The Public Prosecution Service has demanded a 12-year prison sentence for a 36-year-old woman from Rotterdam for stabbing her 37-year-old partner to death.
On March 16, 2024, the tragedy occurred in a home on Brautigamstraat in the Rotterdam district of Feijenoord. The suspect and her partner were reportedly involved in a struggle. When officers entered the home, they found a severely injured man. The victim had been stabbed multiple times. Emergency services attempted resuscitation, but the 37-year-old man from Rotterdam died on the spot.
Intent
The Public Prosecution Service assumes that the suspect intentionally caused the death of her partner. She stabbed the victim multiple times with a razor-sharp knife in vital areas such as the neck, chest, and back. The suspect must have known this would be fatal. The Public Prosecution Service considers the suspects statement, in which she claims to have acted in a haze, not credible. According to the PPS, it is unlikely that she cannot remember the moments of stabbing while she can recall other events surrounding the incident. This raises questions about the reliability of her statement, as memory normally does not function this way.
Self-defense / Excessive self-defense
According to the defense, the suspect acted in self-defense. The PPS believes this is not the case. The suspect reacted, according to the public prosecutor, not out of a sudden, intense emotion, but out of pent-up anger. Phone chats and witness statements show that the suspect was terribly angry at him and wanted to kill him if he cheated again. The suspect had multiple opportunities to stop her attack but chose to continue it.
Life crime
“The suspect deprived the then 37-year-old victim of the most fundamental right, the right to life. The victim, father of 8 young children, was in the prime of life and had a whole future ahead of him. The suspect has taken that future away from him,” said the public prosecutor in court. Experts found no disorder, cannot assess the risk of violent recidivism, and recommend a sentence without special conditions.
