Prosecutors recommend 23 years in prison for man accused of killing ex-girlfriend

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) said 46-year-old Julian M. from Rotterdam should be convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend, Maria Seintje. The OM recommended he spend 23 years in jail for the crime during a hearing on Friday in the District Court of Rotterdam. Five children were "orphaned overnight" on Boxing Day 2022, the attorney representing Seintje's surviving family said.

The 43-year-old victim's body was found on Boxing Day 2022 in her home on the Treek in the Rotterdam neighborhood of Vreewijk. She was shot in the head in her bedroom while her youngest daughters, aged five and eight, were in the home. The woman had been in a shelter for victims of domestic violence a few weeks earlier.

After the shooting, the suspect, M., allegedly stayed in the home all night and the following morning, and also took photos of the victim with whom he had a relationship with for five years. "The children knew their mom was dead. They crawled to her because they were so scared. It is truly indescribable what they had to go through and what was done to them by a man they saw as their father," said the children's lawyer.

The prosecutor said he fired two gunshots. M. was picked up by his brother on December 26 at 1:30 p.m. Hours later, at 6 p.m., the 8-year-old girl called her eldest sister, who told them that their mother had been shot dead by their stepfather.

Traces of M.'s DNA were found on shell casings in the bedroom and also on the weapon that the police found the next day in his brother's home. The prosecutors also said that M. had threatened the woman for a while and that he kept looking for her. The OM was convinced that the suspect did not act on impulse.

The eight-year-old daughter said immediately after the murder that her stepdad had already said he was going to kill the girl's mother. He had kept the firearm he used in the toilet tank. The prosecutor credited the girl for her courage when she gave concrete and detailed statements about the murder.

The victim's two eldest children exercised their right to speak in court. “What made you do this?” asked the eldest daughter. She said that in the past her mother received a voice message from M. stating, "If I can't have you, no one will." The daughter said, “You kept your word, but at what cost?”

The woman was looking forward to spending time with her third grandchild, Seintje's eldest son said. "Why didn't you leave her alone? You can't harm a woman; then you're no longer a man."

The OM said it believes the woman was a victim of femicide, when a woman is killed by her partner or ex-partner. "We consider M. a risk to society and women especially." The court also heard that the victim had reported a death threat from M. on October 31, almost two months before her death. He allegedly threatened her with a black handgun and claimed he was prepared to use it at any moment.

M. did not wish to respond to the emotional victim statements, and invoked his right to remain silent during the court case. His lawyer asked for an acquittal saying that M. has denied the murder. "In his first interview with the police, he briefly stated that the victim was alive when he left the house to celebrate Christmas with his family." The prosecutors did not believe this explanation.

The defense attorney also said that there were no signs of a preconceived plan. The family was to celebrate Christmas together, and according to the lawyer, this alone does not indicate premeditation. "This was not a calm deliberation. We do not know exactly how it happened."

The court will make its ruling on March 15.