Ex-girlfriend: Man suspected of random murder was “abandoned” by mental health system

The 38-year-old man arrested in connection with the murder of one woman and the aggravated assault of another in Leeuwarden on Monday, should never have been released from the psychiatric institution. The mental health system "left him to his fate". This is according to the man's ex-girlfriend, Esther Nagel, on television program Pauw on Tuesday. When a friend told her about the two violent attacks, she immediately knew who was behind them, she said. "It has often been said that this boy should not walk around like that. He really needs to counseling." As an example of his worrying behavior, Nagel told how he walked the streets in slippers in winter shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is great). "Ultimately I think they never should have released him. This man must stay locked up.", she said. Nagel feels that he was "left to his fate". The man turned himself in at the police station on Monday after violent attacks on two women. A 23-year-old prostitute's throat was slit around 4:30 p.m. in the Weaze, Leeuwarden's red light district. She survived the attack. A short time later, around 5:20 p.m., a 68-year-old woman was beaten to death with a bottle on Oude Lune. The police now believe that the man can also be connected with two more attacks on the same day. On Monday night a 27-year-old woman from Drachten went to the police station to report an attack. She was attacked by an unknown man on Klanderijstraat around 4:30 p.m. He tried to steal her purse and assaulted her before running off. A 48-year-old woman from Leeuwarden also came to the police to report that she was attacked in the parking lot of supermarket Tijnjedijk around 5:00 p.m. The man tried to steal the woman's car and threatened her. She managed to prevent the theft and the suspect ran off.