OM asks for acquittal in Rosmalen flat murder 15 years after conviction Inland

The victim in the case is 37-year-old Regie van den Hoogen, B’s partner. He found the woman on the morning of April 10, 2000 with a slit throat in the hall of their shared flat in the Rosmalense district of Hintham. B. raised the alarm and was arrested as a suspect the same day. The man has always denied that he did anything to Van den Hoogen; according to him, the woman took her own life.

His alibi and statements were brushed aside. The District Court and later – on appeal – the Court of Appeal in Den Bosch considered manslaughter proven and ordered B. TBS with compulsory treatment. The TBS measure ended in 2017. New, extensive research has undermined the evidence on which B. was convicted years ago. The conviction of B. was mainly based on the findings of experts.

They concluded that the victim could not have killed herself, but that someone else must have done it. Both B. and his partner were struggling with psychiatric problems at the time. Whether the victim took his own life is left open to the public prosecutor, because this scenario does not have to be proven. It may be that the woman wanted to cut something from her neck, whether or not under the influence of delusions.

“22 years of my life has been taken from me,” said Rob B. this morning at the beginning of the session at the Arnhem court. “You had tunnel vision,” he added. The TBS measure ended in 2017, but he still lives in a psychiatric clinic. According to his doctors, he is quite capable of following the process and ‘understanding what it’s about’, reports it Brabants Dagblad.

B’s lawyer Van der Kruijs, who had already retired a few years ago, was re-sworn in as a lawyer especially for this hearing. He will ask the court to rule immediately. “This hearing is a painful occasion for all concerned,” the Advocate General acknowledged at the end of her requisition. “I deeply regret it.” B. reported in a civil procedure to want to request compensation.