On Tuesday Thomas R. sat with bowed shoulders sniffing and silent in the suspect’s bench of the court in Leeuwarden. Big glasses with black frames on his nose.
The public prosecutor is prosecuting him for murder, attempted murder, attempted aggravated assault, arson and vandalism. The case will only be dealt with substantively on October 11, but a little more became clear about what happened that night in the house on the Tweebaksmarkt.
Mieke Jasmine Oort grew up in the Boston area in the United States. Her father is a Dutchman. In 2019, she graduated from Winchester High School and moved to the Netherlands to get to know her father’s native country better. She studied Leisure & Events at the NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences and did research into the dangers of dating apps, among other things.
It was a difficult initial period, because it roughly coincided with the outbreak of the corona pandemic. When that was over, she finally wanted to enjoy student life. “If you have children and let them stand on their own two feet, you also want them to spread their wings,” her father Michael Oort previously told De Telegraaf.
Getting to know each other through Tinder
At the end of 2021 she met Thomas R. through Tinder. For him, Mieke Oort was a lottery ticket, but the feelings were not mutual. Thomas R. didn’t want to hear any rejection and started stalking her. He sent apps, emails and, according to Mieke’s sister Danique, he even attached a GPS tracker to her bicycle. He also invaded her room to steal things, which he then used as a reason to contact her.
On Saturday evening, March 5, he approached Mieke again. He wanted to meet, he told the police, but she said she was ill. He drove to the house in Leeuwarden and saw that there was a party there. Mieke danced with another boy. Furious, he drove back to Leek where he still lived with his parents, made two Molotov cocktails there and drove back.
At the Tweebaksmarkt he threw a Molotov cocktail against the kitchen window, climbed up the drainpipe, smashed a balcony window and entered the house.
In the kitchen he came across Mieke and her friend Tom (25), whom he attacked both with a knife. Mieke was hit in her chest, lungs, neck and arm. She died on the spot. Her friend was seriously injured and barely survived the attack. A roommate of Mieke who came to the aid of the couple was slightly injured.
Then Thomas R. ran off. During his flight, he called his parents, who alerted the police. On the morning of March 6, he was arrested just over the border in Germany. He immediately confessed what he had done.
A psychologist, psychiatrist and a neuropsychologist have investigated Thomas R’s mental faculties. It is not yet known what came of that. On October 11, the court will hear the substance of the case. Mieke’s parents and sister may come over from the US for this.