The 19-year-old victim who was stabbed several times by his neighbor on New Year’s Day is doing ‘well under the circumstances’. This happened on the Amethistdijk in Roosendaal. The victim has more than 150 stitches, has been stabbed 34 times in his body and 14 times in his head. “It’s a miracle that he is still alive,” says Ferry de Wit, a relative of the victim.
The photos in this story may be experienced as shocking.
There have been problems with the neighbor before. “He sometimes said strange things. But no one expected it to get out of hand like this,” says 32-year-old Ferry. He lives a few blocks away and is married to the victim’s niece. Because the victim himself does not want to be in the media, Ferry speaks on his behalf.
The way the stabbing took place resembles a scene from a horror movie. The victim called 911 because a screaming and threatening neighbor was at the door. He walked around the back again, broke the window of the back door, entered the house and walked upstairs to the victim’s bedroom. Almost immediately he started poking at him.
“This is just an assassination attempt.”
“He managed to get the neighbor in a headlock. He then asked if he would please let him go and promised that he would stop.” The victim asked if he was sure. After another confirmation, he let go of the neighbor.
“But he started stabbing again,” says Ferry. The two then rolled through the house fighting, until the victim eventually ended up lying still in the living room in a corner. There the neighbor started stabbing his head several more times. “He didn’t stop until the police arrived. This is just an assassination attempt.”
“The police asked him to put his hands in the air, but he couldn’t.”
When the victim subsequently emerged covered in blood, police initially pointed a taser at him. He was asked to raise his hands. “But he couldn’t do that at all. All kinds of tendons had been cut. Local residents made it clear to the police that he had actually been attacked.” The victim was taken away by ambulance. “He was covered in blood, it was truly horror.”
According to Ferry, the neighbor has threatened the victim and his father many times before. Also online. A number of those allegations are still on the neighbor’s Facebook page. For example, the victim and his father are said to have hired ‘hitmen’ to kill him. The victim is also called a ‘filthy pedo’ because he allegedly looks at his daughter. The page paints a picture of a confused man who thinks ‘the intelligence services’ are targeting him.
The Public Prosecution Service (OM) announced earlier this week that the 35-year-old will remain in pre-trial detention for at least fourteen days longer. The investigation is also in full swing. According to the Public Prosecution Service, this will ‘take some time’.
Man (19) stabbed by neighbor: ‘He was covered in blood’
