A 21-year-old from Rotterdam who is suspected of two attacks on houses in the Maaspoort, including that of Klaas Otto’s girlfriend, is said to have done so because he was in financial trouble and because his mother and sister were threatened. “I thought it was dangerous for myself and the people living in the house. But I had to do it out of fear.” The suspect told the court in Den Bosch on Tuesday. For those attacks, the public prosecutor demanded 4 years in prison, of which 1 year was suspended.
Until a few days ago, the suspect denied that he had anything to do with the attacks in July last year. But since Thursday there has been a handwritten note in which the suspect confesses that he exploded two packages. The first in the night of July 27 at a house on the Goedenrade in the Maaspoort district of Bossche. And the second a few doors down at the Stapelen on July 31.
The 21-year-old suspect is said to have been instructed by a man he met on the street. “I didn’t know him. He told me to startle someone. I had to put a package in front of the door and let it explode,” said the Rotterdammer. “It seemed dangerous to me. For me and for the people who lived there. I didn’t want to do it, but he threatened my mother and sister. He would do something to them. I had to do it out of fear.”
From the criminal environment
According to the judiciary, the residents of both houses were at enormous risk. The family with two young children and the parents of Klaas Otto’s girlfriend were unharmed, because they slept during the attacks. But if they had been in the living room, hallway or kitchen, they could even have been fatally injured.
The Rotterdammer was therefore initially suspected of attempted murder or attempted manslaughter. But the officer demanded an acquittal for that. “Despite the fact that it felt that way for the residents of both houses,” says the officer.
According to a psychologist, the suspect is mentally retarded, impulsive and socially retarded. In addition to the young age of the suspect, the officer will take this into account in the sentence demanded. “He must be given and take the opportunity to step out of the criminal environment,” the officer motivates.
Two attacks
Although the 21-year-old suspect has been silent in recent months, he told the court on Tuesday how he committed the attacks. Before the first explosion, he was picked up and taken to Den Bosch. With the explosive in the back seat of the car. “The driver told me where to deliver the package. I saw the house number and then I put that thing in front of it and detonated it.”
It soon turned out that it was the wrong house. The first attack was aimed at a house on the Stapelen two hundred meters away. The house of the new girlfriend of criminal Klaas Otto, Gracia K.. And so the Rotterdammer had to go back to the Maaspoort a few days later. “I didn’t want to do it. Out of adrenaline I threw the package over the garden gate and let it explode,” said the 21-year-old suspect.
In both cases, the residents were at home. They experienced the explosions as an attack. Gracia K. and her parents fear that something will happen again. “They don’t have to be afraid of me. I don’t even know them,” says the man. Furthermore, he does not want to say anything about the attacks, except that he regrets what he has done.
The court will rule in two weeks.
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