The prosecution wants Willem V. (56) to serve eight years in prison for the murder of his brother Wim in Kerkrade, in February this year.
Willem V. stood trial in Maastricht on Tuesday for the death of his younger brother. He acknowledged stabbing his brother, but said he did not do it on purpose. "I never wanted this like this," he said.
Escalated
On February 9, things went wrong between the two brothers. In a trailer on the Sportstraat, Wim and Willem got into a fight. According to Willem, he wanted to take his medication and make something to eat when things escalated between the brothers. The two called each other names and made threats.
Wim's mother and partner tried to calm things down. Willem ran to the kitchen; his brother came after him and attacked Willem. The latter stood by the kitchen sink, had a sharp knife in his hand and stabbed his brother in the upper body with it, near his heart. In his underpants, Willem ran to his sister's trailer and called 911 himself. Emergency services found 49-year-old Wim bleeding profusely. Wim died a short time later in the hospital.
Fear
During the hearing, it became clear that the defendant has always been scared to death of his brother. For 25 years Willem had to tiptoe for his brother. Police interrogations also revealed that the two have not had a good relationship for years, according to the mother a bestial one even. A few weeks before the fatal stabbing, Willem and Wim got into an argument in a Kerkrade pub. "I had broken ribs and a black eye, but did not report him," Willem said.
According to attorney, his client was his brother's punching bag for years. "Not only my client knew a dark side of his brother, also his partner. Wim was capable of turning to severe physical violence from nowhere. Even in the kitchen he could expect Wim to mistreat him again and knew he could not win from his brother."
Storm
The prosecutor did not consider that a reason to take someone's life and asked the court to consider whether there was any emergency defense at all. "He could have left through the back door. The way the defendant reacted is unacceptable. He himself chose to grab that knife and was in a position to act differently."
The last word lay with William V. "I am not a monster and never wanted this. Not consciously either. It's like showing me a movie," V. said emotionally.
The verdict will follow in two weeks.
https://www.1limburg.nl/broedermoord-kerkrade-ik-ben-geen-monster
