The Public Prosecutor's Office (OM) on Tuesday formulates the punishment demand against triple murder suspect Thijs H. (28) from Brunssum. Does the Public Prosecutor consider H. completely insane or complicit in his psychosis? The answer to this question determines whether the Public Prosecutor follows the advice of the experts or demands a long prison sentence in addition to tbs with compulsory treatment.
Follow developments in the courtroom live from 10 a.m. via Claire van Dyck's Twitter feed at the bottom of this post.
Prosecutors have doubts about H.'s complete insanity. The prosecutors asked many questions last week to the experts at the Pieter Baan Center about psychoses, the possibility of faking them and the influence of drug use on the onset or worsening of a psychosis. The court also asked whether H. could be blamed for making the psychosis worse. "His reality was distorted, it is virtually impossible to see that for yourself," the psychologist said.
Prosecutors questioned the extent to which H. acted in a calculated manner in the stabbing to death of Etsuko (56) in the Schevenings Bosjes on May 4, 2019 and the stabbing to death of Diny (63) and Frans (68) on Brunssummerheide on May 7. Among other things, he turned off his phone shortly before the murders to avoid being traced. H. says he had been "ordered" through TV reports and license plates that he had to kill people to spare his own family. H. thought the world was in the hands of psychopaths who spoke code language. Experts say a person with psychosis can still think logically and plan "within the disturbed reality he has." H. did not talk to anyone about the existence of "the system" and managed to disguise his psychosis well. Lack of disease insight is a hallmark of psychoses, experts said. People with psychoses do not share their experiences or talk about their delusions that are real to them.
The experts maintained their opinion that H. committed the murders during a psychosis that had been going on for a long time. They sharply criticized H.'s treatment providers who failed to maintain sufficient supervision while there were "alarm signals" and prescribed H. the wrong medication which is precisely an "instigator" of a psychosis. The therapists at Mondriaan mental health institution focused more on an autistic spectrum disorder, ADHD and a personality disorder. "Concerns about psychotic dysregulation have kind of faded into oblivion."
The relatives turned to H. last week, expressing their grief and disgust and calling on the court to protect society from H. According to daughter Carla of the murdered Diny, H.'s wiretapped phone conversations from prison with his family show that he "barely regrets" his actions. "About your victims and their relatives you hardly talk. It's only about you. Your future gone and that you want to be back outside as soon as possible to get on with your life. Or, as your mother calls it, put the black page of your life behind you. Preferably with a big bag of money from the mental health institution, because Mondrian made mistakes and should pay you a hefty sum for them."
The relatives and also Thijs H. are considering holding Mondrian liable for negligence. Thijs H. said after the next of kin's statements that he was "terribly sorry. I hope you can derive some satisfaction from this trial".
The prosecutors are expected to need much of the day Tuesday for their indictments. Then it will become clear whether the doubts the prosecution has about H.'s psychosis still stand or have been removed. The prosecutors will also address the new information that came to them in the middle of last week about Thijs H. and that still needed further investigation. At the end, the sentence will be pronounced. Wednesday is reserved for the plea of Serge Weening, H.'s lawyer. Afterwards, the accused will have the last word.
https://www.limburger.nl/cnt/dmf20200629_00166188/strafeis-thijs-h-tbs-of-ook-lange-gevangenisstraf
