In the parking lot of the Aldi supermarket on Rijnlaan in Zwolle, a man was killed in broad daylight on March 6, 2024. Shopping people and passersby witnessed how a car crashed into the side of another vehicle. A man got out and shot his victim through the windshield of the car, then opened the door and stabbed the body multiple times. Shortly after this incident, a 43-year-old man from Zwolle was arrested in the nearby area.
“It has shocked many people in Zwolle, especially those who were present,” said the public prosecutor about this gruesome act today during the substantive hearing in the court in Zwolle. “They witnessed someone being murdered. Some of them have seen the most gruesome things and may carry this with them for the rest of their lives. And this is of course true for the loved ones of the victim.”
The Public Prosecution Service can only conclude after the criminal investigation that there was premeditation and thus murder. Today, the Public Prosecution Service demands a prison sentence of 12 years and compulsory treatment for the man from Zwolle in the court. The latter is being demanded by the Public Prosecution Service because experts believe that the suspect was significantly diminished in his accountability for his actions; he was suffering from a paranoid delusional disorder at the time he committed the murder.
It is not so much a question of whether it is the suspect who is responsible for killing the victim; there is more than enough evidence in the file, in the eyes of the Public Prosecution Service, including a confession from the suspect himself. The investigation quickly focused on the background of this murder and to what extent it can be attributed to the suspect.
A stone through the window, an assault on his son, the door of his home blown up, and years of stalking: during interrogations, the suspect indicated that there was a lot going on between him and his victim. However, research has shown in no way that the victim was responsible for this. The public prosecutor: “No justification can be found in the file for the suspects actions and the violence he committed. The suspect wrongly attributes all incidents and occurrences to the victim, placing them incorrectly within the context of stalking.”
The Public Prosecution Service is convinced that the suspect lived in the delusion that he was being stalked. “The suspects actions, thoughts, and feelings have increasingly taken on a paranoid coloring, and as a result, fear, powerlessness, and anger took over.” The conclusion of researchers that the suspect is significantly diminished in accountability regarding the murder is followed by the Public Prosecution Service.
“No punishment is heavy enough to compensate for the suffering of the survivors,” concluded the public prosecutor in the indictment. “Let me end with the most important wish of the survivors. The last thing they want is to deal with the suspect and his family. They want peace and can begin to process this dark period in their lives. I sincerely hope that peace is granted to them.”