Man gets 18 years for killing Rotterdam prostitutes in the 90s

The court in Rotterdam sentenced 59-year-old Albert B. to 18 years in prison for raping and murdering two prostitutes in the city in the 1990's. The court found it convincingly proven that B. was the person who committed these crimes, NU.nl reports.

The Public Prosecutor demanded 20 years in prison against B. The man from Schiedam was arrested in April last year after a DNA kinship investigation linked him to the murders of 45-year-old Berendina Stijger in 1990 and 22-year-old Francis Garcia-Hofland in 1991.

According to the Prosecutor, similarities in the two murders showed that they were committed by the same perpetrator. Both women were stabbed in the neck and their bodies were found partially covered outside. Traces of B.'s semen were found on both victims, and the man had photo collages in his apartment showing naked women in similar poses as the way the victims were found.

B. is schizophrenic and has psychotic disorders. During early hearings in the trial against him, he appeared vague and absent, according to the newspaper. He made confused speeches and seemed to fall asleep every now and then. His lawyer asked that the case against B. be dropped, because his disorders mean that he does not understand the case. The lawyer also argued that B. be acquitted, saying that the fact that B.'s semen was found on the women does not say he murdered them.

Although B. could not tell the judge exactly why he was currently in prison, he always denied raping and murdering the two women. "Maybe I was tricked into it. I could not have been there", he said, according to the newspaper.