He didn’t see the car until he felt the impact. That says Hugo H. from Geldrop in court on Tuesday. H. is there in the dock, because he killed the beloved and well-known Bossche artist Peter Solzenbach in Den Bosch this summer. This caused a lot of grief not only for the family, but also in the Bossche community.
The 43-year-old Hugo H. from Geldrop enters the courtroom on Tuesday with a notepad and a pen in hand. He wears checked trousers, a black shirt, a thin chain around his neck. His dark hair is cropped short. Softly, almost timidly, he answers the judges’ greeting with, “Good morning.”
Sitting next to him is his lawyer Robert Klaassen, who argues for a ‘counter-investigation’ as soon as the hearing begins. Because according to him, H. had a psychosis, but that was not the result of the research that is now available.
Public Prosecutor Erna Vrijhoeven does not think more investigation is necessary. “The fact that you don’t like the conclusions is no reason for a counter-investigation.” And the judge agrees with the officer.
carjacking
H. had an accident that morning with his own car, in Erp. He left his damaged car behind and forced the driver of a Range Rover to stop. Then he went, from that moment on car jack, ran off in that car.
On the Hervensebaan, H. drove through a red light at high speed and collided with another car with the Range Rover. In that other car was the 50-year-old Bosschenaar Peter Stolzenbach. It is not even nine o’clock in the morning when paramedics have to determine that Stolzenbach is no longer alive.
Stolzenbach owned GroenRijk in Den Bosch. He was loved and his death caused great grief, not only to his family.
He was released from a psychiatric hospital three days before the accident. He said to the judge on Tuesday about the collision: I don’t remember much about that moment. I know there was a blow. And that I was supernaturally afraid that I was being chased.”
Attributable or not
Whether he was actually psychotic or not is extremely important. It determines to what extent Hugo H. was accountable. And that in turn determines what punishment he will receive: imprisonment, tbs or both.
Immediately after Klaassen’s request for more research, the judge must decide whether this should indeed be done. The hearing was adjourned within fifteen minutes.