The news of the 31-year-old nurse who is suspected of involvement in the death of several patients in the Wilhelmina Hospital Assen (WZA) also hits the next of kin like a bombshell. Several relatives of victims have now reported to Victim Support Netherlands.
“These people thought they already had answers about the death of their loved ones, but now there are many questions.”
Speaking is Victim Support Spokesman Roy Heerkens. Of course, for privacy reasons, he cannot go into too much detail about the next of kin. But he can explain a little more about how they help relatives who report themselves.
The WZA case can be called an exceptional case for Victim Support. Normally, the organization comes to the next of kin within 24 hours after a crime to offer help. In this case, it concerns suspicious cases that took place between March 2020 and May 2022.
“If a bereaved person has lost someone in a homicide, then of course there is a lot of emotion involved,” explains Heerkens. “Also because someone died suddenly. At the hands of someone else. That now also seems to be the case in this case. That can release a lot from relatives.”
If the next of kin thought that their loved one died from the consequences of corona, there is now suddenly a possible punishable cause of death. “And that naturally raises a lot of questions,” said the spokesman. “And also during the court case, many details may emerge, which can also be very intense for the relatives.”
As always for Victim Support, this case is also tailor-made. “Every next of kin has different needs. It’s up to us to respond to that,” explains Heerkens.
Victim Support Netherlands helps next of kin through the entire process up to and including the final judgment during a court case. “We offer emotional, practical and legal support,” says Heerkens.
“We help to find a victim lawyer, together with the family detective and victim coordinator of the Public Prosecution Service we inform the next of kin about the criminal process. We guide the next of kin in drawing up a right to speak if they are eligible for it later.”
Next week it will become clear whether suspect Theodoor V. will remain detained as a suspect for longer. Until then, he is in restrictions, which means that he can only have contact with his lawyer.
The Public Prosecution Service does not yet want to say what the now 31-year-old V. – he recently celebrated his birthday in prison – is suspected of. Except that he is suspected of involvement in the death of several corona patients in the lung department of the WZA.
Until his arrest last Monday, the suspect lived with his friend in Veenhuizen. According to local residents, they lived there fairly anonymously. Few people in the village seemed to know V.
Before the nurse started working at the WZA, he worked at the UMCG and the Martini Hospital in Groningen, among others. He also did an internship at a hospital in Bremen.