Man accused of killing second wife over money problems years after first wife's murder

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) demanded 14 years in prison and institutionalized psychiatric treatment against a 74-year-old man from Grevenbicht accused of strangling his wife and their dog to death in September 2020 to hide their financial troubles. This was also the motive for the death of his previous wife, whom he killed in 1997, the OM said.

On 26 September 2020, there was something about bailiffs on television. His wife commented that she hoped the bailiffs would never knock on their door. "That was when something snapped. The suspect grabbed her scarf, walked over to her, and strangled her. His wife could not have imagined that this remark would prove fatal to her," the OM said. He killed their dog that same night.

"The motive for this heinous act seems to lie in the shame that the suspect had to admit to his partner that they had financial problems. The fear of exposure. This is striking because this was almost exactly the same motive in the death of his previous wife in 1997," the OM said.

The OM does not believe the 2020 killing was premeditated, unlike with the man's previous wife. In 1997, he worked in a planned way to prevent his exposure. He was sentenced to eight years in prison for the murder of his previous wife. 

"It became clear that living beyond his means, keeping up appearances, and not expressing his frustrations led to such a serious situation that he killed his wife. Then, 24 years later, the situation repeated itself. The suspect did not seek help and again covered everything up," the OM said. 

A psychiatric evaluation showed that the man has reduced accountability, so the OM demanded institutionalized treatment. The OM also demanded a lengthy prison sentence, given that this is the second woman this man has killed to cover up his shortcomings. The OM also took account of the fact that he also killed their dog. 

"It is very worrying that a suspect who otherwise appears to function completely normally in society can turn to excessive violence out of the blue. Society must be protected against such behavior. Certainly because it didn't stop at the violence towards his wife. He also killed their dog, an extremely aggressive and violent act by the suspect."