Woman who fatally stabbed her grandmother in Amsterdam doesn't know why she did it

The 21-year-old woman who is accused of fatally stabbing her 80-year-old grandmother on March 22 in Amsterdam-West has declared thus far that she does not know why she did it. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) suspects that “psychosocial problems” played a significant role during the crime.

This came forth from the first public hearing in the case against the woman, Berfin C., at the District Court in Amsterdam on Tuesday. The suspect called the emergency services number herself on the morning of the incident. She was panicked when she reported that she had stabbed her grandmother in a home on the James Cookstraat.

The emergency services found the seriously injured victim with the alleged murder weapon under her arm. She died from her wounds on the way to the hospital. The OM claims that five stab wounds to the woman’s torso proved fatal. The suspect was arrested at the scene of the crime.

The investigation into the events has not yet been concluded. Police interviews with the suspect have not led to full clarity, prosecutors said. A follow-up interrogation with the woman will happen soon.

C. did not use her right to speak during the hearing on Tuesday. Over the coming months, a psychologist and psychiatrist will conduct personality studies on her, and write a report on it.

The suspect’s lawyer asked the court to drop the suspicion of murder because there was no preconceived plan to kill the victim. This was a “a sudden urge,” according to the attorney. The fatal stabbing should then be charged as manslaughter, the lawyer said.

But the court sided with the prosecutor, and agreed that it was premature to consider dropping the suspicion of murder at this time. “There was a moment when she wanted to harm herself, but she chose her grandmother,” the prosecutor said.

C. was remanded into custody, and her pre-trial detention was extended until the next status hearing on September 6. She will remain in the jail’s psychiatric ward. A trial date was not set.