1/3 The police are investigating the house where the victims were found (archive photo: Bart Meesters/Meesters Multi Media/SQ Vision).
Eight years ago, Veghel was shocked by a terrible family tragedy. The bodies of two women and a girl were found in a house on Fazantendonk. A man, now 25, was arrested for this. He had murdered his ten-year-old sister, his 50-year-old mother and his 67-year-old grandmother. The court sentenced him to ten years in prison and TBS. The judge ruled on Tuesday that his TBS order would be extended by two years.
Annet Laeyendecker assisted the Veghel boy when he was tried in 2016. She is still his lawyer. She has seen him grow during those years: “He has become a young man, self-confident, but also guilty. He is fully aware of what he has done and is ashamed of it.”
“He never learned to deal with his feelings.”
It is difficult to describe what S. did to his parental home in Veghel that day. He strangled his sister and hit his mother and grandmother on the head with a hammer. “It is not a blame or an excuse, but he has never learned to deal with feelings. My client was and is autistic. Moreover, he wanted to prevent his family from deterring him from the plan to end his life after an earlier attempt had failed,” Laeyendecker looks back.
The young Turk was arrested the same day. After his atrocity, he washed off blood stains and went to visit family. Acquaintances of the family previously reported that he had ‘lost himself’ after the death of his father. According to his lawyer, this is separate from his true motives for killing his family members.
“This event is one I will never forget.”
The drama in Veghel-Noord stirred up many emotions outside the perpetrator. Ina Adema was then mayor of the independent municipality of Veghel. When asked, the current King’s Commissioner says that what happened then will remain with her: “As mayor you always experience things that make an impression. This event is one I will never forget.”
A year after the triple murder, the boy was sentenced to ten years in prison and TBS. He must also pay surviving relatives 10,000 euros. He has now been staying in De Rooyse Wissel, a psychiatric institution in Oostrum, North Limburg, for several years. S. can live with having to stay indoors, although he hopes to be able to leave the clinic one day.
“I am sensitive to stimuli.”
He is now on such a good track that he has already been on supervised leave a few times. “Although that took some getting used to,” he said earlier this day in Den Bosch where the judge considered the question of whether the TBS treatment could be extended by two years. During the hearing, S. sometimes appeared both timid and somewhat relaxed. “I am sensitive to stimuli. Even in quiet places in the institution.”
The judge (“I read that you are really going for it”), his treatment providers, the public prosecutor and his lawyer were satisfied that S. is developing in a positive way. Step by step. The TBS extension was therefore quickly confirmed. A return to society is not an option for the time being as long as there is a risk of recurrence. Assisted living is on the horizon.
Talking about thoughts of suicide helps. You can call the 113 Suicide Prevention Foundation 24 hours a day on 0900 0113 or chat via en 113.nl.