Girl, 12, found dead in stepdad's car was strangled: Prosecutor

Freddy D. from Hoogeveen is suspected of strangling his 12-year-old stepdaughter Djamila Marissen to death, the Public Prosecutor revealed in a pro-forma hearing for this case on Thursday afternoon.

According to the Prosecutor, the 46-year-old man strangled Djamila in his car near Staphorst in Overijssel before driving her body to a police station in Assen on October 14th last year, NOS reports. The man walked into the police station and asked officers to go to his car. The officers were shocked to find the girl's body in the car. So far nothing is known about the motive for this murder.

The Public Prosecutor wants to do a reconstruction of Djamila's murder, to gain more insight into the statements D. made to the police. A spokesperson for the Prosecution told RTV Drenthe that they want D. to show what he says he did to the girl "by having him in the car carry out the actions he said he did".

D. became emotional in the hearing on Thursday, according to NOS. Sobbing, he said that it is "a very bad thing that happened". He added that he wants to tell his story. The court told him that he could do so when his trial starts on May 15th.

The man's lawyer said that D. is cooperating in the police investigation, but would not say whether he confessed, NOS reports.