Man gets 5 years for stabbing girlfriend 258 times, took selfie with baby shortly after

The court in The Hague sentenced 24-year-old Arnold O. to five years in prison and mandatory psychiatric treatment at a tbs facility. The man murdered his 22-year-old girlfriend Jihaneve on July 18 last year by cutting and stabbing her 258 times in her home in Zoetermeer. The couple’s two-week-old baby was also present in the home during the incident. According to the court, the crime “absolutely falls into an exceptional category in terms of violence and brutality.”

O. used the victim’s phone to film certain parts of the violence. According to experts, O. was psychotic at the time he killed his girlfriend and suffers from personality disorders.

The court considers O. to have diminished criminal responsibility, noting that his disorder "approaches" full legal insanity. This was the reason the court decided to halve the ten-year prison sentence requested by the Public Prosecution Service (OM).

The police received a report from a nurse at a consulting agency, who was scheduled to visit Jihaneve and her child. She heard Jihaneve calling for help and saw, when she looked through a window in the home, a bloody leg and a bleeding foot.

O. was arrested at the scene of the crime. Shortly prior to this, he had taken a selfie with the baby. The police found the victim on the bed in the bedroom next to the knife that was used in the crime.

The personality assessment revealed that O. could not tolerate the fact that his girlfriend had been focusing on caring for their child since its birth. He also believed that he might not be the baby's father, suspecting another man instead. “His suspicion took the form of a delusion,” the court stated. Experts consider the risk of reoffending to be high.

After the verdict was announced, Jihaneve’s mother spoke emotionally, saying she was “deeply disappointed” and called the ruling “a slap in the face and a kick to my daughter’s grave,” as she felt the prison sentence was far too lenient. “In recent weeks, two more women have been murdered. What kind of message is the court sending to society? This is simply unacceptable. This doesn’t feel like justice.”