Mental care facility under fire after New Year’s murder

The mayor of a Groningen town is calling for an investigation into practices at assisted living and care facility non-profit Keroazie following the apparent murder of Jesse van Wieren. One of the two suspects in the slaying, Desiree G., is a patient supervised by the group, according to RTV Noord. The organisation runs a facility in the region of De Marne, Groningen, where mayor Koos Wiersma wants answers about the quality of care provided by Keroazie. Wiersma wants the Dutch health inspectorate to launch an investigation. He says the organisation was investigated and found to be substandard in 2013, but a follow-up visit the next year determined Keroazie to be satisfactory. Area residents complain about excessive drug and alcohol use by the facility’s clients, the mayor says, with many upset by the load noise and nuisance the clients cause. Police are routinely called in to assist in dealing with incidents regarding the clients, the mayor alleges. “Public order is my responsibility. I know this, and I feel this,” he told RTV Noord. G., aged 27, was arrested along with a 25-year-old man on Tuesday. The two were living together in a house in nearby Leens that was managed by Keroazie. Leens is considered part of the greater De Marne area. Van Wieren disappeared after celebrating the new year at a bar in Kloosterburen. He was last seen leaving the bar at about 4 a.m. without a coat and on foot. The suspects’ neighbours reportedly heard fighting and notified police. An initial search of the home turned up no evidence, but when police returned, they found Van Wieren’s body hidden in the garden.