Man gets 30 years in prison for shooting ex-girlfriend, killing her mother at Dutch mall

The court sentenced Minh Nghia V., also known by the nickname Lucky, to 30 years in prison for gunning down his ex-girlfriend and her mother at a mall in Zwijndrecht in January 2023. The court considered it proven that the man tried to kill his ex and did kill her mother, convicting him of attempted murder and manslaughter for the two crimes. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) had demanded life in prison against the man.

According to the court, the evidence shows that the man could not accept that his ex had ended their relationship. V. (51) shot his ex-girlfriend and her mother in the parking lot of the Walburg Mall in Zwijndrecht on 21 January 2023. He severely injured his ex, 38-year-old Anneke, who is still largely paralyzed. Her 66-year-old mother, Michel, died at the scene. V. was arrested after a five-week-long manhunt. He confessed shortly after his arrest.

The OM had accused the man of murder and attempted murder, saying that the plan was not only pre-meditated but that he clearly followed his former girlfriend from a distance and knew that she was accompanied by her mother. While the court convicted the man of attempted murder for shooting his girlfriend, it convicted the man of manslaughter for killing her mother. As such, the maximum sentence was 30 years in prison and not life behind bars, as the OM requested.

“The court sees the suspects’ actions as nothing other than a planned and efficiently executed attempt to assassinate his ex. This concerns, as pointed out by the public prosecutor, an attempt at femicide,” the court said.

However, the evidence does not show that V. also planned to kill his ex’s mother. “The suspect’s actions were aimed at killing his ex-partner, and he appears to have only shot her mother because she intervened to prevent this. There is evidence of intent because he shot the mother in the chest from a very close range. The court thus considers murder to be unproven, but manslaughter instead,” the court noted.

The court gave V. the maximum sentence for manslaughter and attempted murder. “The suspect does not avoid the use of violence,” the court said. “Society must be protected against the suspect for a long time.”