Thomas R., suspected of murdering American student Mieke Oort in Leeuwarden, says he was obsessed with the victim. He has confessed. R. will be on trial in Leeuwarden on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old woman was found in her student residence early in the morning of Sunday, March 6. She had been killed with multiple stab wounds.
R. (27) got in touch with her via Tinder in the fall of 2021. After a few days, dates followed. R. says he never touched her. “There were trips, we went away for weekends,” said an emotional R. in court. “I saw her several times a week. She didn’t want a relationship, but it was more than dating. I found it very confusing.”
Downhill
After several weeks, the relationship went downhill. Oort had let it be known that she was in contact with another man. R. started to keep an eye on her, including with a GPS tracker. “I had become so obsessed.” R. took things that he had bought for Oort from her home when the relationship deteriorated. Later he regretted it and the contact got better again. “There is still hope, I thought.”
R. wanted to meet with Oort on the evening of March 5th. She canceled because she was sick, according to R. He went to her home, “because I had the idea that it wasn’t right.” He saw Oort dancing with a man at a party. “I got more and more frustrated, crazier.” He drove his car to his hometown of Leek and returned with a knife, a hammer and two Molotov cocktails.
Black hole
R. said he was home for a few minutes. “The round trip is a black hole.” He had made Molotov cocktails from gasoline. He had bought the fuel on March 4. “I wanted to set myself on fire”. R. wanted to get rid of his obsession. He denies having an assassination plan.
He threw a bomb against the window of Oort’s apartment and a fire started. “Panic and anger, all kinds of things went through me. It went automatically.” Then he climbed onto the roof terrace and slammed a door. Inside, R. Oort stabbed on a staircase. “I don’t know how often and where. I was panicking. I wanted to know answers, not hurt her physically.” Oort had fifteen stab injuries.
R. also stabbed the man he had seen dancing with Oort and with whom she had been in a relationship for three months. He was seriously injured. Another man suffered minor injuries. Within two minutes R. was outside. He was arrested in Germany. The Public Prosecution Service will issue the sentence on Tuesday.