The Public Prosecution Service (OM) demands 14 years of imprisonment against a 29-year-old man from Poland. He is suspected of killing a 58-year-old man from Utrecht. The man allegedly took the victims life in a gruesome manner on September 23, 2023, and fled to France with the victims phone, keys, suitcase, and bank card.
On September 28, 2023, the police found the lifeless body of the victim in the bathroom of his home after a report was made by an acquaintance of the man. The victim was bound, and his face was swollen and covered in blood. That same day, forensic investigation showed that the victim had died several days earlier due to severe violence to the body. The suspect was at that time untraceable.
Stolen Bank Card
After the discovery of the deceased victim, the police initiated a large-scale investigation. The suspect quickly came into focus. After the mobile phone and bank card of the victim were not found in the house, the investigation focused on the multiple bank transactions made from September 25 in France. When a witness reported that the suspect had often visited the victim, he was recognized by the police on surveillance footage where he was using the victims bank card.
“Not Credible”
From surveillance footage of further investigation, it appears that the suspect had been at a party with the victim before the death. They later went to the victims house. During his interrogation, the suspect claimed that the victim tried to assault him in the house. To defend himself, he claimed to have given the victim two elbow strikes. When he noticed that the victim was unconscious, he tried to help the victim by giving him several blows to the face and attempting to resuscitate him. Based on extensive investigation, the OM finds it not credible that the injuries found on the victim were caused by the suspect merely having committed a few acts of violence, as he claims.
Additionally, the suspect claims multiple times that he wanted to defend himself. The OM also finds this statement not credible, partly due to the discrepancy between his statement and the findings from the investigation. That the suspect acted out of panic because he was being assaulted is not supported by his statements and the actions he took. He did not call 112, took photos of the victim covering the victims mouth, sent them to a friend, dragged the victim, put him in the shower, tied him up, barricaded the door, and went to sleep. He then took the victims bank card and mobile phone, left the victim dead, called a friend, went for a walk with her, and told her nothing about the incident. Actions that, according to the OM, do not fit with panic.
Brutal Violence
The OM states that there is sufficient evidence that the suspect intentionally killed the victim through brutal violence. Due to the amount of force and violence used, the OM believes that the suspect was aware of the existing risk of the victims death. Why it escalated terribly in the victims home will never be entirely clear. “He can no longer tell it himself, and the scenario as outlined by the suspect is not credible,” the prosecutor said today in court. “It is, however, clear that the suspect killed the man in a gruesome manner, in his own home, where the victim should have felt safe.”
Sentence Demand
In determining the sentence demand, it has been taken into account that the suspect has been convicted multiple times for violent offenses. With the imposition of a lengthy prison sentence, the OM wants to do justice to the seriousness of the offense and the irreparable suffering inflicted on the relatives. Therefore, the OM today demanded 14 years of imprisonment against the 29-year-old suspect from Poland. Additionally, the OM demanded the imposition of behavioral and freedom-restricting measures, so that the court can impose the necessary interventions after the prison sentence has been served.
The court will deliver its verdict on June 3.