Thirty years for Lelystad crawlspace murders

Alex L. was sentenced to 30 years in prison and mandatory psychiatric treatment by the court in Lelystad on Tuesday. He was found guilty of manslaughter in the death of his 40-year-old girlfriend Manon Pieters and murder in the death of his 15-year-old stepdaughter Fleur, AD reports. The woman and the girl were killed in their Lelystad home on December 12th last year. Both were strangled and Fleur was raped. L. then hid their bodies in the crawlspace under their house. The bodies were found the next evening. Experts found that L. had diminished responsibility in the death of Manon due to a personaility disorder. In the death of Fleur, both psychologists and judges agree that he was fully aware of what he was doing. During the court hearing two weeks ago, the judge called what Fleur went through heartbreaking. She was held captive by L. for more than an hour after discovering her mother dead on the floor. During this time she was tied up and raped and left on the floor before L. finally strangled her to death. "The man killed his girlfriend in a horribly way by strangling her with a rope", the court said. About Fleur the court added: "The accused promised her several times that he would not murder her if she did not resist. That he then raped her and strangled her shows his ruthless behavior." The sentence corresponds to what the Prosecutor demanded.