Doctor: TV mogul extortionist has brain damage, can't think clearly
Dirk Klaas M., the 71 year old man who extorted the De Mol family, appeared in court on Thursday. According to experts who examined M., He suffers from dementia caused by damage to part the part of his brain that controls "impulse behavior". This affected his empathy and led to obsessive and compulsive behavior.
A month ago it became apparent that Dirk Klaas M. has been suffering from severe dementia for some time. Professor M. Jonker showed a scan of M.'s brain in court on Thursday, AD reports. "The foremost part of the brain is severely affected, including the norm awareness. He lacks empathy, acts obsessively and can not stop", the professor told the court. According to him, due to the damage to his brain, M. is incapable of analyzing and controlling his behavior.
According to the experts who have examined him, this dementia means that M. has "at least greatly diminished accountability". Though he realized that he was doing something wrong, he was unable to stop it, Jonker said. The serious damage shown on the brain scan, which was taken in March, makes Jonker believe it very unlikely that M. is faking his illness.
M. was able to continue his life as normal due to the systematic way he worked as entrepreneur. His dementia can not be treated. The experts believe that there is very small chance of him extorting anyone again as his mental capability will continue to degenerate.
Dirk Klaas M. told the court that the purpose of the extortion was fundraising for the Food Bank and to reduce poverty in Indonesia. He said he had to include threats in the letters as just asking for 5 million euros would not have worked. He also said that the threat of violence was never serious, but that he was considering purchasing a weapon. "But I did not know where to buy one".
During the trial, extortion victim Linda de Mol demanded 500 thousand euros in compensation. She had to take extra security measures after receiving the letters. She is claiming these damages from M., who told the court that he is willing to pay it.
