as possible, with my parents, to restart my life there.
The verdict in this case is on March 6.