Most murdered women killed by ex-, partner

More than half of the women who were killed in the Netherlands over the past five years, were killed by their partner or a person from a previous relation. Domestic circumstances such as a marital quarrel and jealousy were the most common motives, Statistics Netherlands said on Thursday. The Netherlands saw 144 reported murder or manslaughter cases last year, an average of three victims per week. Amsterdam was the scene of more murders than anywhere else, with 23 in 2014, of which 19 victims resided in Amsterdam. The gang war that has been plaguing the capital for the past few years made a large contribution to this number. Of the total number of victims, 31 women were killed, the lowest number since the start of registration in 1996. In more than 90 percent of murder cases from 2010 to 2014 involving a female victim the police identified a suspect and cleared the case. Women were more commonly stabbed or strangled to death, 38 percent and 19 percent respectively. In 53 percent of these cases, the culprit was the woman's partner or ex. Two such cases recently received extensive media coverage, including the murder of Linda van der Giesen at the Tweesteden Hospital in Waalwijk earlier this month. The main suspect in this case is her ex-boyfriend John F. The investigation of the murder of Raja Draaisma in front of a pizza restaurant in Hoofddorp last June led the the arrest of her ex, Ferry de G. In 31 percent of the remaining cases the culprit was someone the woman knew, like a parent or other family member, or a friend. Only two percent of cases with a murdered woman in that period were connected to the criminal underworld, such as the murder of Luana Luz Xavier in Amstelveen in December last year. A total of 113 men were murdered in the Netherlands last year, about the average level of the past decade. The police identified an offender in two of three cases of men killed between 2010 and 2014. In 30 percent of the cases the perpetrator was a friend or acquaintance of the victim, with 13 percent of the cases the result of a criminal world retribution. In 13 percent of cases, the victim did not know the perpetrator, but parents were deemed responsible in 11 percent of the men and boys killed. Men were most commonly killed with a firearm or stabbing weapon.