Man convicted of randomly killing Den Dolder woman on the street, stabbing her 17 times

On Wednesday, the court in Utrecht sentenced Mert P. (29) to eight years in prison and compulsory psychiatric treatment for killing a 76-year-old woman in Den Dolder on January 2, 2025. He attacked the victim in broad daylight on the street and stabbed her 17 times. The attack caused great unrest in the village.

The court described the woman’s killing as “cold-blooded and gruesome.” She was attacked out of nowhere when she was returning home from a pedicure. P. stabbed her in the head, neck, and back using a 19-centimeter-long knife. Bystanders tried to resuscitate the woman, but she died at the scene.

The murder shocked the village. The fact that the suspect had been a patient at the nearby psychiatric clinic reinforced feelings of insecurity, the judge said. “Understandably, this has also had a huge impact on the residents of Den Dolder.”

At the time, P. was receiving forced treatment at the psychiatric care institution Fivoor. He was outside the clinic grounds that day with permission. This was the same clinic that was treating Michael P. when he raped and murdered Anne Faber in 2017, though he was in a different ward.

Earlier this month, the Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended a six-year prison sentence and compulsory treatment for P. After assessing the severity of the offenses and sentences in comparable cases, the court arrived at a slightly higher sentence.

The court considered it proven that the suspect had a premeditated plan to kill someone. He looked up information about it online, bought a knife, hid it, and made a note of it on his phone. He also looked up the prison sentence for murder. Additionally, camera footage indicated that he was deliberately looking for an older person to attack. “That indicates a well-considered plan,” the judge said.

The man has a schizophrenic disorder and an intellectual disability and was in a state of psychosis with delusions for a long time. He told the court that he attacked the woman because he believed he would feel better afterward.

Experts did not rule out the possibility that P. was entirely mentally incapacitated when he killed the victim, but could not establish this because he was difficult to examine. The court therefore assumed that P. was partially mentally incapacitated.